A review by jupiterlee
A Mark on My Soul by Jordon Greene

dark emotional sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

I am not usually a fan of friends-to-lovers stories, but I will admit that this one was sweet. 

I feel that friends to lovers is often the most expected and stereotypical, but Parker and Noah get to go through an experience together and worked for these characters. I did feel that at times they were "younger" than they were; Noah turns 19 in the book and I had a moment of being like "oh, I forgot and thought they were 16ish". Now that isn't a massive issue but I felt at times that Parker or Noah were not acting there age, and put it off to them being younger but then I remember that they should have a bit better understanding for each other at times. 

However saying that, the plot of this book is very realistic to what some LGBTQIA+ teens will go through, and I believe this adds a huge amount to Greene's book. They are not just teens dealing with accepting they are gay, they are navigating school, homophobia, religious parents, outdated thinking, figuring out where they want to go in life and more. 

 

One thing that this book navigates, and it certainly makes it heart-breaking, is suicide. This is a topic that is hard to portray accurately I feel, but Greene knocked it on its head. Parent's not accepting their child is one of the most heart-breaking reasons for LGBTQIA+ suicides and it is something that is still very prevalent today. It also touches on the horrendous aspect of church "counselling" and conversion therapy. My heart just broke the second half of this book, but this was the reason I gave it an extra star than I was intending because it is topics that people need to hear about, but can be too raw and hard to write. Greene used these topics to bring awareness, but I must say I am glad it was not from the perspective of Parker as I do not think my heart could have handled that as Noah's heartbreak was bad enough.






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