Bumpy Oak Books

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for honest review.**

4 stars

Adam Sass hits hard with this LGBTQ contemporary about a gay teen, Connor Major, who is sent to an island conversion camp after coming out to his mother. As if a conversion camp wasn’t bad enough, Connor only just arrives at Nightlight when red flags begin going up in all directions. Something is up with the staff, secrets are around every corner, and all of it is surrounding a common name: Ricky. Ricky, who Connor knows died before he ever came to Nightlight.

Major trigger warnings in all manner of directions for this book. Warnings include but may not be limited to the following: suicide, depression, conversion camps, homophobia, child abuse, age gap romance with an authority figure, toxic families, sexism, and murder.

This type of book is not typically my thing. I don’t tend toward contemporaries, let alone hard-hitting YA contemporaries. That being said, I did enjoy this novel. Adam Sass has a skill at maintaining a sense of hope and resistance despite all of the completely awful things taking place. Sass allows his characters to be vulnerable while also showcasing the strength and resilience they are capable of. This book could have been a much different story under a different author, but Sass makes Connor’s story triumphant even when Connor is at rock bottom.

I think that the story is gripping and will be a one-sitting read for many people as it was for me. I very much look forward to Sass’ future works.