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Full Disclosure
In a community that isn't always understanding, an HIV-positive teen must navigate fear, disclosure, and radical self-acceptance when she falls in love--and lust--for the first time. Powerful and uplifting, Full Disclosure will speak to fans of Angie Thomas and Nicola Yoon.
Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time things will be different. She's making real friends, making a name for herself as student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she's HIV-positive, because last time . . . well, last time things got ugly.
Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps is not so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real--shy kisses escalating into much more--she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she's positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she's terrified of how he'll react! And then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles. Or everyone else will know too.
Simone's first instinct is to protect her secret at all costs, but as she gains a deeper understanding of the prejudice and fear in her community, she begins to wonder if the only way to rise above is to face the haters head-on...
Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time things will be different. She's making real friends, making a name for herself as student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she's HIV-positive, because last time . . . well, last time things got ugly.
Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps is not so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real--shy kisses escalating into much more--she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she's positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she's terrified of how he'll react! And then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles. Or everyone else will know too.
Simone's first instinct is to protect her secret at all costs, but as she gains a deeper understanding of the prejudice and fear in her community, she begins to wonder if the only way to rise above is to face the haters head-on...
320 pages, Hardcover
First published October 29, 2019
About the author
Camryn Garrett
5 books853 followersCamryn Garrett was born and raised in New York. In 2019, she was named one of Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21 and a Glamour College Woman of the Year. Her first novel, Full Disclosure, received rave reviews from outlets such as Entertainment Weekly, the Today Show, and The Guardian, which called a “warm, funny and thoughtfully sex-positive, an impressive debut from a writer still in her teens.” Her second novel, Off the Record received three starred reviews. Her third novel, Friday I’m in Love, was an IndieNext Pick and received a starred review from Publisher’s Weekly. Camryn is also interested in film and recently graduated from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. You can find her on Twitter @dancingofpens, tweeting from a laptop named Stevie.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,650 reviews
September 19, 2020
"My HIV isn't a threat to you, but your ignorance is a threat to me."
loved this book so much!
loved this book so much!
March 22, 2020
The fact that Cam is one of my friends has absolutely nothing to do with how absolutely incredible this book was. Because the thing is, this releases on October 29th, and I cried twice reading this, and it actually understands What Real Life Teenagers Are Like, and on the level that I am a reviewer who wants to recommend you books you’ll love, I think you should read this if you like tender slice-of-life YA contemporary about bisexuality and being HIV+ and the power of both familial and platonic and romantic love.
If that sounds interesting to you, here is a very abridged list of things that really resonated with me about this book:
➽the positivity of Simone’s dynamic with her dads, and the fact that they each feel like fully realized people with their own problems but are still loving and kind
➽Simone being a teenager with HIV who did not get it from some kind of traumatic event, but from her mom, and it being an experience she has, not something that defines her
➽Simone’s best friends being so central in her life — I feel like sometimes I read YA where the main character has best friends but you would not know it because they interact twice the whole book. Claudia and Lydia are both excellent
➽the fact that very casually Claudia is an ace lesbian and Lydia is bi. the solidarity of it all
➽Simone being bi and closeted even in a situation where she’s not in danger: she’s just not ready and has had bad experiences, and the fact that the narrative is empathetic towards that and it’s also not the only experience in her life
➽Simone’s drama passion feeling like such an important part of this narrative
➽just in general I think this book does an amazing job of making Simone really multifaceted because that’s what human beings are like
➽also, the drama teacher tea in this book. hit so close to home why are drama teachers Like That
➽this one quote:
➽the positive (and really funny) discussion of masturbation for women
➽that one scene with Claudia and Lydia…… this trio is so. my senior year best friend experience
➽the portrayal of Claudia and Lydia each to certain degrees not knowing how to discuss HIV, slash their friend being bi, but also being willing to grow and change from that
➽that section in which Miles says he doesn’t care about people talking about musicals, he likes the way Simone talks about them. like if someone said that to me I too would risk it all
➽the fact that Simone’s past with Sarah feels fully fleshed out despite us not getting a flashback? I feel like it’s really easy to resort to flashbacks so I appreciated the slow reveal
➽I did not guess the ending until a few pages before and i a l w a y s guess the ending
➽I know I’ve talked about Simone and her dads already. but genuinely they made me cry once and tear up several other times
➽also this quote:
➽the entire section between Simone and Miles where *** ***** *** is just………… it's so tender. honestly all their interactions are so tender I was just 😫
➽the parallels between the beginning and the ending are a lot
Anyway, personally I want to go drink some hot chocolate and talk about the power of love for the next 3 1/2 hours. before anyone asks: the thing that got me, that really made me melt down, was that line where she was like "yes I have best friends but I'm still romantically lonely" I was really fragile at that moment I was on a train and I'd just gotten my heart lowkey broken less than two weeks earlier but I had to put down the book for a really long minute and cry a little. also one of the scenes with Simone's dads made me cry. I can't remember which one it was anymore. want them to adopt me. Really really really loved this book. I hope you'll buy it on October 29th 2019.
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If that sounds interesting to you, here is a very abridged list of things that really resonated with me about this book:
➽the positivity of Simone’s dynamic with her dads, and the fact that they each feel like fully realized people with their own problems but are still loving and kind
➽Simone being a teenager with HIV who did not get it from some kind of traumatic event, but from her mom, and it being an experience she has, not something that defines her
➽Simone’s best friends being so central in her life — I feel like sometimes I read YA where the main character has best friends but you would not know it because they interact twice the whole book. Claudia and Lydia are both excellent
➽the fact that very casually Claudia is an ace lesbian and Lydia is bi. the solidarity of it all
➽Simone being bi and closeted even in a situation where she’s not in danger: she’s just not ready and has had bad experiences, and the fact that the narrative is empathetic towards that and it’s also not the only experience in her life
➽Simone’s drama passion feeling like such an important part of this narrative
➽just in general I think this book does an amazing job of making Simone really multifaceted because that’s what human beings are like
➽also, the drama teacher tea in this book. hit so close to home why are drama teachers Like That
➽this one quote:
➽the positive (and really funny) discussion of masturbation for women
➽that one scene with Claudia and Lydia…… this trio is so. my senior year best friend experience
➽the portrayal of Claudia and Lydia each to certain degrees not knowing how to discuss HIV, slash their friend being bi, but also being willing to grow and change from that
➽that section in which Miles says he doesn’t care about people talking about musicals, he likes the way Simone talks about them. like if someone said that to me I too would risk it all
➽the fact that Simone’s past with Sarah feels fully fleshed out despite us not getting a flashback? I feel like it’s really easy to resort to flashbacks so I appreciated the slow reveal
➽I did not guess the ending until a few pages before and i a l w a y s guess the ending
➽I know I’ve talked about Simone and her dads already. but genuinely they made me cry once and tear up several other times
➽also this quote:
➽the entire section between Simone and Miles where *** ***** *** is just………… it's so tender. honestly all their interactions are so tender I was just 😫
➽the parallels between the beginning and the ending are a lot
Anyway, personally I want to go drink some hot chocolate and talk about the power of love for the next 3 1/2 hours. before anyone asks: the thing that got me, that really made me melt down, was that line where she was like "yes I have best friends but I'm still romantically lonely" I was really fragile at that moment I was on a train and I'd just gotten my heart lowkey broken less than two weeks earlier but I had to put down the book for a really long minute and cry a little. also one of the scenes with Simone's dads made me cry. I can't remember which one it was anymore. want them to adopt me. Really really really loved this book. I hope you'll buy it on October 29th 2019.
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February 25, 2021
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Simone is HIV positive. Her dads try to be supportive, but sometimes end up overprotective and think that the best way for Simone to manage her sexuality is with abstinence. But Simone would really like to have sex one day and she's really attracted to a boy at school. Will he like her if she tells him about her illness, even if it's well-managed? As they get closer, this question features more and more prominently in her consciousness-- especially when she receives threatening messages in her locker from someone threatening to tell everyone that she has HIV if she doesn't ditch the boy she likes and go back to being alone.
FULL DISCLOSURE is such a timely, amazing book. It does for sexuality what THE HATE U GIVE did for racial violence. It's a book that deep-dives into an issue that a lot of people can't, or won't, talk about, and does so with depth, sympathy, and a great story. The whole time I was reading this I felt really sad, because books like this weren't around when I was a teenager and I really wish they were, because I learned more from this one tiny novel than I did with a whole year's worth of "Health" classes.
Rather than go into multiple paragraphs about everything I liked about this book, I'm going to resort to my handy-dandy method of lazy review writing: the checklist.
FULL DISCLOSURE is amazing because:
✔️ DIVERSITY EVERYWHERE. Simone is black and bisexual. Her best friends are Asian. One of them is an asexual lesbian and the other is also bisexual. Simone's fathers are black and Latino. Simone's crush is black. Simone's doctor is a hijabi Muslim. This is the first book set in San Francisco that actually represents the city in all its diverse glory, and it's one of the things that I love so much about California. It made me so happy to see a world reflecting the reality in which I live.
✔️ Sex positivity. There's a lot of frank talk between Simone and her friends about sex. The book opens with Simone's dads literally sitting with her as she meets with a gynecologist and talking about some of her contraceptive options as someone with HIV. Sex is dealt with in a positive, open, healthy way-- I wish all sex talks were this positive, tbh. It reminds me of a documentary I watched about Dutch sex ed. classes and how they begin when kids are age 4. Teaching kids that their bodies are normal-- that sexuality of all kinds-- is normal, makes for a much better society. I loved this.
✔️ Great relationships. Even when the going gets rough, Simone's relationships are all #goals. She has a fight with her friends over a totally valid reason, and end up stronger than ever because of it. She has a fight with her family over a totally valid reason, and they end up stronger than ever because of it. She has some tough convos with her HIV support group, but they rally around her when she needs it. It's unusual to see a book that manages to portray such closeness, and still manage to convey the usual tensions that any normal relationship is fraught with, without making things look toxic. This book oozed love and support, and did so in a way that wasn't forced or fluffy at all.
✔️ Musical references galore! I love musicals and it was great to see the heroine of this novel be so passionate about something. A common complaint I see in YA is that the heroine has no hobbies or interests outside of her love interest, and that is so not the case here. Simone is the creative-director in her theater class and her passion for it shows every time she brings up the topic.
✔️ A great villain. I honestly didn't see that twist coming and when the inevitable showdown happened, it was so realistic and so well-handled that I wanted to cry. This book could have been ruined so easily by a cheesy strawman argument, and it was not.
✔️ Normal teen things. These teens have authentic voices and actually sound like teenagers. You feel, when you're reading this book, that you're eavesdropping on actual teen conversations and not reading the thinly-disguised morality play of a forty-year-old parent proselytizing to the next gen. Simone often made me laugh with her zany sense of humor, and that lightened up some pretty serious and angsty moments in this book that definitely captured those infamous teenage "lows."
In short, FULL DISCLOSURE is a really great book and I hope to see it in a lot of school libraries and maybe becoming a movie one day, just like THE HATE U GIVE did. The AIDS scare of the 1980s caused a lot of misinformation about the virus to circulate, and that misinformation continues to this day because people don't want to talk about it. Well, someone finally did, and if this book opens the door to those very serious conversations then that is a wonderful and marvelous thing.
Thanks to the publisher for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review!
4.5 to 5 stars
August 21, 2019
"I wish I felt queer or straight and not like I'm floating somewhere far away from both."
This is one for the Love, Simon fans. And I’m not saying this because that’s what publishers use to promote their next great cute high school romance. It’s because it’s 100% true. Queer kids? Check. Cute romance? Check. True friendship? Check. Anonymous letters? Drama club? Check. And that one dick that pressures you into coming out? Check. And after all these similarities, it still remains an original story about growing up and staying true to yourself. One that is even deeper, braver, funnier, and more heartfelt.
Full Disclosure touches on a lot of topics that I love seeing in YA novels. It discusses racism and queerness but also talks openly about sex, sexual health, and masturbation. I have only encountered this level of sex-positivity in Jack of Hearts and it makes me happy to see it being represented in such an open-minded light. There are enough teenagers and adults out there who feel like they can’t talk about their sex lives without feeling ashamed and embarrassed. And sure, these things can be super awkward. But I’d rather have people learn about having a healthy attitude towards sex from reading books like this than watching porn and having unrealistic and often harmful expectations. Furthermore, the author also talks about asexuality and that it’s okay not to like and want and think about sex, and that asexuality exists on a spectrum.
And of course, one of the main themes in this book is the fact that Simone, the main character, is HIV positive. The book is very informative in a way that many sex ed lessons fail to be. It deconstructs the stigma that surrounds people who are positive and explains that partnerships, sex, having a family and children are just as possible for an HIV+ person than for everybody else.
I also liked how the main character is a huge (huge!) musical fan and often references musicals and their film adaptions without letting it overpower the main story. I’m not a fan of musicals myself – mostly because I have enough obsessions already – and I still enjoyed hearing about them without feeling like pop culture references about Dear Evan Hanson and Hamilton were being shoved down my throat. And overall I genuinely liked Simone. She is funny, she doesn’t put up with anyone’s bullshit, she’s relatable. I did, however, find it excruciating how she treated her best friends as soon as she had a boyfriend, especially because she saw no wrong in dumping her friends for a guy. That’s the worst behaviour. And it got even worse before it got better. But in the end, I saw where Simone was coming from and I was glad that she was insightful enough to see the hurt she’d caused.
And if all of that wasn’t enough to convince you to read this book, maybe you should reconsider your life choices.
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This is one for the Love, Simon fans. And I’m not saying this because that’s what publishers use to promote their next great cute high school romance. It’s because it’s 100% true. Queer kids? Check. Cute romance? Check. True friendship? Check. Anonymous letters? Drama club? Check. And that one dick that pressures you into coming out? Check. And after all these similarities, it still remains an original story about growing up and staying true to yourself. One that is even deeper, braver, funnier, and more heartfelt.
Full Disclosure touches on a lot of topics that I love seeing in YA novels. It discusses racism and queerness but also talks openly about sex, sexual health, and masturbation. I have only encountered this level of sex-positivity in Jack of Hearts and it makes me happy to see it being represented in such an open-minded light. There are enough teenagers and adults out there who feel like they can’t talk about their sex lives without feeling ashamed and embarrassed. And sure, these things can be super awkward. But I’d rather have people learn about having a healthy attitude towards sex from reading books like this than watching porn and having unrealistic and often harmful expectations. Furthermore, the author also talks about asexuality and that it’s okay not to like and want and think about sex, and that asexuality exists on a spectrum.
And of course, one of the main themes in this book is the fact that Simone, the main character, is HIV positive. The book is very informative in a way that many sex ed lessons fail to be. It deconstructs the stigma that surrounds people who are positive and explains that partnerships, sex, having a family and children are just as possible for an HIV+ person than for everybody else.
I also liked how the main character is a huge (huge!) musical fan and often references musicals and their film adaptions without letting it overpower the main story. I’m not a fan of musicals myself – mostly because I have enough obsessions already – and I still enjoyed hearing about them without feeling like pop culture references about Dear Evan Hanson and Hamilton were being shoved down my throat. And overall I genuinely liked Simone. She is funny, she doesn’t put up with anyone’s bullshit, she’s relatable. I did, however, find it excruciating how she treated her best friends as soon as she had a boyfriend, especially because she saw no wrong in dumping her friends for a guy. That’s the worst behaviour. And it got even worse before it got better. But in the end, I saw where Simone was coming from and I was glad that she was insightful enough to see the hurt she’d caused.
And if all of that wasn’t enough to convince you to read this book, maybe you should reconsider your life choices.
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July 1, 2020
can’t believe a m/f romance made me Yearn this much
rtc!
rtc!
March 18, 2021
This book was SO GOOD and explored so many different themes about life, friendship, sexuality, love, family, and so much more. Wow. I have to admit, I did not know too much about HIV or AIDS before going into this one and I love how we have a teenage main character who was born with HIV and living with the stigma people STILL have about the disease. My heart broke so much for Simone and I definitely had tears in my eyes on more than one occasion. But I loved following her explore her first love and wanting to have sex for the first time. Miles was so freaking adorable and I loved their romance so much. I also enjoyed Simone's friendship and how that really went through the wringer and definitely wasn't perfect. And her support group at the end? Made my heart warm. I think this is such an important read for teenagers to have in their hands and I cannot wait to read more from Camryn Garrett (her upcoming novel looks AMAZING).
June 17, 2020
Many thanks to Knopf Books for Young Readers for sending me a copy in exchange for an honest review
"We can’t live by them. We continue living our lives and fighting the fight. You can’t just let people control you with their hate. You keep living, Simone.
Full disclosure - I found this quote via Elise (TheBookishActress)'s review. I had other quotes bookmarked but I must have missed this one and it's too good to not use.
So, what's this book about?
Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time things will be different. She's making real friends, making a name for herself as student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she's HIV-positive, because last time . . . well, last time things got ugly.
Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps is not so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real--shy kisses escalating into much more--she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she's positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she's terrified of how he'll react! And then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles. Or everyone else will know too.
Simone's first instinct is to protect her secret at all costs, but as she gains a deeper understanding of the prejudice and fear in her community, she begins to wonder if the only way to rise above is to face the haters head-on...
I'm not HIV-positive and I don't (as far as I know) know anyone with HIV so I was going into this totally blind and not knowing. I really enjoy this book. I learned a bit more than the basic knowledge I had going in.
I was also a huge fan of the storyline of Simone exploring her sexuality. That's something most teens (and adults, too) will end up going through and it's always encouraging to have stories to look to for advice or just as comforting to know that others, albeit fictional, have gone through the things you're going through and come out the other side.
Overall, this book was funny, heartfelt and so sweet. It was so much fun to read and I highly recommend it!
Bottom Line:
4 stars
Age Rating - [ PG-13 ]
Content Screening (Mild Spoilers)
Positive Messages (4/5) - [Honesty, Kindness, Forgiveness, Fighting for your rights]
Violence (0/0)
Sex (5/5) - [Talk of sex, Kissing, Sexual themes]
Language (4/5) - [Sh*t, F**k]
Drinking/Drugs (3/5) - [Medicinal drugs, Alcohol]
Content and Trigger Warnings - Death due to HIV, Loss of a loved one, Racism, Classism, Bullying, Questioning sexuality
Publication Date: October 29th, 2019
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers (an imprint of Penguin Random House)
Genre: Young Adult/Romance
-------------
Even if I never read the book*, I really want to meet the author! She seems like such a genuinely happy and fun person to be around!
*But I most certainly will
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October 31, 2019
I fully admit that I requested this one because of the unique circumstances described in the synopsis. A YA contemporary dealing with HIV? Not a throwback story, or historical, set against the AIDS crisis but a real person, in today's world? I had to read it. Adding to this already rare subject matter, was a diverse cast, dealing with topics of both race and sexuality.
But ultimately I think I loved the concept more than the execution.
This story reads a little like SIMON VS THE HOMOSAPIENS AGENDA. Our lead has a secret, she's not out about her HIV at school (not after the disaster that happened at her last one), and she hasn't even told her best friends; which means neither does her crush know. But someone does and someone threatens to out her if she doesn't spill the beans by a specific deadline. The threats even get worse as her crush suddenly becomes her boyfriend. And Simone has to make a choice : avoid the chance at love and be browbeat by an unknown or come clean to those she cares about.
Throughout the story, there are little red herrings as to who this blackmailer is. And I'll admit I did guess correctly. I won't spoil anything about Simone's choices (does she tell, is she outed, does she tell and end up outed anyway) but I will say that, not being represented by anything in this book — I'm not queer or black or HIV positive (though the author is the everything but the latter) — I thought everything felt true. What ultimately kind of failed for me was some of the side drama with Simone's besties. I felt they sometimes transitioned into strange discussions or arguments that never felt relevant for the circumstances whereas her friends from the support group, a gathering for other HIV positive teens, were fabulous.
The romance was sweet, the obsession with musicals wasn't really my thing but I appreciated the relevance of them doing a production of Rent, and I would 100% read a backstory/companion about Simone's parents. She had a somewhat complex and blended family situation, being adopted and also with particular dynamics still present between her dads, but overall I just loved them both so much. It was particularly nice that, with everything else going on, parental angst was not present.
Additionally, Simone is very aware and very responsible about her diagnosis. She has maturity, respect, and agency in regards to how she has to manage it and yet also wants to be educated on protocol for being sexually active while protecting herself and her partner. This is a story about living with HIV and living a full, healthy, life. There's no real tragedy here.
So, yes, I didn't love this but I love what it represents, what it will offer to other readers, and overall the education it'll give many people who just don't know enough, or maybe rely on ignorant prejudice, about HIV. Highly recommend for that alone.
** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
---
This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
But ultimately I think I loved the concept more than the execution.
This story reads a little like SIMON VS THE HOMOSAPIENS AGENDA. Our lead has a secret, she's not out about her HIV at school (not after the disaster that happened at her last one), and she hasn't even told her best friends; which means neither does her crush know. But someone does and someone threatens to out her if she doesn't spill the beans by a specific deadline. The threats even get worse as her crush suddenly becomes her boyfriend. And Simone has to make a choice : avoid the chance at love and be browbeat by an unknown or come clean to those she cares about.
Throughout the story, there are little red herrings as to who this blackmailer is. And I'll admit I did guess correctly. I won't spoil anything about Simone's choices (does she tell, is she outed, does she tell and end up outed anyway) but I will say that, not being represented by anything in this book — I'm not queer or black or HIV positive (though the author is the everything but the latter) — I thought everything felt true. What ultimately kind of failed for me was some of the side drama with Simone's besties. I felt they sometimes transitioned into strange discussions or arguments that never felt relevant for the circumstances whereas her friends from the support group, a gathering for other HIV positive teens, were fabulous.
The romance was sweet, the obsession with musicals wasn't really my thing but I appreciated the relevance of them doing a production of Rent, and I would 100% read a backstory/companion about Simone's parents. She had a somewhat complex and blended family situation, being adopted and also with particular dynamics still present between her dads, but overall I just loved them both so much. It was particularly nice that, with everything else going on, parental angst was not present.
Additionally, Simone is very aware and very responsible about her diagnosis. She has maturity, respect, and agency in regards to how she has to manage it and yet also wants to be educated on protocol for being sexually active while protecting herself and her partner. This is a story about living with HIV and living a full, healthy, life. There's no real tragedy here.
So, yes, I didn't love this but I love what it represents, what it will offer to other readers, and overall the education it'll give many people who just don't know enough, or maybe rely on ignorant prejudice, about HIV. Highly recommend for that alone.
** I received an ARC from the publisher (thank you!) in exchange for an honest review. **
---
This review can also be found at A Take From Two Cities.
November 1, 2019
Book Reviewed on www.whisperinstories.com
Teenager Simone has not had an easy life. She was born with HIV and has had to take antiretroviral medication daily to control the growth of the virus, plus all the hospital visits and group talks. She also had to move school after she told someone she thought she could trust about her HIV but the girl decided to spread it around and people began treating her differently, staying away from her, calling her names, etc.
At her new school, no-one knows, not even the teachers, or so she thought. When she starts dating Miles, Simone receives an anonymous letter telling her to stay away from him or the person will tell the school about her HIV.
Simone doesn’t want to be held to ransom about her illness, however, she also doesn’t want the whole school to find out and for her life to end up how it was at her old school.
There are two things about this book that hit me within a few chapters of reading it, the authors easy writing style and how diverse the book truly is.
Author Camryn Garrett has a way with words, it’s as if she is talking directly to her teenage audience (yes I know I’m a little, okay a lot above the teenage years), but it is not surprising how her words come across when you realise that she wrote the book at just seventeen.
The book’s diverseness represents the world today. We have Simone being brought up by her two gay dads. One of her best-friends is queer and Simone herself is Bi.
The book talks openly about subjects that some YA books steer clear from, including sex, buying vibrators, masturbation, and a whole lot more. The book also covers subjects such as safe sex and sexual health as well as answering some of your questions about living with HIV.
All of the characters are realistic and wonderful to get to know and understand. If you are a teenager at school then this book will probably speak to you more than someone of my age and that is who the book is for. It is an amazing story mixed with factual information on lots of subjects teenagers might want to know about but are too scared or embarrassed to ask.
Overall the book is a poignant, heart-warming read that I simply adored from cover to cover. A fresh new voice in the YA market that truly knows her audience and is exceptionally relatable.
Teenager Simone has not had an easy life. She was born with HIV and has had to take antiretroviral medication daily to control the growth of the virus, plus all the hospital visits and group talks. She also had to move school after she told someone she thought she could trust about her HIV but the girl decided to spread it around and people began treating her differently, staying away from her, calling her names, etc.
At her new school, no-one knows, not even the teachers, or so she thought. When she starts dating Miles, Simone receives an anonymous letter telling her to stay away from him or the person will tell the school about her HIV.
Simone doesn’t want to be held to ransom about her illness, however, she also doesn’t want the whole school to find out and for her life to end up how it was at her old school.
There are two things about this book that hit me within a few chapters of reading it, the authors easy writing style and how diverse the book truly is.
Author Camryn Garrett has a way with words, it’s as if she is talking directly to her teenage audience (yes I know I’m a little, okay a lot above the teenage years), but it is not surprising how her words come across when you realise that she wrote the book at just seventeen.
The book’s diverseness represents the world today. We have Simone being brought up by her two gay dads. One of her best-friends is queer and Simone herself is Bi.
The book talks openly about subjects that some YA books steer clear from, including sex, buying vibrators, masturbation, and a whole lot more. The book also covers subjects such as safe sex and sexual health as well as answering some of your questions about living with HIV.
All of the characters are realistic and wonderful to get to know and understand. If you are a teenager at school then this book will probably speak to you more than someone of my age and that is who the book is for. It is an amazing story mixed with factual information on lots of subjects teenagers might want to know about but are too scared or embarrassed to ask.
Overall the book is a poignant, heart-warming read that I simply adored from cover to cover. A fresh new voice in the YA market that truly knows her audience and is exceptionally relatable.
Read
June 21, 2020CW: blackmail, HIV+ prejudice and stigma, racist microaggressions and fetishization.
I loved this book SO much. For a book that was less than 300 pages, this book did A LOT and it did it all well. First of all, I loved how well balanced it was, for every heavy topic, important discussion, we had a ridiculously funny situation or a happy moment. So even when the book was at its saddest, it never felt like it was overwhelming. Simone is so easy to love, I loved her voice and how effortlessly funny she is , I found myself giggling so many times throughout this book and her perspective just made me genuinely happy. I also LOVED how sex positive it was, and by sex positive I mean FOR EVERYONE, including asexual folks. One of Simone's best friends (Claudia) is an ace lesbian and while we see Simone explore her sexuality, I loved that she does so in such an open manner alongside her best friends, and that we also get to see Claudia talk about how yes there are some ace people who like sex, but she tried it and doesn't want it and that's okay. The other best friend's name is Lydia, she's bi, and I loved their little friend group and how they don't always see eye to eye but they balance each other out.
Then there's the romance which was just...so cute? and really felt like teenage love. I don't know how to explain it. I LOVED Miles, how open and unabashed he was about his crush on Simone, the way she never failed to show it to her and to tell her, and the way the two of them tease each other relentlessly. There was this scene towards the end that involved condoms that had me IN TEARS. If you read the book, you know what i'm talking about, but it was one of the cutest yet funniest scenes I've ever read.
Then we have the "biggest" topic in the book, which is that Simone is HIV+. This is the first YA I've ever read that explores this topic (Like a Love Story is next on my list) and I liked how it showed that HIV itself isn't the problem, that with the current medical advances and the way its treated, we are thousands of miles away from where we were in the 80+ losing people because of AIDS, that HIV+ people can lead normal healthy lives and die of old age, that this illness isn't the big deal people STILL make it out to be. But that the main issue that HIV+ people face is the stigma, ignorance and hate, because although medicine evolved, mentalities haven't and these people are still ostracized and shoved to the margins of societies, and for what reason? And this was really well shown in the way that Simone NEVER struggles with the fact that she's positive, she only struggles with her fear of the way other people will view and treat her once they know.
There's also an underlying theme throughout the book of Simone questioning her sexuality, knowing she's bi but still feeling not bi enough, like she has no claim to the label because of reason X, Y or Z, all of which her entirely internalized. I liked seeing that rep which is SO lacking in books, and also seeing Simone working through it while it never being a huge deal at the same time.
This was just all around an amazing read.
I loved this book SO much. For a book that was less than 300 pages, this book did A LOT and it did it all well. First of all, I loved how well balanced it was, for every heavy topic, important discussion, we had a ridiculously funny situation or a happy moment. So even when the book was at its saddest, it never felt like it was overwhelming. Simone is so easy to love, I loved her voice and how effortlessly funny she is , I found myself giggling so many times throughout this book and her perspective just made me genuinely happy. I also LOVED how sex positive it was, and by sex positive I mean FOR EVERYONE, including asexual folks. One of Simone's best friends (Claudia) is an ace lesbian and while we see Simone explore her sexuality, I loved that she does so in such an open manner alongside her best friends, and that we also get to see Claudia talk about how yes there are some ace people who like sex, but she tried it and doesn't want it and that's okay. The other best friend's name is Lydia, she's bi, and I loved their little friend group and how they don't always see eye to eye but they balance each other out.
Then there's the romance which was just...so cute? and really felt like teenage love. I don't know how to explain it. I LOVED Miles, how open and unabashed he was about his crush on Simone, the way she never failed to show it to her and to tell her, and the way the two of them tease each other relentlessly. There was this scene towards the end that involved condoms that had me IN TEARS. If you read the book, you know what i'm talking about, but it was one of the cutest yet funniest scenes I've ever read.
Then we have the "biggest" topic in the book, which is that Simone is HIV+. This is the first YA I've ever read that explores this topic (Like a Love Story is next on my list) and I liked how it showed that HIV itself isn't the problem, that with the current medical advances and the way its treated, we are thousands of miles away from where we were in the 80+ losing people because of AIDS, that HIV+ people can lead normal healthy lives and die of old age, that this illness isn't the big deal people STILL make it out to be. But that the main issue that HIV+ people face is the stigma, ignorance and hate, because although medicine evolved, mentalities haven't and these people are still ostracized and shoved to the margins of societies, and for what reason? And this was really well shown in the way that Simone NEVER struggles with the fact that she's positive, she only struggles with her fear of the way other people will view and treat her once they know.
There's also an underlying theme throughout the book of Simone questioning her sexuality, knowing she's bi but still feeling not bi enough, like she has no claim to the label because of reason X, Y or Z, all of which her entirely internalized. I liked seeing that rep which is SO lacking in books, and also seeing Simone working through it while it never being a huge deal at the same time.
This was just all around an amazing read.
May 30, 2020
Read as part of the PopSugar Reading Challenge 2020, to fill 38) A book by or about a journalist.
Oh. My fucking. God. I hated this book.
I wanted so much to like it. I even pre-ordered it (and I never do that). I was so ready to shower this book in praise. And then I read it. And it ruined all anticipation I had about or for it.
It's not a bad resource on facts about living with HIV, if you're looking for that. As long as you don't mind those facts being wrapped in oodles of unnecessary teenage drama, the least realistic situations ever committed to page, and a book that doesn't know what genre it is.
Let's go deeper. (There will be spoilers ahead, I tried to put them under spoiler cuts but it got too messy and confusing. Read at your own discretion.)
Things I hated about this book, an incomplete list:
The dialogue/general writing is awful
As I mentioned, I was very excited to read this book, so I went into it with an extremely open mind. My initial reaction upon my first session of reading (up to page 33) was that the dialogue was clunky but I was still hopeful. That hope didn’t last very long.
Claudia’s parents are super controlling, and they’ve been especially harsh since she came out as lesbian and ace. Her father had her sent to a mental hospital once - I shit you not. This is a real line from this book. There is no follow-up. There is no further explanation. Just this casual throwaway line, with an I shit you not, about one of the MC’s best friends being sent to a mental institution because of her sexuality. Are you fucking kidding me? Simone is also a fucking shithead to Claudia for most of this book and in the end Claudia is the one who ends up apologising too. This shit is toxic, y’all.
He takes my hand, turning it over. My brown fades into his. My note when finishing this chapter was: ‘That chapter ended on a fucking weird line, huh.’ I stand by it. I know, Simone is black. Miles is black. It’s a thing and they’re allowed to be proud of it. But you can’t tell me that’s not a fucking weird line.
My legs bunch against my chin as I crouch on top of the toilet, trying to avoid the water. WHAT DOES THIS EVEN MEAN. Why doesn't your school have toilet seats? When has sitting on a toilet ever meant you were near enough to the water to worry about it? So many of the sentences in this book leave me fucking baffled as to how they got published. Why wasn’t this edited differently, or, I don’t know, out. This book isn’t well-written.
Near the end of the book, once Simone’s secret is out, Miles tells her the whole thing wouldn't have happened if Simone wasn't hanging out with him. How exactly did he come to this conclusion? She never showed him the notes so the only information he’s working from is the tweet that outed her, which didn't mention him at all. So either 1. He’s extremely narcissistic, 2. He has actually been on Jesse's side all along, or 3. CONVENIENTLY KNOWS THINGS THE AUTHOR KNOWS BUT FORGOT HE DIDN'T KNOW. Hint: it’s #3. This book isn’t good.
This is only a few examples from so many options but so much of the text and almost all the conversations in this book feel very unnatural. It is not fun to read.
The situations are so unrealistic and contrived
If you need an example of how awkward and badly written this book is, I direct you no further than the chapter where they use fake IDs to visit a sex store and proceed to have a lot of loud conversations in the aisles about everything they're looking at. This is a real scene. I have nothing more to say about it other than I hated it.
About a third of the way into the book, Simone wakes up at 5am (after being up most of the night on the phone to Miles), and instead of going back to sleep like a normal teenager, she goes downstairs and has a chat with her father, who is also awake for some reason. Then she answers the phone to the aforementioned boyfriend, who was also up most of the night, and who is also awake for some reason. After which follows a long awkward conversation on loudspeaker where her father literally forces her to go on a date with Miles? None of this book makes any fucking sense I want to scream.
There’s a scene where Miles is kissing Simone with an ice cream cone in his hand. He specifically holds his hand away from her (the text even mentions that it’s out of her reach). Guess what? She somehow manages to: forget he’s holding an ice cream, find the hand that he’s holding away from her (without looking up or breaking the kiss), and awkwardly accidentally crush the ice cream between their hands. LITERALLY HOW IS THIS BOOK REAL?
At one point Miles randomly sits down on the floor in the school hallway to whip out his calf muscle and show Simone a massive scar on his leg. I don’t even know why. It happened super inorganically, as most everything does in this book. He then mentioned HIV out loud (she’s out to him by this point), and she replies in kind. Sure they were in an empty school corridor but uhhh her entire life has been about discretion. And suddenly she’s talking openly where literally anyone could overhear her. This sort of thing happens a lot. Simone acts like she’s concerned about stuff but then literally never takes action to prevent bad things happening to her.
When she gets outed (via Twitter), her drama teacher texts her. I’m? What? Nothing about that makes any sense what the fuck is this book.
And then two teachers spend a while arguing in front of Simone over whether or not they can use her being outed for their own personal gain. Because literally nothing that happens in this book is or has ever been real. None of these situations make sense. The only reason I’m not caps-lock-screaming is because I have been so deflated by how stupid this whole thing is.
After she gets outed, the school randomly assume a suspect (Miles), then call a meeting with: Simone, her parents, Miles (by the way, no explanation of why they assume he did this), his parents, and a bunch of school board members. In this meeting Simone tells the school Miles didn’t do anything wrong, then the school people ask Simone who actually did it. WHAT. THIS IS THE WRONG ORDER TO DO THESE THINGS. YOU ARE A SCHOOL. But again, this is just another contrived situation so Simone can meet Miles’ parents and they can be shitty to her about HIV and then Miles’ parents and Simone’s parents can have a stupid unrealistic shouting match for all the readers to cringe at.
People refuse to see the school show because Simone has HIV and worked on it and they're so bigoted or whatever. But... they do drive to the school (to a show they didn't intend to see), listen to Simone do a perfect unrehearsed TED talk (uhhhh that was incredibly unrealistic, but sure), then get back in their cars and drive home. WHY WERE THESE PEOPLE EVEN AT THE SCHOOL? (The answer is so Simone can give her perfect stupid summary monologue but that would make this situation extremely contrived oh WAIT.)
The book pretty much ends with a condom fight which Simone’s dads and best friends walk in on. There’s also a vibrator out on her bed. It’s basically the stupidest thing ever to be committed to page. I’m tired.
THE DRAMA
There’s a lot of friends-passive-aggressively-fighting-because-one-of-them-got-a-boyfriend. There’s nothing new about it. It’s just boring and over-done. The title is in caps lock because it was so stupid and prevalent. The text is so short because there’s nothing interesting to even mention.
The mystery sub-plot
This book had so much potential to be a cute coming-of-age romance with the added complication of the MC living with HIV. It did not need the weird mystery sub-plot. She’s being blackmailed, but only thinks about it every so often and ultimately does nothing to fight back at all and just lets the blackmail happen. Also the blackmailer (Jesse) gives her so much time to comply with the demand (which is: break up with Miles.) It ultimately boils down to Jesse being concerned for Miles’ safety, dating someone who is HIV positive. So why does he give her such a long time to comply? The longer he waits, the longer Miles is “exposed” to Simone’s disease. The whole thing makes no sense and the book would have worked so much better if it just picked one genre (YA romance) and stuck with that. She could have still been outed without it being a nonsense mystery storyline that even she didn’t care about that much.
Simone won't tell authority figures when she has a problem and then gets mad when it all goes to shit
There are a lot of things that annoy me in this book, but one of the most prevalent is that something bad is happening to me but I refuse to tell any authority figures or even friends and force the reader to endure my unnecessary stressing about the completely solvable situation instead. Because THAT MAKES THE MOST SENSE. I fucking hate characters like Simone.
Sex???
Simone and Miles give each other oral without protection and neither of them is the slightest bit concerned even though Simone spends 90% of this book freaking out about how safe it is to have sex with HIV. All of her doctors have told her to use protection. She admittedly does have an undetectable level of virus at this point but she’s still been told to wait six months before she does anything. It is mentioned later on that they are planning on having penetrative sex at six months. But we know that Simone knows that HIV can be passed on through vaginal fluid and she still lets him go down on her with no concern at all. This book makes me want to scream I swear to god. I can’t believe Miles didn’t at least get tested after. This book is BAD. AGHHHHHH.
The boys' redemption
All the asshole boys from this book get at least a redemption sentence thrown in. Why? Simone has made it clear throughout the whole book that she hates Ralph and that he’s the worst, but for some reason lets him into her house at the end of the book and then he’s completely nice for the rest of the story. Eric gets a weird line thrown in about smiling at her on the final day even though he’s disliked her throughout the whole book. And Jesse, the person who threatened her for months and then outed her as HIV positive to the entire school/internet, gets to write a whole fucking apology/explanantion letter (which is read by Simone/us the reader, and then never mentioned or thought about again).
Simone is a whiny asshole baby and she's one of those characters who constantly has people telling her she's great even when she isn't
Miles: I don't think anyone could hate you if they knew you.
Me: Nah mate I know Simone pretty intimately at this point and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that I absolutely hate her.
I was personally so excited about it
I find it really hard to dislike a book I've been so excited for. Every time I picked it back up I tried to be like maybe I could swing a two-star review for this, and then was promptly reminded that it is entirely garbage. I really wanted to love this book. It wouldn’t let me.
Oh. My fucking. God. I hated this book.
I wanted so much to like it. I even pre-ordered it (and I never do that). I was so ready to shower this book in praise. And then I read it. And it ruined all anticipation I had about or for it.
It's not a bad resource on facts about living with HIV, if you're looking for that. As long as you don't mind those facts being wrapped in oodles of unnecessary teenage drama, the least realistic situations ever committed to page, and a book that doesn't know what genre it is.
Let's go deeper. (There will be spoilers ahead, I tried to put them under spoiler cuts but it got too messy and confusing. Read at your own discretion.)
Things I hated about this book, an incomplete list:
The dialogue/general writing is awful
As I mentioned, I was very excited to read this book, so I went into it with an extremely open mind. My initial reaction upon my first session of reading (up to page 33) was that the dialogue was clunky but I was still hopeful. That hope didn’t last very long.
Claudia’s parents are super controlling, and they’ve been especially harsh since she came out as lesbian and ace. Her father had her sent to a mental hospital once - I shit you not. This is a real line from this book. There is no follow-up. There is no further explanation. Just this casual throwaway line, with an I shit you not, about one of the MC’s best friends being sent to a mental institution because of her sexuality. Are you fucking kidding me? Simone is also a fucking shithead to Claudia for most of this book and in the end Claudia is the one who ends up apologising too. This shit is toxic, y’all.
He takes my hand, turning it over. My brown fades into his. My note when finishing this chapter was: ‘That chapter ended on a fucking weird line, huh.’ I stand by it. I know, Simone is black. Miles is black. It’s a thing and they’re allowed to be proud of it. But you can’t tell me that’s not a fucking weird line.
My legs bunch against my chin as I crouch on top of the toilet, trying to avoid the water. WHAT DOES THIS EVEN MEAN. Why doesn't your school have toilet seats? When has sitting on a toilet ever meant you were near enough to the water to worry about it? So many of the sentences in this book leave me fucking baffled as to how they got published. Why wasn’t this edited differently, or, I don’t know, out. This book isn’t well-written.
Near the end of the book, once Simone’s secret is out, Miles tells her the whole thing wouldn't have happened if Simone wasn't hanging out with him. How exactly did he come to this conclusion? She never showed him the notes so the only information he’s working from is the tweet that outed her, which didn't mention him at all. So either 1. He’s extremely narcissistic, 2. He has actually been on Jesse's side all along, or 3. CONVENIENTLY KNOWS THINGS THE AUTHOR KNOWS BUT FORGOT HE DIDN'T KNOW. Hint: it’s #3. This book isn’t good.
This is only a few examples from so many options but so much of the text and almost all the conversations in this book feel very unnatural. It is not fun to read.
The situations are so unrealistic and contrived
If you need an example of how awkward and badly written this book is, I direct you no further than the chapter where they use fake IDs to visit a sex store and proceed to have a lot of loud conversations in the aisles about everything they're looking at. This is a real scene. I have nothing more to say about it other than I hated it.
About a third of the way into the book, Simone wakes up at 5am (after being up most of the night on the phone to Miles), and instead of going back to sleep like a normal teenager, she goes downstairs and has a chat with her father, who is also awake for some reason. Then she answers the phone to the aforementioned boyfriend, who was also up most of the night, and who is also awake for some reason. After which follows a long awkward conversation on loudspeaker where her father literally forces her to go on a date with Miles? None of this book makes any fucking sense I want to scream.
There’s a scene where Miles is kissing Simone with an ice cream cone in his hand. He specifically holds his hand away from her (the text even mentions that it’s out of her reach). Guess what? She somehow manages to: forget he’s holding an ice cream, find the hand that he’s holding away from her (without looking up or breaking the kiss), and awkwardly accidentally crush the ice cream between their hands. LITERALLY HOW IS THIS BOOK REAL?
At one point Miles randomly sits down on the floor in the school hallway to whip out his calf muscle and show Simone a massive scar on his leg. I don’t even know why. It happened super inorganically, as most everything does in this book. He then mentioned HIV out loud (she’s out to him by this point), and she replies in kind. Sure they were in an empty school corridor but uhhh her entire life has been about discretion. And suddenly she’s talking openly where literally anyone could overhear her. This sort of thing happens a lot. Simone acts like she’s concerned about stuff but then literally never takes action to prevent bad things happening to her.
When she gets outed (via Twitter), her drama teacher texts her. I’m? What? Nothing about that makes any sense what the fuck is this book.
And then two teachers spend a while arguing in front of Simone over whether or not they can use her being outed for their own personal gain. Because literally nothing that happens in this book is or has ever been real. None of these situations make sense. The only reason I’m not caps-lock-screaming is because I have been so deflated by how stupid this whole thing is.
After she gets outed, the school randomly assume a suspect (Miles), then call a meeting with: Simone, her parents, Miles (by the way, no explanation of why they assume he did this), his parents, and a bunch of school board members. In this meeting Simone tells the school Miles didn’t do anything wrong, then the school people ask Simone who actually did it. WHAT. THIS IS THE WRONG ORDER TO DO THESE THINGS. YOU ARE A SCHOOL. But again, this is just another contrived situation so Simone can meet Miles’ parents and they can be shitty to her about HIV and then Miles’ parents and Simone’s parents can have a stupid unrealistic shouting match for all the readers to cringe at.
People refuse to see the school show because Simone has HIV and worked on it and they're so bigoted or whatever. But... they do drive to the school (to a show they didn't intend to see), listen to Simone do a perfect unrehearsed TED talk (uhhhh that was incredibly unrealistic, but sure), then get back in their cars and drive home. WHY WERE THESE PEOPLE EVEN AT THE SCHOOL? (The answer is so Simone can give her perfect stupid summary monologue but that would make this situation extremely contrived oh WAIT.)
The book pretty much ends with a condom fight which Simone’s dads and best friends walk in on. There’s also a vibrator out on her bed. It’s basically the stupidest thing ever to be committed to page. I’m tired.
THE DRAMA
There’s a lot of friends-passive-aggressively-fighting-because-one-of-them-got-a-boyfriend. There’s nothing new about it. It’s just boring and over-done. The title is in caps lock because it was so stupid and prevalent. The text is so short because there’s nothing interesting to even mention.
The mystery sub-plot
This book had so much potential to be a cute coming-of-age romance with the added complication of the MC living with HIV. It did not need the weird mystery sub-plot. She’s being blackmailed, but only thinks about it every so often and ultimately does nothing to fight back at all and just lets the blackmail happen. Also the blackmailer (Jesse) gives her so much time to comply with the demand (which is: break up with Miles.) It ultimately boils down to Jesse being concerned for Miles’ safety, dating someone who is HIV positive. So why does he give her such a long time to comply? The longer he waits, the longer Miles is “exposed” to Simone’s disease. The whole thing makes no sense and the book would have worked so much better if it just picked one genre (YA romance) and stuck with that. She could have still been outed without it being a nonsense mystery storyline that even she didn’t care about that much.
Simone won't tell authority figures when she has a problem and then gets mad when it all goes to shit
There are a lot of things that annoy me in this book, but one of the most prevalent is that something bad is happening to me but I refuse to tell any authority figures or even friends and force the reader to endure my unnecessary stressing about the completely solvable situation instead. Because THAT MAKES THE MOST SENSE. I fucking hate characters like Simone.
Sex???
Simone and Miles give each other oral without protection and neither of them is the slightest bit concerned even though Simone spends 90% of this book freaking out about how safe it is to have sex with HIV. All of her doctors have told her to use protection. She admittedly does have an undetectable level of virus at this point but she’s still been told to wait six months before she does anything. It is mentioned later on that they are planning on having penetrative sex at six months. But we know that Simone knows that HIV can be passed on through vaginal fluid and she still lets him go down on her with no concern at all. This book makes me want to scream I swear to god. I can’t believe Miles didn’t at least get tested after. This book is BAD. AGHHHHHH.
The boys' redemption
All the asshole boys from this book get at least a redemption sentence thrown in. Why? Simone has made it clear throughout the whole book that she hates Ralph and that he’s the worst, but for some reason lets him into her house at the end of the book and then he’s completely nice for the rest of the story. Eric gets a weird line thrown in about smiling at her on the final day even though he’s disliked her throughout the whole book. And Jesse, the person who threatened her for months and then outed her as HIV positive to the entire school/internet, gets to write a whole fucking apology/explanantion letter (which is read by Simone/us the reader, and then never mentioned or thought about again).
Simone is a whiny asshole baby and she's one of those characters who constantly has people telling her she's great even when she isn't
Miles: I don't think anyone could hate you if they knew you.
Me: Nah mate I know Simone pretty intimately at this point and I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt that I absolutely hate her.
I was personally so excited about it
I find it really hard to dislike a book I've been so excited for. Every time I picked it back up I tried to be like maybe I could swing a two-star review for this, and then was promptly reminded that it is entirely garbage. I really wanted to love this book. It wouldn’t let me.
November 25, 2023
Read my full review on my blog, The Quiet Pond.
This is such a phenomenal debut and I am in awe of this book. I love so many things about it, and I can't remember the last time where I feel like I'm itching to write a full review about it, just so I can gush about everything in this book.
- Follows Simone, a Black teen who lives with HIV, who finds a note in her locker that threatens to out her secret of living with HIV unless she ends things with her crush, Miles.
- Oh, where do I begin? I did not know much about HIV going into this book, and I think Full Disclosure explores living with HIV and how it shapes a person's experience and life in a sensitive and genuine way. This book doesn't go out of its way to educate, but I think it offers well-researched insight of what it's like to be a teen, and experiencing teenagehood, who lives with HIV.
- I loved the relationships in this book; I loved that Simone's best friends, Lydia and Claudia (who are both Asian), are such an integral and important part of her life and don't exist in just the periphery. I also love Simone's fathers - they were overprotective but love her so much.
- I love how sex-positive this book is! It explores sex in such an open and authentic way, from its discussion about libido, having safe sex, and exploring your body.
- This book also explores sexuality as well. Claudia is an asexual lesbian, Lydia is bi, and Simone questions her sexuality - and later comes out as bisexual.
- MUSICALS! I've never been interested in musicals, but after reading this book, I feel like I want to watch Rent.
- Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. The prose is wonderful, in all its earnestness and vulnerability, and the story is sensitively told. I loved this book so much.
Trigger/content warning:
This is such a phenomenal debut and I am in awe of this book. I love so many things about it, and I can't remember the last time where I feel like I'm itching to write a full review about it, just so I can gush about everything in this book.
- Follows Simone, a Black teen who lives with HIV, who finds a note in her locker that threatens to out her secret of living with HIV unless she ends things with her crush, Miles.
- Oh, where do I begin? I did not know much about HIV going into this book, and I think Full Disclosure explores living with HIV and how it shapes a person's experience and life in a sensitive and genuine way. This book doesn't go out of its way to educate, but I think it offers well-researched insight of what it's like to be a teen, and experiencing teenagehood, who lives with HIV.
- I loved the relationships in this book; I loved that Simone's best friends, Lydia and Claudia (who are both Asian), are such an integral and important part of her life and don't exist in just the periphery. I also love Simone's fathers - they were overprotective but love her so much.
- I love how sex-positive this book is! It explores sex in such an open and authentic way, from its discussion about libido, having safe sex, and exploring your body.
- This book also explores sexuality as well. Claudia is an asexual lesbian, Lydia is bi, and Simone questions her sexuality - and later comes out as bisexual.
- MUSICALS! I've never been interested in musicals, but after reading this book, I feel like I want to watch Rent.
- Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. The prose is wonderful, in all its earnestness and vulnerability, and the story is sensitively told. I loved this book so much.
Trigger/content warning:
October 30, 2019
So, I’m not a Young Adult, but I’m an adult young at heart, so that’s my reasoning on choosing a YA book sometimes that catch my eye.
Simone has two dads.
She’s adopted.
She also has HIV.
With HIV she has had a troubled life, hospital care visits, stigma, diversity problems and a best friend revealing her status on HIV to an entire bunch of school pupils with results of her having to find a new placement in another school.
Is it happening again?
She and Miles strike up a good relationship. She needs to tell him.
Now she’s getting threatening notes in her school.
Who are they from?
I adored her two dads. Supportive, and at times like any parent wanting to protect their child from harm.
Simone has two really good best friends but that hit its troubles.
The relationship between Miles and Simone is so dam cute. I loved it.
It’s difficult enough growing up, becoming an adult without all that Simone has to deal with. I felt her pain often.
The authors writing is so good. Enough narrative and a nice lot of dialogue which I love.
This sensitive subject matter was handled so well I thought.
Simone has two dads.
She’s adopted.
She also has HIV.
With HIV she has had a troubled life, hospital care visits, stigma, diversity problems and a best friend revealing her status on HIV to an entire bunch of school pupils with results of her having to find a new placement in another school.
Is it happening again?
She and Miles strike up a good relationship. She needs to tell him.
Now she’s getting threatening notes in her school.
Who are they from?
I adored her two dads. Supportive, and at times like any parent wanting to protect their child from harm.
Simone has two really good best friends but that hit its troubles.
The relationship between Miles and Simone is so dam cute. I loved it.
It’s difficult enough growing up, becoming an adult without all that Simone has to deal with. I felt her pain often.
The authors writing is so good. Enough narrative and a nice lot of dialogue which I love.
This sensitive subject matter was handled so well I thought.
February 26, 2020
3.5/5stars
THIS IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT READ. PLEASE DON'T THINK 3 STARS IS BAD.
This book had so many incredibly important conversations about LGBT themes and being HIV positive. This book would be an excellent introduction to education on the subject.
But: this was not very well written. As I described it in my reading vlog, it felt like a textbook story. Ya know how theres sometimes a story that goes along with each chapter in a textbook where they use the same characters to explore new ideas or vocabulary or something? That's what this felt like - a textbook story of what happens to people who are born HIV positive.
Also it was a little unrealistic with how freaking responsible and sex positive and OPEN about sex these characters were. Maybe i'm just ancient nowadays but people did not talk or act like this in my high school LOL
THIS IS SUCH AN IMPORTANT READ. PLEASE DON'T THINK 3 STARS IS BAD.
This book had so many incredibly important conversations about LGBT themes and being HIV positive. This book would be an excellent introduction to education on the subject.
But: this was not very well written. As I described it in my reading vlog, it felt like a textbook story. Ya know how theres sometimes a story that goes along with each chapter in a textbook where they use the same characters to explore new ideas or vocabulary or something? That's what this felt like - a textbook story of what happens to people who are born HIV positive.
Also it was a little unrealistic with how freaking responsible and sex positive and OPEN about sex these characters were. Maybe i'm just ancient nowadays but people did not talk or act like this in my high school LOL
August 18, 2019
Being a teenager is hard enough, dealing with peer pressure and boyfriends, but Simone is also coping with moving to a new school and having HIV. She hasn’t told her two new best friends yet. She had to move school previously, she told a friend of her condition and then she told others.
Simone likes Miles but she is afraid to get too close to him. when she gets mystery notes forcing her to reveal to Miles about being HIV positive she is desperate to find out who knows her secret.
I really enjoyed this book. Simone is a strong very likeable character, it’s rare to read about a teenager being HIV positive and this was written in an honest and sensitive way.
Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.
Simone likes Miles but she is afraid to get too close to him. when she gets mystery notes forcing her to reveal to Miles about being HIV positive she is desperate to find out who knows her secret.
I really enjoyed this book. Simone is a strong very likeable character, it’s rare to read about a teenager being HIV positive and this was written in an honest and sensitive way.
Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a review.
December 25, 2020
I really liked this a lot. It deals with so many important issues, primarily living as an HIV positive person, but also sex-positivity, queer issues, being Black in America and how all these things intersect. Simone was a great protagonist, I love teenagers who are given room to mess up in YA books. I also thought the romance was super cute. My one issue is that I felt the reveal of the blackmailer was a little unsatisfying and I had some issues with how the reveal and the motivations were handled. But overall this was a great YA contemporary that I really enjoyed. Also the audiobook is well done.
April 13, 2023
J’ai tellement appris sur le VIH avec ce roman touchant, drôle, réaliste, romantique et addictif. Encore une fois, il s’agit d’un livre que j’ai lu en moins d’une journée! En plus, c’est plein de diversité : personnage principal noir, bisexuel, atteinte de VIH ; sans parler de tous les personnages secondaires gays, lesbiennes, ace, bi, latino, etc. Une petite pépite!
Read
May 21, 2020Understanding is uplifting and unifying. Understanding is underrated and underdone.
Starting over at a new school is never easy, but this time things will be different. This time Simone is making real friends, a name for herself as the student director of Rent, and maybe even falling in love with a boy who makes her feel like the queen of the world. The last thing she needs is for anyone to find out that she's HIV-positive, because the last time someone did, the fallout was unbearable.
Just as things are going normal and Simone's working up the courage to tell people, especially the boy of her dreams, she receives an anonymous note threatening to expose her if she doesn't break up with him.
Will Simone be able to take charge and control her own story, even if it means doing what she fears most and risking her first chance at love?
A story of fears, facts, and friends. Telling your truth can be awesome or alienating.
Trigger warnings for homophobia, blackmail, outing of an HIV character, racism, classism, sexism, loss of a loved one, and bullying.
Kind, slightly nervous Simone was determined to have a normal high school experience. Despite worries about people finding out she's HIV-positive, questions about her sexuality, and struggles as a student director, the bold Broadway lover never let anything hold her back. Her funny, flawed, and fierce voice let me begin to understand how difficult it is to live in a world where people instantly judge you for something they perceive as an instant threat to them. Her bravery was truly inspiring.
Facing fears frees or fractures friendships. Honesty was such a crucial and understandably terrifying thing as it wound its way around the dynamic, well rounded supporting cast. I adored the vulnerable conversations Simone had with them about her HIV and a number of other things, but the number of POC and openly LGBTQ+ characters had my heart exploding with joy.
Dating declares discussions, even the dreaded ones. Simone had my heart from page one, and watching her develop a crush and even more feelings for the love interest had me giddy. The awkwardness, the appreciation for each other, their adorable chemistry was so cute. But ultimately, their ability to have heart to heart talks alongside the light-hearted conversations melted my heart.
Ignorance isn't bliss. Ignorance let's fears, tears, and far more than leers run rampant. While they may not have been the most seamlessly integrated into the story, Camryn Garrett's debut fantastically combated stigmas surrounding the lives of HIV positive people, and normalizing desires for sex, lust, and love. Humor, and enough musical references to make any theater nerd swoon combined with sensitive discussions on sexuality, safe sex, masturbation, being queer, and more. Full Disclosure practically lept into my heart. I couldn't read this fast enough!
Full Disclosure, the world needs to read this book.
Starting over at a new school is never easy, but this time things will be different. This time Simone is making real friends, a name for herself as the student director of Rent, and maybe even falling in love with a boy who makes her feel like the queen of the world. The last thing she needs is for anyone to find out that she's HIV-positive, because the last time someone did, the fallout was unbearable.
Just as things are going normal and Simone's working up the courage to tell people, especially the boy of her dreams, she receives an anonymous note threatening to expose her if she doesn't break up with him.
Will Simone be able to take charge and control her own story, even if it means doing what she fears most and risking her first chance at love?
A story of fears, facts, and friends. Telling your truth can be awesome or alienating.
Trigger warnings for homophobia, blackmail, outing of an HIV character, racism, classism, sexism, loss of a loved one, and bullying.
Kind, slightly nervous Simone was determined to have a normal high school experience. Despite worries about people finding out she's HIV-positive, questions about her sexuality, and struggles as a student director, the bold Broadway lover never let anything hold her back. Her funny, flawed, and fierce voice let me begin to understand how difficult it is to live in a world where people instantly judge you for something they perceive as an instant threat to them. Her bravery was truly inspiring.
Facing fears frees or fractures friendships. Honesty was such a crucial and understandably terrifying thing as it wound its way around the dynamic, well rounded supporting cast. I adored the vulnerable conversations Simone had with them about her HIV and a number of other things, but the number of POC and openly LGBTQ+ characters had my heart exploding with joy.
Dating declares discussions, even the dreaded ones. Simone had my heart from page one, and watching her develop a crush and even more feelings for the love interest had me giddy. The awkwardness, the appreciation for each other, their adorable chemistry was so cute. But ultimately, their ability to have heart to heart talks alongside the light-hearted conversations melted my heart.
Ignorance isn't bliss. Ignorance let's fears, tears, and far more than leers run rampant. While they may not have been the most seamlessly integrated into the story, Camryn Garrett's debut fantastically combated stigmas surrounding the lives of HIV positive people, and normalizing desires for sex, lust, and love. Humor, and enough musical references to make any theater nerd swoon combined with sensitive discussions on sexuality, safe sex, masturbation, being queer, and more. Full Disclosure practically lept into my heart. I couldn't read this fast enough!
Full Disclosure, the world needs to read this book.
December 23, 2019
this book was so wonderful--such a lovely story of a really genuine and relatable teen and i'm SO excited to see what garrett writes next.
October 29, 2019
Thank you Netgalley and Random House Children for providing and ARC of this book for an honest review.
This book takes place in this day and age where HIV and Aids is around and we know more about the disease but people are still scared to be around people who have it. When Simone is transferred to a new school all she wants is to be normal and keep her secret. Then she is fast falling for a classmate Miles and she struggles with telling him the truth or keeping her secret. Then a mysterious letters start showing up in her locker and it says I know your secret. Leave Miles alone or else I will tell him.
I enjoyed this read. It was something different than other YA books you read out there. I loved the representation of her two dads. One Hispanic and the other one African american. Overall it was a good read.
This book takes place in this day and age where HIV and Aids is around and we know more about the disease but people are still scared to be around people who have it. When Simone is transferred to a new school all she wants is to be normal and keep her secret. Then she is fast falling for a classmate Miles and she struggles with telling him the truth or keeping her secret. Then a mysterious letters start showing up in her locker and it says I know your secret. Leave Miles alone or else I will tell him.
I enjoyed this read. It was something different than other YA books you read out there. I loved the representation of her two dads. One Hispanic and the other one African american. Overall it was a good read.
June 4, 2020
I loved that the author chose an HIV positive MC.
There are still so many stigmas attached to HIV & AIDS that it was a delight to read about a teenager just living life.
The writing and story are decent with enough drama to keep things interesting.
This is something I would LOVE to see added to high school health class syllabuses.
It is a wonderful way to start a conversation about HIV & AIDS (along with other important content) and get that information to teens in a digestible format.
There are still so many stigmas attached to HIV & AIDS that it was a delight to read about a teenager just living life.
The writing and story are decent with enough drama to keep things interesting.
This is something I would LOVE to see added to high school health class syllabuses.
It is a wonderful way to start a conversation about HIV & AIDS (along with other important content) and get that information to teens in a digestible format.
Read
June 11, 2019So good, so full of voice, so feels like it was written by an actual (brilliant) teen in all the best ways.
July 3, 2020
for once in my life, i actually preferred the love interest and romance over the friendships. how did that happen
June 23, 2021
Book 84 of 2021
Amazing amazing amazing
Wow. This is a perfect book that talks about so much, and through the YA gaze. It's a great resource for adults as well as young adults!
This is a YA book that deals with so many important issues, and it does so while being fun and not too overwhelming. It is triggering to some extent and deals with hard-hitting issues.
Simone is an HIV-positive teen girl in a new school, trying to balance a lot. This book has a lot of diverse rep, especially in terms of race and sexuality. It is also a book that explores sexual liberation for teen girls. We get to see bisexual and asexual rep, as well as an mlm relationship between the main character’s fathers.
A lot of myths and misinformation about HIV are explored in this book, as well as the reality which people living with HIV have to face on a day-to-day basis. This book has the main character dealing with questions about her identity and sexuality.
There is a 3-friend group at the heart of this book, and the author does a good job of exploring the highs and lows of that friendship dynamic. Adoption also plays a major role in this book. There is a lot of bullying and blackmail, and the author examines how people can get carried away with projecting their sadness and issues onto others.
The audiobook narrator, Adenrele Ojo, did a wonderful job here (as always!) and I loved her performance with the characters and their emotions.
The book closed out with a heartwarming author’s not that I loved so much, where the author shared a list of books for further reading, as well as a list of HIV activists doing amazing work.
I enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.
Amazing amazing amazing
Wow. This is a perfect book that talks about so much, and through the YA gaze. It's a great resource for adults as well as young adults!
This is a YA book that deals with so many important issues, and it does so while being fun and not too overwhelming. It is triggering to some extent and deals with hard-hitting issues.
Simone is an HIV-positive teen girl in a new school, trying to balance a lot. This book has a lot of diverse rep, especially in terms of race and sexuality. It is also a book that explores sexual liberation for teen girls. We get to see bisexual and asexual rep, as well as an mlm relationship between the main character’s fathers.
A lot of myths and misinformation about HIV are explored in this book, as well as the reality which people living with HIV have to face on a day-to-day basis. This book has the main character dealing with questions about her identity and sexuality.
There is a 3-friend group at the heart of this book, and the author does a good job of exploring the highs and lows of that friendship dynamic. Adoption also plays a major role in this book. There is a lot of bullying and blackmail, and the author examines how people can get carried away with projecting their sadness and issues onto others.
The audiobook narrator, Adenrele Ojo, did a wonderful job here (as always!) and I loved her performance with the characters and their emotions.
The book closed out with a heartwarming author’s not that I loved so much, where the author shared a list of books for further reading, as well as a list of HIV activists doing amazing work.
I enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it.
November 25, 2019
3.5 - Simone is HIV+ but hasn’t told any of her friends at her new school. When she starts dating a boy she knows she’ll need to tell him eventually. But before long someone is leaving threatening notes in her locker saying that she needs to dump Miles or else they’ll reveal her positive status.
I think this book does a lot of stuff really well. It has open discussions about sex, being queer, asexuality, masturbation, HIV, and race. It really puts the reader in Simone’s mindset of how scary it can be to have something about you that people instantly hate and are ignorant to the actual facts. Simone was a well rounded character, and I really enjoyed the family dynamic between her and her 2 dads.
The blackmailing plot fell kinda flat for me, I feel like this story could’ve been so much stronger if that part of the plot was reworked. Also, at times the medical information came across as infodumps. I think it can be difficult to seamlessly integrate conversations with doctors and medical stuff into a novel without it feeling like “now I am going to teach the reader a lesson.” But the lesson is important, so I don’t want to fault the book too much for that.
There’s a lot to love about this book and praise it for. It’s a strong debut, even if there are some aspects that weren’t totally perfect for me.
I think this book does a lot of stuff really well. It has open discussions about sex, being queer, asexuality, masturbation, HIV, and race. It really puts the reader in Simone’s mindset of how scary it can be to have something about you that people instantly hate and are ignorant to the actual facts. Simone was a well rounded character, and I really enjoyed the family dynamic between her and her 2 dads.
The blackmailing plot fell kinda flat for me, I feel like this story could’ve been so much stronger if that part of the plot was reworked. Also, at times the medical information came across as infodumps. I think it can be difficult to seamlessly integrate conversations with doctors and medical stuff into a novel without it feeling like “now I am going to teach the reader a lesson.” But the lesson is important, so I don’t want to fault the book too much for that.
There’s a lot to love about this book and praise it for. It’s a strong debut, even if there are some aspects that weren’t totally perfect for me.
January 15, 2020
One of my Christmas gifts!
I have a good feeling about this one 💖.
I have a good feeling about this one 💖.
January 9, 2020
I enjoyed this book. While it required some suspense of disbelief via some scenes (e.g. more people than not accepting her disclosure), the book is heartfelt and well-researched. Camryn Garrett performed a great feat of writing about a topic many refuse to touch to this day.
She discussed HIV, disclosure and its possible consequences, sexual orientation and its various forms, sexuality, responsible sexuality (e.g. condom usage), racism, classism, and gentrification. She offers, in a manner to which her audience will ingest, a pathway to further discussion of said topics.
Well-worth a read.
4/5
She discussed HIV, disclosure and its possible consequences, sexual orientation and its various forms, sexuality, responsible sexuality (e.g. condom usage), racism, classism, and gentrification. She offers, in a manner to which her audience will ingest, a pathway to further discussion of said topics.
Well-worth a read.
4/5
August 16, 2024
3,5⭐️/5⭐️
March 23, 2018
now that this is FINALLY announced I can write a little thing about it:
i love this book more than life itself, lets be real. I've never read a book like it.
Searing with heart and filled to the brim with humor, Camryn Garrett's debut is a needed addition to the YA canon and is absolutely unputdownable, unforgettable, and so incredibly special.
full disclosure: i came up with the title for this book. you seriously won't want to miss it.
i love this book more than life itself, lets be real. I've never read a book like it.
Searing with heart and filled to the brim with humor, Camryn Garrett's debut is a needed addition to the YA canon and is absolutely unputdownable, unforgettable, and so incredibly special.
full disclosure: i came up with the title for this book. you seriously won't want to miss it.
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