The Miseducation of Cameron Post acts like two different novels packed into one almost 500 page tome. And yes, I said 500 pages. Well, more like 470 but close enough. The first part features a landscape of sepia tone Montana backdrops and long luxurious romps through old lake beds and half remembered romances. The other half is a sterile and gray imprisonment in a school designed to fix those who have experienced "inappropriate sexual attraction to the wrong gender".
I honestly fell in love with the Miseducation of Cameron Post. Cameron was one of the more realistic characters I've read in a lot time. After dealing with the death of her parents (which she initially associates with God rebuking her for kissing a girl) she hides her real feelings behind sarcastic humor, smokes pot with the guys in her town, and decorates a doll house her dad made for her before his death.
Cameron was one of those characters that you could see being your best friend, which it why it hurts when her family and the girl she loves turns against her and send her away. Cam endears herself to the reader. You become her confidante, the one person she can express her love for Coley to, the one who she can cry to about when Irene Klauson treats her like nothing, the person that gets angry for her as she's sent away to God's Promise school, a place meant to "de-gay" troubled youth by using mental warfare to teach students that everything they love is wrong. It's heartbreaking and the entire time you feel her anguish.
The first part of the story has all the earmarks of a coming out love story starting with Cam's first crush; Irene, Cam's "lesbian fairy godmother" Lindsey, the older college love Mona, and finally Coley; the one who broke Cam's heart. Coley is straight and very sweet to Cam and even has the idea that Cam loves her but only uses her for experimentation before getting scared and turning her in to their pastor. Lindsey acts as Cam's foil by being loud and out and rejecting of many 1990's lesbian stereotypes while also giving Cam someone to cling to while fighting her feelings for Coley.
The second part turns into a detailed diary showing the inner workings of de-gaying programs shown on news shows. It doesn't seem completely real at times but still Cam acts as the reader's connection to her inner thoughts, showing how the program works to try and tear her apart. Thankfully the entire beginning of the novel sets up to show just how strong Cam can be, giving the reader hope that at the end of those 470 pages she will still be the strong girl they fell in love with.
Despite her time at Promise school the book is actually very uplifting and inspiring. Even for non-LGBT readers this book is empowering. It shows a girl who, while getting off to a rocky start with her life, becomes strong in her belief in herself. She isn't beaten by God's Promise, she rises above her insane aunt and the anger of her past, and she starts to look forward to the life she can build for herself.
There have been very few books that I've power read through and considering that I read all 470 pages of this in less than three days that definitely says something. My overall rating? A solid five stars. It's well written,
witty, down to earth with a strong and endearing female lead who is a
great boon for the LGBT community.
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