Say a Little Prayer is a queer YA rom-com by Jenna Voris set at church camp (4.25/5 stars)

Say a Little Prayer is a queer YA rom-com by Jenna Voris set at church camp.

I borrowed the audiobook from my local library and had a blast reading this book. The narrator does a phenomenal job and really kept my interest!

When I initially saw this cover, I immediately thought of the movie Saved, which is one of my favorites. The vibes are similar, and while I was reading it also reminded me a little bit of the movie Easy A in some ways. I think if you enjoyed Casey McQuiston’s I Kissed Shara Wheeler you’ll especially like this one too.

I went to a religious day camp while I was growing up. The camp in this book is definitely more overtly religious than the one I went to, but I do remember memorizing bible verses over my many years of attendance. My camp thankfully focused more on experiencing the divine in nature, and I loved having fun canoeing and kayaking, running around in the woods building forts, as well as surpassing all of my Red Cross swimming levels.

Some YA books feel a little on the younger side for me which makes it harder to hold my interest. I did not have that issue at all with this book, though the characters feel very true to age. The bad guy of the book is the pastor leading the church camp, and he can be a little too mustache-twirling at times. Thankfully, Riley’s family accepts and loves her the way she is.

That being said, I had such a fun time reading this book! I would love to see it turned into a movie someday.

Rep: queer (bisexual, lesbian) MCs

Tropes: friends to lovers, forced proximity, forbidden love

CW: abortion (prior to book, referenced a few times), homophobia, religious trauma

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