Heretics Anonymous

I'm so mad about how much time I wasted reading this.
It's getting closer to winter here in Australia and it's good to know I have kindling for a fire.

funny, thoughtful, quick, and i think overall pretty unique in its focal point, especially in ya. also would like to point out im a massive sucker for parents admitting to their children that they???ve made mistakes, so kudos for that.

A fun read about life, adapting, acceptance, and forgiveness.
The days go by quickly as the main character settles into his new school. You may be able to read this whole book in a few hours.

An interesting story about a bunch of students who don't fit in. The characters were interesting, but only the main character had any development.

I read halfway into this book but just couldn't continue it due to the main characters being so annoying. I tried to ignore it and read on but it just doesn't work for me but I thought the side characters were better!

Beyond an amusing premise, Heretics Anonymous tackles heavier issues. How parents let their children down. How assumptions we have about religion (or lack thereof) manifest as assumptions about the (non-)religious. The various ways to make change, inside and outside of organizations, by staying or leaving. Does religion have room for certain ideas and people? If history suggests the contrary, can room be made?

Henry is obviously passionate and knowledgeable about this topic. She approaches a difficult subject with lots of layers. The characters call one another out for different reasons. Lucy calls out Michael for being condescending and presuming people of faith lack critical thinking skills. Eden calls out Lucy for treating her faith as more reasonable and valid than what Eden believes. Avi and Jenny call out their peers who misunderstand the true impact of Ms. Simon being fired. The list goes on. These moments of tension strengthen the story.

I like a young adult book where young characters are still portrayed with wisdom and dignity. Many of Henry's teen characters are reactive, but they're also insightful and brave. They use their voices to challenge themselves and their friends. They stop and listen to one another and recognize when they've misjudged or overstepped. They help adult authority figures consider different perspectives.

In tone this reminds me of Darius the Great is Not Okay and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda. It made me laugh but it also hurt me a little at some points. The ending was somewhat underwhelming, but I think the text as a whole was done well, and that's thanks to the author approaching a loaded topic with the right mix of reverence and irreverence.

I appreciate this book, but have to confess I didn't enjoy it all too much. I liked the premise of the book, and yet I rarely felt engaged. I, predictably, liked the portions that reminded me of books like [b:Moxie 33163378 Moxie Jennifer Mathieu https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1494950979s/33163378.jpg 46824140] and [b:The Nowhere Girls 28096541 The Nowhere Girls Amy Reed https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1507458184s/28096541.jpg 48100738] – where students start underground movements to create change in their schools, and face the danger of discovery. However, I came away feeling like the author felt the best response to injustice was a strongly worded petition. This could be a misread, but the group's efforts seemed to be portrayed as too radical based on a chance that the wrong person might be blamed through circumstantial evidence for an underground paper and some graffiti. I guess I just don't want to see a book targeted to younger readers that encourages them to follow the rules and only work within a broken system, and that's what this felt like – point out injustices up until their might be repercussions. The relationships, other than the romantic relationship, could have used more attention, making the portrayals a bit superficial. Of course, this is just me, others might enjoy HA more, and get more out of it, but this book had a lot of hype behind it which, upon reading, I'm not sure it earned.