The Miseducation of Cameron Post by Emily M. Danforth

Synopsis (from Goodreads) 

Pages: 480

Publisher: Penguin 

Released: 16th of August 2018 (first published 2012) 

The night Cameron Post's parents died, her first emotion was relief. Relief they would never know that hours earlier, she'd been kissing a girl.

Now living with her conservative Aunt in small-town Montana, hiding her sexuality and blending in becomes second nature to Cameron until she begins an intense friendship with the beautiful Coley Taylor.

Desperate to 'correct' her niece, Cameron's Aunt takes drastic action.

Now Cameron must battle with the cost of being her true-self even if she's not completely sure who that is.

Trigger Warnings: homophobia, conversion camp, d slur, parent death

What I Have to Say 

This is such an important book, but I'm sad to say I found it a bit slow. I felt like I was always waiting for something to happen. I think it's because it's not the sort of book that I normally read. It's not written to be full of action. It's written to show a girl exploring her sexuality in the place where most people would look at that sexuality as a sin. 

Other than the pace, it was really good. The characters were well crafted. Cameron herself is such a perfect character for the subject matter. It was great to see her develop throughout the book.Though Ruth is a character full of judgement, I really liked the way she was described throughout the book. It was obvious that she did do what she felt was best. It really showed that the parents that send their kids away to be "fixed" often do think it is the best for them, even though they are so completely misguided. It's so easy to paint these homophobic parents as hateful, so it was really interesting to see the relationship between Cam and Ruth. 

The camp was interesting too. I was expecting more of a boot camp, when in fact the conversion was more subtle. It was really scary how the concepts they were introducing to Cameron sunk into her head, even though she wasn't engaging with it like some of the other kids there. 

I would have preferred more action, but this is not a book meant to sensationalise. It's a thorough exploration of identity and sexuality told from the point of view of a beautiful character. 

My thanks got to Netgalley and Penguin for providing me with a copy for review.