Title provided via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

I think what got me was the fact that the author did not do her research. Having been through some panels about representation and ownvoice, I feel like the author simply tried. Her life experiences speak more to this than that of the characters in this story.

It was inconsistent and just not believable. I recognize that experiences are the same, but some of the things in this story were a head-scratcher. I won't go out and say that a straight female has no place in writing LGBTQIA YA novels, but that if one does, there needs to be a proper amount of research into it. The story read very much like she didn't know personally how anti-LGBT interactions can go and how the target would feel emotionally. There was just a lot of misalignment with the characters and how they felt, and reacted. I was just outright disappointed from the go on this one.

It was a hard to get into, I don't know, maybe because of my reading slump but eventually it did get better. Much better.

However, I didn't like some aspects so for me it's going to 3.5 stars.

I found this one a bit over-simplified. It did explore some issues that the previous volume may have raised for the reader. Like the imbalance of a friendship based on an act of heroism. The transition between tolerance and true acceptance. We see a range of characters who experience some growth. The love story, though, is an obvious and simple arc.

A heartfelt love letter to lgtbq+ people who are growing up/ grew up in small towns and can't seem to find a space for them. A book filled with hard truth and hope.

An increasingly popular theory applied to all novels, but YA in particular, is that of “own voices”. An individual reader’s mileage may vary, particularly if the voice that is being mimicked is their own. The Stone Rainbow is a novel about a depressed, anxious, and closeted teenage boy, written by Canadian Liane Shaw, a “crazy proud grandma”. It is safe to say that The Stone Rainbow is not an Own Voices work. The sequel to Caterpillars Don’t Swim, which this reviewer has not read, The Stone Rainbow is a curious work uncertain of its true audience.

Jack Pedersen is the only gay in the small town of Thompson Mills, or so he suspects. When his school gets a new Vice Principal, she brings her son Benjamin with her, and suddenly Thompson Mills’ theoretical homosexual population is doubled. Benjamin’s open way of living inspires Jack to revolutionise the way he relates to the world around him.

It seems that you do not have to have read Caterpillars Don’t Swim to follow The Stone Rainbow, as Shaw recounts multiple of its events multiple times. They sound like readers of The Stone Rainbow are missing a party, because there’s not much happening in this anaemic book. Characters can get away with casual homophobia while also being accused of homophobia for something that really isn’t the same thing; Jack isn’t really a person so much as a ball of misguided angst, and we only know that his friends are his friends because Shaw says that they are: there’s no real evidence either way.

The Stone Rainbow touches on sensitive topics like ableism and suicide, but pays them little more than lip service. The clumsy treatment of Ryan’s cerebral palsy partly comes down to the narrator’s own ignorance, which he tries to combat, so it doesn’t seem like bad faith on Shaw’s part. Shaw’s inexperience shows with her basic binary treatment of sexuality and gender; she has written characters who are more fluid than her language allows and, for a book about pleading for understanding, none of the characters really understand themselves or their backwards town.

It is not fair to single Liane Shaw out for not being an Own Voices writer, as many of the big names in modern gay YA are women. You can tell that Shaw is not of the same generation as them because none of her characters are interested in Harry Potter - but they’re not really interested in anything else, either. If the book is so general that it stands for nothing beyond a vague desire to “stop bullying”, at least it’s not offensive. If there’s one thing that young queer people have now that they didn’t in the past, it’s reading options; The Stone Rainbow will not slake their thirst.

The most charitable reading of The Stone Rainbow is that it is an anodyne piece not for teens, gay or otherwise, but rather for the well-meaning but somewhat sheltered older people in their lives. Undernourished, with a narrative voice thick with contempt for itself and its environment, The Stone Rainbow is a tough book to crack, and it’s only really possible to get there because it is so short.

Arc provided by NetGalley. Jackson is a senior in a very small town. He is in the closet and has recently attempted suicide because he isn’t able to be himself. His town is homophobic and he has been bullied and even attacked. He is friends with Ryan, another senior with Cerebral palsy. He is wheelchair bound. He saved jack
From drowning when he jumped off a bridge. Things change significantly when new student arrives. Benjamin is out and doesn’t want to change how he lives. Jackson has a huge crush on Benjamin but doesn’t know how to express it. He and Benjamin become close friends and go out on a semi date. They are on a bike ride when Benjamin is attacked and almost killed because of his sexuality. Jackson saves him and the decides to throw a gay pride parade Benjamin’s honor. The day of the parade they finally kiss and to
Their surprise get a large turnout to
Their parade. I really enjoyed this book. I love Jackson , Benjamin, and Ryan and all
Of their friends and family. I was rooting for them to Get together and for Jackson to be able to be himself.

A book about being yourself is something everyone needs. Hopeful, uplifting, this books hits the feels in so many ways. I think everyone feels alone at some point in their lives. Having to feel like you need to hide who you are breaks my heart but this book is all about found families and being who you are meant to be.

I wanted to like this book. I really did. I tried so hard but alas, I didn't like it. I really didn't like it. At all. Even typing out the synopsis annoyed me to be honest and it reminds me how much I didn't like this book?
Let's talk about the characters first. They had absolutely no depth. They had situations happen to them, but no depth. They were bland, boring, predictable. The main character Jack, was so annoying. I've never read such a whiny character. Which is very upsetting as we share the same first name. They also weren't described very much, I have no idea what anyone looked like. How can you expect a story to be good without great characters?
Now, let's talk about the romance. Well, the attempt at romance. Once I got over the awful trope of instalove, I thought I might buy into the romance but it didn't happen. Jack fell in love with Benjamin after one conversation, and it was so pathetic. It also didn't help me to find Jack less annoying. They had absolutely no chemistry, Benjamin (the love interest) had no personality. The author clearly tried to make him come across as charming, but he jus came across as dull. Just ugh.
Plot? Does this book even know what that is? You just knew how this book was going to end the moment it began. They'd end up together, the pride parade would go well, he'd recover from the accident. Blah, blah, blah. This book wanted to show the struggles and the harshness to being gay, but only showed them on the surface. Then gave it all a happy (but rubbish) ending.
This book had so many cliches. In fact I think it was one whole big cliche. The romance, the bullies, the parent situation, the ending. Obviously this book gets points for diversity, with its queer characters, but even they were walking cliches. It did have a character with cerebral palsy, who was in a wheelchair, and I thought that was written well. Probably the best character and best thing about this book.
So like I said it's predictable, cliched, bland, boring. I'm afraid I wouldn't recommend this one at all. Don't waste your time, there's better LGBT+ books out there that will challenge you, make you think, believe in love. Read those, not this.

"Intolerance, disrespect, racism, homophobia, misogyny, bullying, [...] all wiped out by one single command. Be kind."

The Stone Rainbow by Liane Shaw is a book that handles several difficult topics at once: suicide, identity, bullying, homophobia, coming of age. Those are topics that can be difficult to talk about but may resonate with many young adults that have personal experience with these.

I felt that at times, the story was too simplified. I didn't feel like this came from an author that had personal experience with being homosexual and coming out, and I find this to be the sort of story that needs to be told by someone that truly understands the ups and downs of this experience.

But still, I feel that this book fills a need. There need to be more stories about the issues teenagers are facing. Staying quiet and acting like these things don't happen don't do any good for anybody so I applaud Shaw for pulling them into the spotlight so more people know we are ready and wanting to hear more, to learn more.

Jack definitely showed character growth in this story cute story of accepting himself for who he is and who he loves. I also felt that both Ryan and Cody showed maturing and acceptance that was needed to accept the fact that Jack would want to keep them in his life, that they are friends/acquaintances that he should want to keep around because they like him for who he is, not in spite of who he is.

I received a digital advanced reader copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this book, but if I am being honest.. I almost DNF’d it. It just really did not sit well with me. This book was so obviously written by a straight person who has never identified with the struggles and issues that members of the LGBTQIA+ community has faced.
And what was up with Jack’s homophopic friend (and why the heck was Jack just accepting of his homophobia?!)
I had an almost impossible time connecting with Jack, well with any of the characters really. The dialogue was super confusing and I had a hard time figuring out who exactly was saying what. I had to reread most of the dialogue.
I did rather enjoy Jack’s growth throughout the book. And I did love that some bigger topics were addressed. I do want to add that this book needs a trigger warning. The Stone Rainbow contains suicide/suicide attempts/suicidal thoughts and that should be known before picking this title up to read.

**Thank you to Second Story Press, Netgalley, and Liane Shaw for providing me an ebook copy of The Stone Rainbow in exchange for an honest review**

Trigger Warning: homophobia, suicidal ideation, violent acts

Jack is a high school senior who is going through a lot. He lives in a very conservative, small town that doesn't accept who he is as a homosexual male. He was saved by his friend Ryan after walking into a river without being able to swim. Unclear if he was trying to commit suicide, but he was very overwhelmed about not being himself. Now he's known as the suicidal, gay kid, which isn't the best in high school. He is just trying to keep his head down and make it to graduation.

That is, until Benjamin shows up as the new Vice Principal's kid, and Benjamin is out and <em>proud</em>. Jack is instantly attracted to Benjamin but has no idea how to be attracted to someone, or even date someone. Benjamin also has these crazy ideas about bringing their small town out of the dark ages - like hosting a Pride Parade. Jack has to face his fears about homophobia and expressing himself. When the unimaginable happens, Jack is forced to make a choice...

The Stone Rainbow was a good representation of many areas of the United States. It's a coming of age story that I'm sure many can relate to and find comfort in. It brings up a conversation around sexuality that has been growing over the last few decades in this country.

I did enjoy this book but it did not wow me. Worth a read, and those who really enjoy contemporaries will enjoy this. There is awesome LGBTQIA and disability representation here, with most of the main cast falling into either category.

I got an ARC of this book.

This seemed like it would be a sweet and easy to read romance. I could totally get behind some fluff and wonderful boy love. I was ready. 

The book was just poorly written and edited. There was little to no distinction for who was saying what. There were drastic scene jumps and at one point a huge time jump that was not really made obvious by even a blank line between paragraphs. The book just was difficult to follow. It read like a teenager's NaNoWriMo book. It could have been amazing, but it was clearly written in a rush and needed to be edited and have a lot of work done. 

The bad writing really got in the way of so much of the story. The dialogue was totally stilted and not how teens sound at all. Have you ever heard a grandparent try and use slang? That is about the level of in tune with actually humans that this dialogue was. The MC was the stream of consciousness narrator. So every word is his version of the story and his thoughts, which was completely unbelievable. Name one teenage boy who thinks in weird cliches and spends a whole paragraph talking about the light in someone's eyes during a conversation.

The characters were really flat. There were a ton of characters that appeared off page, but didn't really have any face time. Yet they were the most fleshed out characters. I felt like I was dropped in the middle of a first draft  of a second book in a series and told to read without having read the first book. There are long distance romances and brothers and stuff that just aren't introduced in a way that makes sense. 

Don't even get me started on the just parody of homophobia that is supposed to pass as real teenagers or the abelism of the main character towards his best friend. I don't understand why they were even friends. They don't seem to like each other. They have no reason to stick together. They are barely even pleasant to each other. 

The idea of the plot was one I would love. This was an ok first draft of a book. I wish there had been more effort put into making it readable. I wanted this story.

4* A nicely done tale that was very close to being a 5* one for me.

This isn't a romance but it has the start of one that I'd have liked to see later down the line. Tbh, the abrupt ending of the tale, which admittedly ties in with the blurb, lost this tale 1* for me, as there was so much that I was curious about. I wanted to know if the townsfolk had changed after the Pride parade, and if there'd be another parade the following year. If the baddie of the tale had had his comeuppance. If the close-minded mayor had had his eyes opened. If Jack's Hispanic mother had managed to further accept him and find common ground with what she'd been taught by her church for her whole life. What happened to Benjamin following the incident in the tale. Whether the guys left for college together, and much more.

It's a good tale, don't get me wrong, and I was invested in the characters and their lives in small-town, not-exactly-bigoted-but-ignorant-via-a-lack-of-education-and-understanding America, and I wanted to see if the guys were able to go on and be their true selves and live their true lives in modern-day USA. I didn't get to see any of that, but that's on me and my expectations, as the author delivered what she said she would. The tale was so good that I just wanted a bit more.

ARC courtesy of Second Story Press and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

I was drawn to this book due to the colorful cover page because it shouted LGBTQ+ to me so I knew I wanted to read it. After getting a chance to read the short description about this book I knew I wanted a chance to read it. I always attempt to read all YA books that have LGBTQ+ themes so I was happy to get a chance to read this book.

The Stone Rainbow is about Jack who is a teenager living in a small town who is in the middle of coming out to those closest to him. Jack becomes the center of attention for everyone in the small town of Thomas Mills after he wanders too far into the river while not knowing how to swim. Early on in the book, Jack encounters a new student, Benjamin, who just happens to be gay and develops an instant crush on him. Through the rest of the story, Jack relieves moments of his life that are part of his coming out story and continues discovering who he is and who he wants to be in the eyes of others.

I was so happy that I continued reading this even after I was a bit thrown off by the cliques and coincidences in the beginning. By the end of the story, there were so many moments that had me crying either because of how cruel they were or because of how heartfelt they were. I loved watching as Jack developed as a character and allowed himself to be vulnerable around others because that was what made me feel close to this story. It was watching events unfold not just through Jack's eyes but as if you were there that really made me care about these characters.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

Jack Pedersen feels alone in his small town of Thompson Mills. He doesn't know anyone else in town who is gay; his mom tries to be OK with it, but he knows she is still struggling because of her religion. Jack has only one friend, Ryan, who saved Jack's life last year, and Jack never knows if they are really friends, or if Ryan feels the need to babysit the kid he saved so that Jack doesn't try to kill himself again. Then, Benjamin moves to town, and Jack is instantly smitten. With Benjamin's help, Jack begins to believe that maybe it is worth coming fully out of the closet, even in his small town, to be true to himself. Jack takes it a step farther than he ever expected he would and even organizes his town's first Pride event.

This was a quick, sweet story that is more character growth-oriented than romance. I didn't realize until finishing the book that this is a sequel to <i>Caterpillars Can't Swim</i>; however, it read easily as a standalone. I believe this is the first book I have read where the protagonist enjoys cross-dressing. That is something I haven't seen make its way into a lot of fiction yet. I enjoyed seeing the way people from all of the state (I'm assuming; cities a few hours away, at any rate) came together to support Thompson Mills' Pride parade. It reminded me of when my hometown put on their inaugural Pride event in 2018. While Columbus isn't the tiny town Thompson Mills is, we did receive a lot of national attention and support due to the fact that it is also the hometown of Vice President Pence, who doesn't support LGBTQ+ rights. I would love a third book in the series to see how things go for Jack in college.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

I really thought I was going to enjoy this book, however, there are so many issues in this novel that I
just cannot support.

#1 The fact that Jack's best friend is friends with someone who is homophobic and Jack just sits there and pretends like everything is fine. I think if you have a gay friend or even, in general, know someone who is gay, having a homophobic friend is not "fine". You shouldn't make your other friends feel uncomfortable just because "well he's nice some of the time." I mean really come on!

#2 Ryan having Cerebral Palsy seemed like a quick detail that would make some of the other characters look better. In the book, they speak of how he doesn't like to be treated differently, but then they do treat him different or get mad when he won't let them. People with disabilities aren't in the world so that able-bodied people can feel better when they end up helping them out.

#3 You can tell this book was written by a straight author. The fact that Jack is gay wasn't my issue it was that he had a tragic backstory which sucked! Why do all LGBTQ+ characters need a tragic backstory, why can't they just have trouble maybe coming out or finding a date like every other straight book? Why do they need to be born and raised or live in a place that is extremely homophobic, or have homophobic parents? Now I know this is a reality for some kids, but I know lots of parents that wouldn't care if their kid was straight or gay. Just one happy story about being gay and living life would be nice.

#4 The writing in this book threw me off. I couldn't get into it, there was dialogue but no idea who was speaking, there was information dumps...in a contemporary!!!! The writing style to me just didn't flow the way that it should've and it definitely impeded on my reading enjoyment.

All in all, I give this book 2/5 stars. I see that the author tried to make a good book about hope and becoming who you are, I just don't think it was done properly. It could've been done so much better, and with a much happier tone to it.

This is my opinion and no one else's. I understand that some people may truly love this book, and if you did that's awesome!!! I know someone somewhere will definitely enjoy this book, as a person who reads books and is critical in some reviews, I just couldn't rate it any higher.

This book is about Jack who is a gay teenager living in a small town. He has only come out to a handful of people, including his Mom, and is scared of what everyone will think if they find out he's gay. Then a new student arrives at school, Benjamin, and Jack develops feelings for him pretty quickly.

Nothing really wowed me in this book, but I did enjoy it. ​There were a lot of diverse and fun supporting characters who I wish were developed just a little bit more. I would have liked to see more of them too because when they were around they were a lot of fun! I feel like there was a little too much dialogue and not enough description. Instead of being shown what was happening we were being told it through Jack's thoughts or conversations. Also, there were times where there were several people talking and you didn't know who was saying what, which would get confusing.

Overall, I did enjoy this book even though it has some flaws. It was a fun coming out story and I loved the Pride parade part!

Thank you NetGalley for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I have received this ARC from NetGalley and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

The Stone Rainbow was a book that I wished I liked more than I did. In the beginning, I really liked getting to know Jack. His life is very complicated and I felt for him every time he wanted to cry or whenever he was struggling. I was intrigued when his feelings were appearing more and more with the new kid at school. Yet, I was so bored with this book. No matter how hard I tried I just couldn't get into it. This book was cute, adorable, and yet my black soul wanted nothing to do with it.

That being said, this is really hard to say but I need to: I had zero connection/interest in any character within this book. I liked Jack but it wasn't enough to just like him. I also feel like these characters were lacking something about them. It was nice for Jack to finally get the support that he needed/was looking for.. but other than that - nothing really happened for me.

Overall, I might give this book another chance but I don't know when or where that will take place.

I’m a sucker for anything and everything lgbtq, and The Stone Rainbow did not disappoint.
A super sweet and easy YA read about self-acceptance, friendship, equality and first love.
I adored the messages that were included in this book, and I think it’ll be an important piece of literature for young people who do struggle to accept their true identities and who they really are, along with those who are bullied or made to feel less than for being different.
I liked that Jackson was relatable and real, and I fell in love with Benjamin as I think most readers will.
The character growth throughout the book is perfect, it ticked all my boxes and I think has some amazing potential for a follow on book - I want more Jackamin!!

4/5 stars - rainbows reign! 🌈

I received an ARC copy through NetGalley and all opinions voiced in this review are solely mine.

This was a super cute coming out story. I really liked the main character, Jackson, and there are lots of very diverse and interesting supporting characters. It was a quick read (I buzzed through it in a few hours) that promotes the importance of tolerance, understanding and how everyone should just be kind. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a copy of this book to read and review.