I was not ready for the reckoning Adam Sass created. Most of this book spans two days and yet every single sentence has perfect pacing. My love for the main protagonist, his poignant wit and frantic grasps for love, his realistic wrestling with internalized homophobia- you can tell a queer author wrote this glorious book and that brings so much more power and reality to it. Every named character is fleshed out and darling in their own ways, they contribute to the solving of the unraveling mystery instead of taking up page space. It opens with a gentle heads up on the heavy themes. Every part of this novel was crafted with reverence and only makes me love the story more. And spoiler alert, we get a happily ever after, but not in an unrealistic way. I am not a re-reader, but I want to lose myself in this book again, soon.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a copy for review.

Oh man this book is SO SO SO GOOD. I normally don't read contemporaries, but the title caught my attention and I am so glad I picked this up. This book follows Connor as he tries to navigate the disaster that has been his coming out. His mother is not supportive to say the least, his boyfriend, who has a very supportive family, keeps denying the problems Connor is having. Connor also happens to live in a small, conservative, crazy religious town. The Reverend is very fire and brimstone. In an extreme, last ditch attempt to have a "normal" son, Connor's mom has him taken away to a conversion camp. This is where things start to really pick up and get insane. I can't say much more about it without accidentally spoiling.

The cast of characters we meet there is great however. A disturbing wide variety of ages, some quite young. The campers are split up into boys and girls, and forced to role play traditional gender roles. There is Drew, the famous model, Marcos, a cinnamon roll of anxiety, Owen and Alan, the younger campers. Darcy, who is subtly planning the camps downfall, Molly, who is outright plotting demise, and a couple younger girls. The leaders of the camp are honestly kinda interesting. Some are outright evil, totally believe in what they're doing, but there are others there that are being forced to be there. This book really does an excellent job in detailing the emotional abuse all these people have or are going through. The self-acceptance, and also the self-loathing some have. This is honestly a very intense book. It deals with a whole slew of kinds of abuse, and suicide. The author does have a letter in the beginning about it. The overall message though is one of hope, and found family and love. I couldn't put this book down, it is so good and I highly recommend it!

ARC provided by the publisher from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

"The fog feels like amnesia, or a dream—a secret I'm trying to tell myself. My brain knows what it is, but it can only tell me in riddles? What is this secret?"

"It's not about about queer pain. It's about what queers do with pain.

5 stars. Y’all, Surrender Your Sons is a masterpiece and I can’t wait for everyone to be able to read it. I just want to reiterate: it is such a privilege that I was able to read this early. This ownvoices, gay thriller about queer people triumphing over hatred and pain being inflicted upon them deserves all the hype it that early reviews have been giving it. It was honestly a very interesting experience for me to read this right after rereading Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda and seeing the way the two contrast one another. But beyond that, this book itself excels in several areas: prose and characterization are two of the most praise-worthy facets of this novel. However, I think what this novel excels at best is the way it authentically captures what it's like to be a gay teen.

But first let's talk about prose. The fact that Adam Sass is a debut novel astounds me: his prose reads like that of a seasoned author. His writing occupies that sweet spot I absolutely love between stark, sharp writing and it's more flowery, purple counterpart. Sass' writing is razor sharp, unflinching, but is a perfect medium to express Connor's thoughts with a type of poetic clarity that is done in a way that does not bog down the story and instead accentuates it. Whether it'd be expressing the horror clawing up Connor's throat at some of the things he is forced to endure at the conversion camp, expressing his love for certain other characters, or feeling a complicated mix of both, Sass is able to express Connor's thoughts and emotions with remarkable clearness. I can't wait to get a finished copy of this book, reread it, and highlight some of my favorite quotes.

Sass also evidently able to use use his skill as a writer to deftly flesh-out the characters within his novel. Connor's voice reads as both well-fleshed out and realistic. As this novel is written in first person, Connor's voice as a character must be well-drawn enough so the reader can get attached to him even before he must brave the horrors of the conversion camp. Sass succeeds in this well-within the first few pages, showing that he is a queer teen just trying to find his own happiness in awful circumstances: he lives with a religious zealot of a mother, has an absent father, is feeling the brunt of the consequences of coming out, and is living in abject poverty. While Connor arrives to the island in a state of shock and horror, his gradual development into a leader in helping the other queer kids on the island escape is so satisfying to watch.

Sass' success with characterization isn't just limited to his main protagonist. Molly, Marcos, as well as the rest of the supporting cast are all very well drawn-out with their own motivations and plans. The supporting cast, alongside Connor, are also used to show the power of community and found family amongst queer kids. All of the kids that Connor meets at the camp have been rejected and failed by people who were supposed to love them unconditionally; the way queer kids form communities out of necessity is showcased in this book.

Speaking of that, this is one of the most honest and accurate portrayals of a gay Gen Z teen I've seen. This is especially apparent to me post-rereading Simon vs. The Homo Sapiens Agenda: while the book is a very good depiction of what being a gay teen is like and I will love that book to my dying day, I'd argue that Surrender Your Sons offers a more raw portrayal of that gay teen experience. Everything from Connor's music choices to the vocabulary used by characters in this book to the way his narration shows that yes, Connor is a hormonal teenage boy. For that last one in particular, it's so refreshing: as Sass is an ownvoices author, he is able to accurately depict Connor's sexuality and desire without it coming across as fetishistic or gross. It was so refreshing to see.

Conclusively: please pick this up when it comes out this fall. But also keep in mind that this should only be read when the reader is in the right head-space to read it: big trigger warnings though for suicide, sexual scenes, graphic violence, mention of hate crimes, both physical and mental abuse, homophobia, and transphobia. Regardless, just like Sass says in his author's note, this book is about the light that comes after the dark. Rest assured at the end of the day, this book is about queer triumph and hope!

I have picked up this book and put it down twice now. I don't think I'll be finishing it, which is unfortunate because it seems like such a riveting and heartbreaking story.

What I enjoyed:
1. The writing. The writing is witty and imaginative and I absolutely love the voice of the narrator.
2. The concept. We need more stories like this in the world! Pain is real, and for anyone who doesn't understand the pain because they'll never have to suffer they way the characters in the story do, reading is the best way for them to sympathize and to grow into advocates for justice.

What I didn't enjoy:
1. The exposition is really too slow! The introduction to the characters seemed to drag on forever, and the seemed very unbalanced when compared with the absolutely stunning writing that was being paired with it. I could point to a number of scenes that could have been cut out or condensed in order to make the story a faster read.

Would recommend this book?
YES - if you are a stronger than I am and can trudge through the exposition. I believe that this is an important story with a voice that needs to be heard.
NO - if you are looking for something fast paced and more actionable.

I really enjoyed this book and what it offered. It's a worthy read, excerpt from the link review:

"It’s hard to mention more about what happens in the novel without giving too much away. Surrender Your Sons could have easily been a list of grievances but becomes a suspense-thriller that charts new ground. The catalyst is rooted in those campers who came before, including Ricky Hannigan, The Reverend, and just about every member of the staff as they enact the Nightlight program on present-day campers. Connor and his friends unravel the secrets of Nightlight and dismantle its twisted philosophy in the process. Yet, they still have to deal with the trauma of the experience and figure out how their lives will unfold outside of it."

I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of this book by Netgalley, and I'm so glad I did because this is, currently, my favorite book of the year. This was a brutal, ruthless thriller about a group of queer teens that are kidnapped and sent to a conversion camp. It's a book I haven't stopped thinking about ever since I've finished it back in April, and I'm so excited for people to read it when it finally comes out.
Reading the synopsis you might think to yourself, "this is just another book about queer people suffering and being in pain", and while, yes, there are lots of painful things these characters go through, this is much more a book about what queer people do and how they deal with pain. So, despite being brutal and bleak at times, this novel is incredibly hopeful.
I don't want to give too much away, but let me just say that this was a very well-plotted super fast-paced, and intense story. The characters were relatable and well-written, and this book has the most accurate depiction of being a queer teen living in the 21st century I've ever read. Something that I wasn't expecting but loved was how funny this book was, I didn't expect that a story set in a conversion camp could be humorous but it managed to do it very well.
A minor complaint that I had was the insta-love, but considering these characters were under a lot of pressure, I honestly cannot blame them for falling in love way too quickly, and I also quite liked the romance.
So, you should definitely read this when it comes out in September because it's an amazing novel and I loved it so much.

Sometimes you stumble upon a book with a concept that blows your mind. And every once in a while, that same book actually lives up to the expectations you set from the synopsis.

This was one of those books.

From the moment I read the summary on Goodreads, I was invested in Surrender Your Sons. Queer thriller about escaping a tropical conversion camp? Uh, yes. Sign me up.

I even waited to read this until the summer so I could devote myself 110%. It was worth it.

I cannot wait for this to come out in September so I can blast my adoration all over social media.

Wow... what a book. I read the description for Surrender Your Sons but I was not prepared for the actual book at all. It was very, very good but also very upsetting. As a gay man myself, I was terrified by the fact that the mother kidnapped him and sent him to a conversion therapy camp. That being said, I felt like the writing was very cathartic and I loved the ending. I also really loved the cover of the book. I'm so excited for this book to come out and everyone to enjoy it as much as I did!

I loved the suspense in this book! Great read. I'll definitely buy for the teens who like something a little darker.

I think I enjoyed this book a lot more than the average reviewer on here. Most reviews I've seen have been pretty mediocre, but I honestly really liked this book. It's a heavy story, filled with internalized homophobia and external homophobia and people struggling day to day with the innate truths of themselves, but it's also hopeful and a story about strength in numbers and the power of friendship.

I struggled to see this as a thriller, which I'm pretty sure it was marketed as, for a few reasons. The first is that if this is a thriller, then its use of character's sexuality as plot-twists is a bit problematic (but this is an #ownvoices author, so I'll let it slide) and even if that's not problematic, those are pretty weak plot twists. The second is that I wasn't thrilled. Many reviews suggested that this is a hard book to get through because of the conversion therapy setting and how thrilling the plot line there is and I didn't get that. I was disturbed by the conversion therapy, but everything felt so much more emotional and mental than it ever did physical, which is why I never felt "scared." I'm not sure if this is a failure of the author so much as a failure of marketing. I think if I'd market it as anything close to a thriller, I'd say it's The Maze Runner meets Cameron Post.

I think some readers may have an issue with the cheating storyline, but it personally didn't bother me like it usually would. The relationship is nuanced and understanding and I honestly didn't even like Ario to begin with and was quite grateful when Connor gave Ario a piece of his mind about being forced out of the closet at the end.

Despite it not being a thriller to me, I really enjoyed the hard topics this book discussed and the friendships between the characters. Conversion therapy is not an easy topic to read about, but I think Adam Sass handled it well. I felt so much pain reading this for all the people who have to live in such unsupportive homes. And I hope that they find their way out of them like Connor did.

I think my few issues with this book chalk down to characterization: I would have loved to know the side characters better, especially Molly and Darcy, because their backstories are brushed aside. With a little more time developing the side characters, this book could be excellent.

Anyway, I think the thing I love most about this book is it's honesty. It's hard to be queer. It's hard to be a queer Christian. It never shamed Christianity, though. It never said that all Christians are like the reverend, but it did say that sometimes homophobes are gay and are struggling and gave us the nuance to understand that evil isn't always cishet. But I appreciated its honesty, even if it's a difficult pill to swallow that the world around us is still painfully horrible to LGBT+ people.

-Book Hugger

This is a difficult book to review. On one hand, the writing is great, the characters are very well fleshed out, and the story itself is an important one. The book seems to be saying that LGBT kids can survive anything that the homophobic world will throw at them, and personally I love this sentiment.

On the other hand, this also means the book is actually horrifying. It's about LGBT teens getting kidnapped and brought to a conversion therapy camp, and they suffer not just the emotional abuse, but quite literal physical torture. It makes you sick to your stomach and thus almost incapable of continuing to read. Let alone talk about the book at length.

So while I think the idea for this book is great and pretty much needed, I don't think I'm the best audience for it, seeing as I barely managed to get through it.

A heartrending, terrifying book about a teen dealing with 'conversion therapy'. Not an easy read, but possibly, an important one as it addresses how we deal with acceptance and difference. The characters were well-wrought, the plot unbelievable, though, not as in 'I don't believe this would or could happen', more 'I can't support the fact that this does happen, it needs to stop.'.
A must-read, if you want to understand what others face that may not be obvious at first.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Netgalley for connecting me with the author.

A truly unique story set at a hidden LGBTQ conversion camp on a remote Costa Rican island. This book has everything I'm looking for in a YA read. I dare you not to become emotionally attached to these characters. It was refreshingly funny for a book that delves into the waters of queer pain. I really appreciated the emotional depth and evolution of the characters and their various responses to trauma, the effects of compulsory heterosexuality and coming out, something I don't think I've seen enough of in YA in particular. I'm excited for this book to exist.

First of all, please read the warnings for this book. The author and the publisher have done a fantastic job of highlighting things within this book that may be triggering for some people.

This book opens with Connor desperate to see his boyfriend, Ario. He's had his phone taken away which is painful... but not the most painful thing that's going on in his life. Connor's boyfriend was encouraging... well, let's just say it... pushing him to come out. What he doesn't realize is that Connor's very devout mother is going to be a problem. And BOY is she a problem.

She definitely doesn't accept that her son is gay... even to the point of insisting that he's the father of his ex-girlfriend's baby. He isn't...but he's not going to throw his friend under the bus by letting everyone know who is the baby's father. So, he's got no internet, no phone, and he has a very angry mother.

When he's taken in the middle of the night by a huge man and shoved into a black van... the journey is just beginning. Connor has been sent to a gay conversion camp. And it's run by someone he already knows. This is the point at which the novel becomes a mystery, a thriller, a drama, and a love story. I admire Sass for his ability to pull this all off without losing the sense of humor and spirit of the main character.

Connor's inner voice is everything I didn't know I needed. He's quirky and fun, funny and despite his youth, he's pretty aware of who he is becoming. He's unapologetic in some ways and self-deprecating in others... he claims responsibility for things that aren't his fault and acknowledges the weight of things that are. I loved the way that Connor navigates everything that is thrown at him and how he picks himself up time and again. Truly a testament to the human spirit. Best of all... he has the voice of a 17-year-old! It's surprising how often that doesn't happen in YA books!

The cast of characters in this book is fantastic and diverse. All of their voices are unique and despite the fact that there was an army of queer teens, I feel like I got to know them all enough to care about them. There are layers of story in this book... Sass handles it all really well. There is a story going on in the past that rivals the one in the present. These are complex characters and it was a real adventure to get to know them.

And let me say... This is how you write a trans character people! Sass writes about a feisty supporting character who is trans without ever dead-naming the character or using the incorrect pronouns! I can't tell you how much I appreciated that when I read it!

Oh, and the priceless and perfect use of the word "differenter" made me so happy I could have cried.

Please read this book. Not only is it about a very important and timely topic - even now we are only just beginning to ban conversion therapy because of the damage it can do to a person's psyche, but this book is charming, tear-jerking, heart mashing and adorable. I absolutely loved it.

Review will be posted on my blog August 8

This books was incredible! It is a sad and dark but ultimately hopeful tale of a young man sent to a conversion camp by his Uber-religious mother and the horrendous events that take place at the camp.

This book is required reading for people who think that conversion therapy doesn’t happen anymore.

REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

I had some issues with this book. Mainly, I'm not sure why Connor was the hero. He showed up at the camp and was the instigator of the escape from it, even though other characters, including POC characters, had been there much longer and had done a lot more work. This gives Connor the tinge of a white savior.

I'm experiencing mixed emotions about this book. I think the content (and having read the author's reasoning for writing about what LGBTQ+ youth can do with their rage) is very important to read and understand. Conversion camps existed and do exist, and this group of people experiences this kind of hatred on a regular basis. This author does a fantastic job of bringing that to light in this novel.

The part I didn't like was the pacing. Everything took place in almost a twenty four hour period of time, with flashbacks to add in some detail. Not that I wanted the kids to stay in this camp any longer, but I felt the whole "thriller" aspect was rushed and not as flushed out. I had trouble suspending my belief about the capabilities of such mayhem in a twenty four hour time frame I don't know.

Maybe I'm realizing I don't like thriller novels as much as I thought. ha. I'd still recommend this one to some of my friends though!

Surrender Your Sons is a suspenseful story about a conversion therapy camp. When Connor comes out to his religious mother that he is gay, he wakes up to find that he is being dragged from his bedroom onto a boat to go on a "vacation" paid for by his mother.

The story progresses from there to Connor realizing that the "vacation" is actually a conversion therapy camp and him trying to find a way to escape. The story was a great --- a group of LGBTQ+ kids taking down this conversion therapy camp, but i feel that the end of the story started getting borderline unrealistic for me. The fact that once Connor gets to the camp everything that happens there happens in roughly one day seems not possible. The other issue I had was the pacing. About a third into the story things started to drag for a good 20%. The end and beginning were action-packed and felt more natural in terms of flow.

Received from NetgGalley in exchange for an honest review

I have a lot of thoughts on this book. Let's start with the good stuff, because there is quite a bit to like.

First, this was one of my most anticipated books of the year. Conversion therapy YA horror? GENIUS. How is this not its own genre?! Such an incredible premise that I can't believe I am hearing of it for the first time. 10 points.

Also, I thought most of the teens were depicted pretty realistically. They're generally horny, dramatic, non-strategic thinkers- reminds me of high school! That checks out. Also, I find with a sizeable amount of YA, that when teens are betrayed by their parents and/or family they can write them off fairly easily, without a lot of hand wringing. That's not how life works. It's an incredibly difficult and emotional decision and I thought that was illustrated fairly well.

However, overall I was a bit disappointed and I think I will chalk that up somewhat to my own expectations. Conversion therapy is an insidious and evil practice, made more so by the fact that many people who offer it do so because they think they are acting out of love and a desire to help. That's complex af and could have really lent this plot a lot of depth and nuance to create an atmospheric, psychological horror.

But mostly it's just sort of campy? There are some plot contrivances and a hole or two you could drive a truck through. The counsellors just want to generally hurt and torture these kids (Miss Manners might as well be Pennywise), which I think was likely the least exciting interpretation of our villains. And the romance was instalove bunk with a very strange cave encounter that I don't feel made sense/was earned.

I think if you go in realizing the book is more interested in being an action thriller, instead of a horror it will land differently. For me, I would have preferred the psychological horror route. I just think that's a kick ass idea, but we actually don't get too many action-based lgbtq thrillers for teens so I am sure there is an audience for this. It just wasn't me this time- sorry!

All that being said, awesome title, great concept, very defined sense of place, and solid pacing. I think this is a good read for teens 14+ and much better than many YA action/thrillers on the market.

Best of luck to this author on his novel debut. Perhaps the next one will be more my speed.

I have been hearing about this book for so long, and then I read it and it was beyond anything I had imagined. Yes, it's like LOST or LORD OF THE FLIES but queer, but it's anything but derivative. This book takes so many literary conventions and busts them apart, then crafts them into something utterly new. I loved the daring nonlinear unraveling of the timeline and mystery, which goes so much deeper than expected. I loved how unflinchingly the book examines the messy reality of queer life, and all the places the queer community builds family and strength for themselves. This isn't a book written for someone who wants a smoothed-over image of queer experiences, you can tell this comes deeply from a real OwnVoices perspective. It's for the young people who need to hear that voice, their voice, and see both the struggles more inescapable than an isolated island and triumphs possible. The presentation of queerness was so good (including a model of how to handle pronouns for trans characters through a character's POV). Connor is a voice that's going to stick in my head for a long time. The story is a wild adventure, but by the end I was a crying mess, holding my breath as I turned the final pages.

Review will be cross-posted to Amazon after release date.