Cute YA book about rebelling and doing what you know is right even if it's supposed to be wrong. Cute characters and development. I was rooting for them the entire time.

Say a Little Prayer by Jenna Voris completely wrecked me in the best possible way. As someone who grew up in fundamentalist Christianity and is now out as a queer woman, this book hit so close to home I had to pause more than once just to breathe. Voris captures the tension, the longing, the guilt, and the quiet defiance of queerness in a world that tells you it’s wrong with honesty, compassion, and so much heart.

The characters feel real: messy, brave, scared, and still somehow full of hope. The way faith and identity are explored is so nuanced. It doesn’t villainize belief, but it doesn’t flinch from the damage that rigid systems can do either. That balance felt like someone finally understood both who I was and who I’ve become.

Beyond the emotional resonance, this is just a beautifully written story. The romance is tender and grounding, and the narrative voice is sharp and vulnerable in all the right ways. Jenna Voris has written something profoundly healing here, and I’m so grateful for it.

If you’ve ever wrestled with faith and queerness, especially in the same breath, Say a Little Prayer will feel like someone reaching out and saying, “You’re not alone.” I can’t recommend it enough.

After Riley is presented with the world's worst ultimatum--miss the spring musical she's poured so much into or go to church camp with the church that has now shunned her whole family--she ends up having to spend a week at church camp. Riley hasn't really been welcome at the church since she came out as bi, but last fall, when her older sister got an abortion and then was publicly shunned at church and was abandoned by all her friends in her time of deepest need? Riley hates Pleasant Hills for that. When she learns that the seven virtues and by extension, the seven deadly sins, is the theme of the week's camp, she sets out to commit every deadly sin and prove that it's not always so black and white as the pastor makes it out to be. All the while, she's thinking a little bit too much about her lifelong best friend...the pastor's daughter.
Equal parts hilarious and heart wrenching, I loved this. The goofy chapter titles took me out. Think Percy Jackson titles but gay and musical theater themed. Also, the spring musical is Shrek the Musical and she keeps whipping out that knowledge at the best times, just as soon as you've forgotten. The nostalgia/trauma is real for anyone who grew up in that kind of a church environment, and especially anyone who ever did church camp. There's nothing quite like the camaraderie of late nights whispering and campfires and bonding over the fact that you're apparently all going to hell. Too real. Riley was such a nuanced character, and honestly, I appreciate Voris's nuance around religion and religious trauma. There's a lot of variety in the characters and their desire to still engage in religion, if that makes sense, and it felt genuinely reflective of real life? At least in my experience. Anyways this one brought on a lot of complex feelings but was ultimately so sweet and heartfelt and wonderful that it was worth the cringey memories.

Oh, this was a really fun read. I picked this up because I just fell in love with the cover as soon as I saw it. So when I started reading it I was delighted to immediately see some of the funniest chapter headers ever. Luckily all of that translated to a great story as well.
Riley was a really great main character to follow. She's very determined, and sometimes she has trouble seeing past the war path she is on. However, throughout the book she really develops to be more open, and hearing out other people's perspectives. She ends up building a lot of bridges instead of burning them down, just like she intended. Her determination to live in sin throughout this Church camp creates a lot of really funny situations. However, all in all it mostly creates some beautiful moments of connection. Considering she can't do these things alone, nor can she tell anyone really about her plan it creates some genuine, heartwarming moments. Overall the idea of friendship and community is really central in this book, and I just adored seeing Riley connect with her different new friends throughout.
I also just loved the romance. You know I am a sucker for friends to lovers, and this book shows of why. The connection they have together translates so well off page. I loved their dynamic. It is a bit complicated, of course, but those complixities is what makes it so compelling to read. The romance is fully packed in the questioning of the pastor and the church, and I really liked how that was done. I like how it didn't really villainise religion, it villainised the people abusing religion to push their own bigotry, or just generally abuse their own power. It's just a really nuanced discussion throughout the book, in my opinion, and I love the way it was executed.
Overall, it was a really fun and quick read. It was quite addicting, as I didn't want to put it down. It made me laugh a lot, but also had great emotional heart to it. I adored Riley, and the group of friends she builds throughout the book. The camp setting also caused for a great framing device, and ultimately I loved the discussions this book was trying to have.

I have been on a literary kick this past year of reading books that complexly explore the relationship people have with religion. Memoirs, graphic novels, movies, you name it- I've engaged with it. My excitement for this book reflected that itch.

And it did not disappoint. I've heard the sonnets of Jenna Voris's young adult prowess and this book made me a believer. It was funny, heartfelt, complex, and really dug deep into the questions a lot of less probing YA authors would've preferred to steer clear of. The intersectional feminist approach to female solidarity at the church camp in particular gets a chef's kiss gesture out of me every time.

Riley's story is frighteningly relatable in the spaces I grew up in. I knew lots of folks who left the church with a whisper or a bang from the homophobia they witnessed or experienced. I respect how Voris approached this without a blanketing "religion is evil and religious people are fools" but also does not let characters (or people) off the hook for their actions or their silence. People are complicit in systemic wrongs and this book tackled that well while also reminding the reader that these are kids, and kids are allowed to make mistakes and ask questions.

I really liked this one. It made me think.

I think the audience for Say a Little Prayer is too broad for me to say "you'll like this one, if" but I can say that Jenna Voris's acclaim is well deserved. Highly recommend.

Pre-Read notes

The introduction of this book left me feeling really good about my choice to read it! It's a fresh concept, a queer young girl strives to commit all the deadly sins over a summer bible camp, as an act of revenge against the church that misunderstands and excludes her.

As a very very untraditional Christian, I like opportunities to question ideas believed by a huge portion of my constituents. This book claims to do just that, so I really wanted to read it. It's YA so I think it's targeting the audience who would benefit from it most.

Final Review

Review summary and recommendations

This one was an arc that got away, but I found an audiobook copy of it on Libby. So, here is my extremely late review!

As you may have noticed, I didn't take many notes on this book and it's because once I hit a certain point, and it was early in the book, I just wanted to listen! It's a YA book (read, addictive pace) about issues I myself wrestle with as a Christian. I feel a great deal of conflict over many of the positions taken by different Christian institutions. I found Voris's approach to her characters and themes engrossing.

If you liked this, you might like the memoir, A Well Trained Wife (my review!). I recommend Say A Little Prayer to fans of queer lit, coming of age stories, and rebellious characters, subversive stories.

Reading Notes

One things I loved:

1. It's almost a pity I don't believe in God anymore. I think this would probably be a good time to pray. (0:24:26) I adore irony and I bet there will be a lot of it!

Rating: 👩🏽‍🤝‍👩🏻👩🏽‍🤝‍👩🏻👩🏽‍🤝‍👩🏻.5 /5 girls at prayer camp
Recommend? yes!
Finished: May 2 '25
Format: digital arc, NetGalley; audiobook, Libby
Read this book if you like:
♀️ sapphic lit
👩🏽‍🤝‍👩🏻 girl's coming of age stories
👩🏻‍🎤 rebellious characters

Thank you to the author Jenna Voris, publishers Viking Books, and NetGalley for an advance digital copy of SAY A LITTLE PRAYER. All views are mine.
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Riley visits the principal's office after slapping a girl who trashed her sister. The principal gives her a choice: she can be suspended or she can attend a Bible camp during spring break. Riley chooses the camp, especially since her closest friends will be there.

The camp has a focus on avoiding the seven deadly sins by embodying seven virtues, and Riley decides she wants to show everyone that everything isn't as binary as they think. The seven deadly sins aren't necessarily all bad. Yet the pastor is keeping a close watch on her and letting her know he'll report her if she doesn't do what he wants.

Friendship, honestly, kindness, and standing against cruelty are explored in this engaging novel.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC!

This book is everything I wanted it to be. As someone who grew up uber religious, I needed this like I needed air. And so do you. Welcome to me making this a problem for everyone.

Say a Little Prayer follows Riley, a slightly cynical bisexual theater kid who after an incident at school ends up at a church camp for a church she despises (rightfully so) with her best friends and also her nemesis.

Riley decides to spice things up a little and instead of learning the seven virtues, she commits the seven deadly sins. Oh and she's bringing her bestie, the pastor's closeted daughter, with her.

I ADORE Riley. If you look up chaotic bisexual in the dictionary, it's probably a photo of Riley. Her internal monologue is my favorite thing because she is me. I love her.

I highly suggest picking this up! It's a fun and hilarious ride. It makes me even more excited to dive into Jenna's other books.

This book does a great job showing how religious trauma can effect people, especially when you're young and entrenched in the church. This was marketed as a romance and while there is a romantic element, I felt the book focuses more on Riley and her crisis of faith. I really enjoyed her relationship with her family and how her relationship with Julia evolves throughout the book. This was a sweet and thought-provoking book I highly recommend.

I am going to solve my religious trauma, one gay book at a time. This was fun and cute, but maybe too YA for my taste, and by that I mean the plot of trying to find a way to commit a cardinal sin every day was a bit hard to buy.
I loved all the ways it talked about how hypocritical the church ist (and most people that attend it), it didn´t go very in depth about any of the issues but that is to be expected about a YA romance. I don´t hold it against it.
What I do hold against it is the secondary plot of the book, which involves Riley´s sister and her best friends. I feel like this was not her issue to clear or her apologies to accept. Her sister should have been the one involved, but having her back home and not at the camp where all the action took place, it fell on Riley´s shoulders.
That being said I did love the ending, and how the issue was resolved. Because at the end of the day, none of the girls were really the villain, but they were all victims. Great show of girl power!!

As someone who grew up in Southern church culture, Say a Little Prayer felt like being dropped right back into the middle of youth group games, overly enthusiastic worship leaders, and the ever-present threat of “testimony night.” Jenna Voris nails the setting—and the awkwardness—with equal parts honesty and humor.

The story follows a bisexual teen sent to church camp as punishment (because of course that’s a thing), and what unfolds is a heartfelt, funny, and surprisingly tender journey of identity, community, and figuring out how to love yourself—even when you’re stuck in matching camp T-shirts and forced group prayer circles.

There were moments that hit so close to home I had to laugh just to keep from cringing (in the best way). The book doesn’t shy away from tough conversations, but it manages to keep the tone hopeful and often hilarious. Think messy bunkmates, confusing crushes, and more than one moment of spiritual whiplash.

I rated it 3.5 stars—not because it didn’t move me, but because a few plot points felt a little tidy or underdeveloped. Still, for anyone who’s ever side-eyed a church skit or had to unpack what faith and identity really mean, this one hits the mark. Light-hearted, real, and just irreverent enough to make you smirk—Say a Little Prayer is a coming-of-age campfire worth gathering around.

This YA book covered religious trauma and explored religion and queerness. It was a cute story and I really enjoyed it.

This both healed my religiously traumatized soul and simultaneously made me so rip-roaring furious that I nearly drove myself to the state capitol building and smashed something. I wanted to go ziplining and kick someone in the throat. I wanted to sky-dive onto the roof of every religious leader and poke holes in their ceiling so next time it rained their house would flood.

I didn't do any of those things, for the record. All I did was scream and remind myself that I left organized religion and I'm genuinely happy now! And so are the characters!

TW: Homophobia; Public outing; Religious oppression; Past abortion (side character)

Riley had already stopped going to church after her sister was kicked out for having an abortion, but she soon finds herself on a bus headed to Kentucky along with the rest of her old congregation for a week of church camp. The church is a midwest Baptist church, and Riley is best friends—and also lowkey in love with—the pastor's daughter, Julia.

The camp's theme? The seven virtues. But Riley decides instead to commit the seven deadly sins and plot ways to overthrow the pastor. Same girl.

I grew up very religious and attended church camp every summer as a teenager. I somehow enjoyed it, which is even weirder if you know me and my intense hatred of the outdoors. And camping. And dirt and early mornings and the sunshine and the woods. Yet I always looked forward to camp! And we didn't get to have days off at Walmart either. My church camp was separated by gender however. I would have loved it even more if the boys were there and that's exactly why they didn't mix us lmao.

I honestly have no critiques for this book. It was everything I could have wanted and more. Here are some reasons to read it though if my praise isn't sufficient:
-chapter titles!!!
-lovable side characters
-plenty of comedic relief
-Riley is a theater kid
-they lowkey stage a coup and it's incredible
-Julia is a twin and her twin brother is the best
-truly captures a small town congregation well

I wish I could give this book to my 19-year-old self. She would have cried I think.

Rep: Bisexual main character; Lesbian love interest; Black side character

Thank you to Viking Books for the early copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Riley quietly left church a year ago when she realized there was no place for a bi girl in her congregation. But it wasn’t until the pastor shunned her older sister for getting an abortion that she really wanted to burn it all down. It’s just her luck, then, that she’s sent to the principal’s office for slapping a girl talking smack about her sister—and in order to avoid suspension, she has to spend spring break at church camp. Instead of spending the week embracing the seven heavenly virtues, she decides to commit all seven deadly sins. If she can show the other campers that sometimes being a little bad is for the greater good, she could start a righteous revolution!

Say a Little Prayer was a fun read, and it will likely strike a cord for anyone who’s been hurt by the church. I do wish that Riley’s character was developed a bit better, but overall I’d still recommend this one who wants a messy queer coming of age story. I look forward to more from this author. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC!

I think above all else that can be said about this book, is I love the authenticity of it. There’s not really any sugar coating of the reality. Balancing religion when you don’t connect to it entirely is difficult. If it’s something you had and lost, you aren’t always sure how to get back. I found that aspect very refreshing and not based on shaming people for their beliefs but trying to make sense of it all.

It’s two sides of a coin. Faith can be very important and for the people who believe, it fuels them, guides them but not all people are built the same way. Riley is a great character and her internal monologue is exactly what I expected from someone who went through everything she did. It wasn’t perfect, it didn’t end perfectly and that was okay. It was good to see. I did want a more sold ending for her and Julia though I know why that couldn’t be. Kudos to the author for their viewpoint.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't grow up in a particularly religious household, but I think a lot of people who did will be able to relate very much to this book. I feel like this would be such a powerful book for queer teens, in particular, and is one of those books that we need to save from being banned in today's political climate.

Overall, I thought this was a cute read. While it appears to be marketed as a YA romance, I would say that the romance is only a small part of it that we don't even really get an inking of until halfway through. So yeah, if you're going in expecting some big romance, I'd say to tamper you expectatations. Still though, this was a good coming-of-age story that I'd recommend.

Oh, where do I begin with how much I love this book! The writing style is so engaging that it's entrancing. It's funny and heartfelt, it's conflicted and destructive, it's complicated and messy. "Say a Little Prayer" had me in tears nearly as much as it had me laughing out loud. Shout out to the divine chapter titles! Through a magnetic Riley, we explore the complexities of her relationship with religion and worship whilst easily empathizing with her intricate situation. There's strong commentary about those who wield their influence over congregations having the ability to skew mindsets about religion in toxic, suffocating ways. The narrative delves into heavy topics in a manner that's approachable and grounded in reality. It never feels like too much. Riley's such a nuanced main character, so well fleshed out, that I'd never get tired of being in her mind. No matter your own relationship, or lack thereof, with religion, this book feels so realistic and lived in. It's going to be so important to so many people who can relate to Riley's life firsthand. It's comforting to be reminded that it's normal for progress to happen slowly. One step at a time, in this case in Riley's Birkenstocks, the world becomes more empathetic and considerate while you become stronger and more affirmed in yourself. We all need a Riley in our lives.

This book is a witty and charming novel that handles sensitive topics deftly and with care, while accurately portraying the emotions associated with adolescence. Riley is stuck attending church camp and decides to use it as an opportunity to prove that the church’s teachings aren’t true and can actually be harmful.

This novel is funny and witty on multiple levels. There were so many great, smart one-liners and humorous plot points. I adored the chapter titles, too! Some of my favorites were: “My Lord and Savior Daddy Christ,” “It’s Not Gossip If It’s in a Prayer Request,” and “Through Christ, All Sins Are Possible.”

The humorous aspects perfectly balanced the more sensitive topics to keep the book fun and readable. The book is a smart exploration of the harms perpetrated by evangelical churches. Those harms are illustrated by the treatment of Hannah (Riley’s sister), who had an abortion, and Riley’s experience coming out as bisexual. Riley and Hannah’s parents are supportive, and they are an important counterbalance to the harm caused by other adults.

The book had a happy ending that still felt realistic. Riley and Julia (the love interest and the pastor’s lesbian daughter) don’t resolve everything in their lives, but the ending felt hopeful.

I highly recommend this book! I am so impressed by the author’s ability to write something so heartfelt, sweet, and honest.

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

“I don’t like imagining my enemies complexly. It really ruins the whole “revenge at all costs” thing I'm doing this week.”


Say a Little Prayer surprised me. I'm not one to dive into books where characters are super religious. But, honestly, I really enjoyed this one. Maybe it's because Riley is so relatable and unapologetically herself. Plus, her little revenge tour of the seven deadly sins sounded way more fun than being suspended for a week. So, let's go to church camp.

Riley has an interesting relationship with God. Well, okay, it's more with the pastor. She honestly thinks he's full of shit and doesn't like how he turns on people who don't fit his narrative. The only downside is that he's the father of her two best friends. They are also neighbors. So, when her principal says she can go to church camp, learn, and then write an essay instead of being suspended... well, she doesn't really leap up with joy.

There's an upside to this, I'm sure, because she gets to spend a week with Ben and Julia. Now I've never been to church camp, like ever. Couldn't even tell you if that's something my church even did. So, the things they went through were a little shocking. It just feels like the only time they had fun was when they were going against the lesson... or playing that game of capture the flag. I also enjoyed when Riley questioned these lessons because, my god... are they just supposed to be robots this week?

Of course we get our fair share of drama throughout this book. Whether it's at camp, school, or even in church. If anything, I think the pastor should not be a pastor anymore. He definitely crossed way too many lines and should be replaced. I'm happy some people were standing up against him towards the end of the book but honestly, I wanted way more.

In the end, I'm glad that Riley and Julia have one another. I'm also glad that Julia has Ben for a brother because their dad surely sucks.

this book was so fun but also emotional. i especially loved the ending and how they all were there to support each other