If the cover of this book doesn’t make you immediately buy this I don’t know what will! Sully is dying to escape their small town in Pennsylvania when they find a vintage bag at the thrift store with a plan to sell it, it becomes so much more than that! A perfect read for pride month or anytime really! Jonathan Van Ness can do no wrong and this book is a testament to that!
Thank you to NetGalley for this digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

*big sigh*

This was not it friends.
The representation was there and will be so amazing for the YA genre! I love both of the authors very very much, but the cheesy aspect of this book kept driving me away. I slugged through the whole book.

Full Disclosure: I received an Advanced Reader's Copy of Let Them Stare: A Novel by Jonathan Van Ness and Julie Murphy from Storytide via NetGalley. This book is currently available for purchase.

There is a lot to love about Let Them Stare: A Novel by Jonathan Van Ness and Julie Murphy. First of all, that cover! Who doesn't want to read a book with such a fantastic cover???? In a time when plenty of people viciously hate anyone that is different, it is nice to read a story that encourages you to love yourself and embrace who you are. I don't want to spoil too much but there is a ghost and a mystery. Come on, this is like Scooby Doo! This does fall into the young adult category, so you can safely read it without being worried about real scares. You may want to wrap yourself in a blanket and have a yummy beverage though while you consume it. We all deserve an uplifting book these days.

This is a fun but heartfelt YA story. A little bit romance, a little bit coming of age. And a lot fabulous fashion. Sully has graduated from high school and is so ready to get out of their often homophobic small town. But when their job for a New York influencer falls through, they find themselves stuck, jobless in Hearst, PA. They console themselves with a shopping trip to the local second hand shop and find a real (they’re pretty sure) Butler bag. They’re sure it’s worth thousands. Finally, their ticket out of town. One problem. The ghost of a 1950’s drag Queen is inhabiting the handbag. Sully sets out to solve the mystery of the ghost’s life and love. Soon they’re digging through history in amazing shoes. And making out in the car with Brad, who they always thought was too boring to notice.

This book is about learning to trust friends and new relationships. Wonderful mothers. Rare vintage finds. A loud and proud Enby. A small town with a bit of prejudice. A historic land battle. A budding romance. And realizing the sacrifices of those who came before.

I’m glad I was able to get the audiobook on @libby.app . It’s read by author @jvn which adds a layer of authenticity to the story.

Thank you to @Netgalley @harpercollinschin Storytide, and @harpercollins for the chance to review this ARC.

I love Jonathan Van Ness. Simple as that. He is just so unapologetically himself and so dang inspiring. This new novel from him was so much fun and I loved being able to see into his mind in another way! I am so glad I picked this up!

This was cute, but I think it has all the markings of a debut writer.
From what I've heard, Johnathan Van Ness initially pitched this idea to Julie Murphy, who agreed to co-author. And I know Murphy's writing and voice well enough to know that she is the more polished writer. This has a ton of potential, and Van Ness should 100% continue writing, but you can see the slightly less polished, somewhat more immature writing coming through here. Particularly when it comes to the tropes in current young adult lit. that pop up.
I think this is so creative and fun, and I would love to read more from Van Ness in the future.

I haven't been able to finish this one. I might just not have been in the mood for it at the time. I'll likely try again at some point.

Let Them Stare was such a cute read! Likeable characters, small-town mystery, friendly ghost, a little bit of romance, queer history, and so much humor and heart. If you haven't picked this one up, it makes a perfect read for end-of-summer/back-to-school time.

My apologies for the delayed review of this book. I enjoyed this story a lot, but I’m struggling to articulate my one complaint, especially since I am not the target audience of this book. I rarely read YA fiction, although I have read a couple of Julie Murphy’s the previous novels (and one of JVN’s memoirs). I don’t read much fiction about the supernatural, either, and I still found this story engaging and fun. Here’s my little snivel: Even though I’m a professor of Gender, Women’s, and Sexuality Studies, I found the way the narrative addressed these issues to be heavy-handed, sometimes heavy-fisted. I have no disagreement with the underlying sociopolitical agenda of this story (heck, it was my job to teach it for 30 years!) .I just wanted it to be underlying.

Sully is about to show everyone the door as they exit to the big city and leave the small town, small minded people of Hearst behind. But when the internship to bring them to the big city evaporates, Sully's plan B will be to pick up the pieces back at home with a few bits that weren't wrapped up nicely before Sully left including the kiss with Brad in the car Sully sold Brad (named Olivia Newton-John) and the toxicity of people like Sully's Uncle Chuck about their gender non-conforming lifestyle (and amazing fashion sense working and thrifting from the secondhand store in Hearst).

Sully begins to put a life together and is visited by a ghost who pops out of a classic old leather bag they just thrifted, who is a drag queen from the 50s and had to live a hard, closeted lifestyle in Hearst and has a big backstory to share with Sully- who listens and thrives under the discoveries of their town, including the basement of the thrift shop that was once used as a speakeasy and meeting spot for gays with an auspicious name alluding to the lifelong queer mating of swans which brings out the industriousness in Sully to make this life their own.

It's positive, fun, artistic, and absolutely something that Julie Murphy would be a part of (along with the other writer, Van Ness). And what a title and cover!

I did not pay attention as I started this book and thought I was reading a memoir, smh. Until I got to one part where I thought, that could not have really happened to Jonathan Van Ness. I realized this is a novel and got my mind straight around that aspect. Then it got really fun! Let Them Stare is a sweet story about finding your place in the world and find your people. I do not want to say much more and ruin the surprises, but I sure hope Van Ness and Murphy collaborate again soon!

Super cute and could 100% be a movie one day. The cover is amazing. A ghost story with a non binary mc in a small, PA town with a dash of YA romance was everything I needed.

While I loved the concept of this book, the story wasn't the one for me. Sully's struggles were heartbreaking and while I cannot imagine/relate, their tenacity to overcome and not give up was admirable. I felt the characters banter back and forth was a bit juvenile (for my personal liking), so I didn't really relate the dialogue as much as I would've liked. I loved Rufus, however, I didn't feel their language/tone was of that of someone from the era they had died in, slightly diminishing the authenticity of the book. Just missed the mark for me.

What a cute book with a beautiful message. JVN is my spirit animal so I was excited to get to read this story!

The perfect book for anyone who feels misplaced in their small (or any sized) town! While this would definitely be classified as YA, a mature 8th grader could certainly handle the novel.

Sully is DYING to get out of his small town of Heart, Pennsylvania and the novel starts with him days away from a fashion/social media internship secured in New York City after graduation. Sully, a gender-noncomforming 18 year old is ready to get out. His bags are packed, his parents through him a graduation/going away party, he quits his job, and he even sells his car to Brad, the only other gay kid in town.

However, Sully's internship falls through and he becomes forced to stay in Hearst. He goes to the thrift store, where he used to work, asking for his job back, but instead finds a designer, vintage bag. The resale value of the bag would be more than enough to help him get to the city, internship or not. When Sully explores the bag, the bag has a ghost - a literal Ghost, Rufus, who Sully befriends and comes to learn he was a drag performer in the 50s. Sully's summer now includes a new purpose of helping this ghost figure out his past, and then sell the vintage bag.

Sully learns about his town, that he was so desperate to escape, and learns that things aren't always what they seem.

This book was a journey! 16 year old me would have loved this! (35 yr old me loved it too). The young adult voice is so strong in this. This book is perfect for fans of the TV show - School Spirits. We’ve got an array of Queer characters, ghosts, buried secrets, sassy one liners, deep heartache, heavy themes in-between Scooby Doo mystery solving, and some sweet romance. This was a very enjoyable read; I appreciate a good character journey, and unearthing small town’s buried secrets.

Let Them Stare is fun book that has vibes of Glee, a CW YA show, but as a fantastical rom-com. Sully thinks he’s about to take the first step of making it out of his small town, but when his fashion internship ends before it starts, he finds himself stuck in Hearst. And in the company of Bread, Brad, the most perfect guy in to, who keeps wanting to spend time with him. Oh and the vintage bag he found could make up for the financial loss of his internship is also haunted by Rufus, a drag performer from the 1950s who has no idea why he’s tied to the bag. What could go wrong? Or so right?

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book at first, but I came away absolutely loving the combination of queer coming of age story, supernatural mystery, and small town drama. Sully and Rufus are compelling portraits of how society has failed non-binary individuals in the past, how it has improved today, but how there are still so many ways large and small that we continue to need to grow. The world felt fully developed, the writing was lovely, and I couldn’t put the book down because I always wanted to know what would happen next. I would recommend this book for anyone who enjoys queer history and is willing to set aside their disbelief and just have fun with a story.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's for sharing this advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review!

Let Them Stare is a fun YA novel that I'm sure will be a hit with readers. The main cast of characters are lively and diverse, plus the writing is witty and entertaining.

5 stars = Outstanding!

I loved this! The growth, the self-awareness, the history. I learned so much from Rufus's story - and I loved watching Sully discover the truths of the story. Terrific characters and EXCELLENT voice. I totally choked up at the end. This. Was. So. Great! (Language)