Out

by Laura Preble

[violetpeanut]

It seems there's a lot of controversy surrounding this book. The basic premise of the book is that "normal" people are in same-sex relationships and male/female relationships are unusual and against the law. Pretty much the exact opposite of real life. What I keep seeing over and over is that people are upset that the gay community in this book are made out to be the villains. While that's technically true, I think people are really missing the point with this book.

What if being straight was considered wrong? What if you could be thrown in jail for loving the wrong person? What would it feel like to be told that being straight was a sickness and you should either be "re-trained" or eradicated so that you don't "infect" others? These are the questions posed in this book. These are all things that people in the GLBT community face in real life. Instead of condemning this book for making gay people out to be the bad guy, people should be praising it for showing the general straight population what it's like to live that way. Only by walking in someone else's shoes can you really understand them and that's what Laura Preble attempts to do with this book.

Although I understand what the author was trying to do and commend her for it, I thought the general plot left a lot to be desired. Things moved slowly in some parts and a little bit too quickly in others, there were some unbelievable coincidences and I wasn't altogether happy with the ending - although maybe we're not supposed to be happy with the ending here.

Overall I enjoyed this very thought provoking read and would encourage others to read it for themselves before judging based on other reviews.