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Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit

Jaye Robin Brown (Goodreads Author)

3.81 · Rating details · 8,040 ratings · 1,179 reviews

Joanna Gordon has been out and proud for years, but when her popular radio evangelist father remarries and decides to move all three of them from Atlanta to the more conservative Rome, Georgia, he asks Jo to do the impossible: to lie low for the rest of her senior year. And Jo reluctantly agrees.

Although it is (mostly) much easier for Jo to fit in as a straight girl, thing ...more

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Kindle Edition, 432 pages

Published August 30th 2016 by HarperTeen

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Jun 03, 2016 Keertana rated it liked it

Shelves: arc-galley-and-first-reads

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit is not a perfect book, not by any means. In fact, it is so full of plot holes and unnecessary dilemmas that I'm surprised I managed to get through it. But Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit shares some deeply important messages in a thoughtful manner that cannot be ignored--perhaps, especially, in wake of the Orlando tragedy. This is a story of a girl who has already come out to her friends and family in Atlanta but who is asked, by her father and Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit is not a perfect book, not by any means. In fact, it is so full of plot holes and unnecessary dilemmas that I'm surprised I managed to get through it. But Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit shares some deeply important messages in a thoughtful manner that cannot be ignored--perhaps, especially, in wake of the Orlando tragedy. This is a story of a girl who has already come out to her friends and family in Atlanta but who is asked, by her father and new stepmother, to conceal her sexual identity in small-town Rome, Georgia where she moves for her senior year of high school. It's a ridiculous set-up because it hardly seems just that a father who supports his daughter regardless of her sexuality would ask her to change herself, but it brings up a host of fascinating points.

Firstly, Joanna finds that she doesn't mind being closeted. It's not quite true to herself, but in Rome no one stares at her for her outfits or for her lesbian best friend who flirts with every attractive woman she meets. In Rome she is invisible and as confusing as that is, it's also easier. It turns out that coming out isn't something that happens just once. We treat it that way and think about it as such but in reality, coming out means repeating yourself and re-introducing yourself to every community you find yourself a part of and hoping that they accept you. That if you meet their parents or grandparents that they accept you as well. It's a privilege that non-queer people take for granted and I appreciated that Brown called out the blatant heteronormative society we live in and how harmful that is to our own minds and to LGBTQIAP+ individuals around us.

This book calls for further suspension of disbelief since Joanna reveals her secret to a friend of hers whose parents are both lesbian but she can't trust the girl she falls in love with with the same secret. If Joanna had simply communicated better, half this novel would be unnecessary. But Joanna's journey to support a friend in coming out, making her own plan to come out again in Rome, and deal with telling the truth to the people she's become friends with is all such an important path. It's also important for her parents and those around to her to come to terms with her truth, even if they're re-coming to terms with it. Back in Atlanta, people always judged Joanna for her lesbian haircut and outfits and for once in her life, she's surrounding by people judging her for her character and then accepting other facets of her personality.

To add to the convoluted plot line, though, we have a hacker lesbian and a manipulative theater lesbian thrown into the mix. I don't feel great about the inclusion of these characters and their lack of depth but I did appreciate that the issues in this book were not resolved overnight and no matter how badly the plot was constructed, it was still dealt with in a realistic manner. What's more, in a strange way the fact that girlfriends can also be manipulative--not just boyfriends--and that girls can be just as jealous as boys can be is normalizing. In some way.

What I particularly loved about this book, though, were the relationships. Joanna's relationship with her stepmother evolved throughout the novel to a point where Mother #3 became "mom". Her anger with her father is realistic and festers throughout the story, even though her father has always accepted and supported her decisions. Joanna's new friendships, and especially her romance, are believable and heart-warming and full of swoon. It's just a shame that a host of such fabulous relationships must be against the backdrop of an unbelievable plot, but it works.

This book does a REALLY good job of discussing issues that plague queer teenagers and I'm a huge fan of the way that Brown approaches a lot of important topics. Unfortunately, this contains a terribly implausible plot line so if you're prepared to suspend your belief quite a bit, this is going to be a resounding hit. I'd definitely recommend this one, if only for its thoughtful nature, but it isn't stellar as a story by itself without the queer romance at its core. ...more

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Apr 10, 2018 . (not active on this account stop adding me) rated it did not like it

Shelves: wlw-or-f-f, lgbt

tw: homophobia (that is very triggering in the last third of the book) and ableism (an intellectually disabled character is constantly belittled and treated like a burden. when others treat him this way it is never disputed by any of the characters).

(links to reviews that also mention/discuss the ableism: here and here. you can also find a twitter thread here)

tl;dr: While I can understand why people like the romance, I think we should promote other f/f books that aren't ableist.

Update: 13th June ...more

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May 13, 2016 Sarah Elizabeth rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley-edelweiss, glbt, love-triangle, r2r-read, contemporary, young-adult, read-2016, romance

(Source: I received a digital copy of this book for free on a read-to-review basis. Thanks to HarperCollins and Edelweiss.)

“Rome, Georgia, is definitely where queer girls go to die.”

This was a YA story about a girl who had to pretend to not be gay when moving to a new town with her father.

Joanna was a girl who obviously cared about her father enough to hide her sexuality when she was previously very out-in-the open about the fact that she was gay. It really was good of her to do what ...more

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Dec 20, 2015 Dahlia added it

Shelves: quiltbag-ya, f-f-romance, 2016-releases, religion-in-ya-na, one-four-kid-lit, harper, top-ten-ff-ya

Love love loved <3 Two things I've come to realize about Brown's books:

1) I always expect them to be tamer than they are, and am always surprised in the best way
2) I love how she draws characters casts - so many great secondaries here, and one of the few great examples in YA of how queer people tend to band together

This book is also going to be massively important to queer teens struggling to balance their orientation and religion, and I cannot say enough good about how that was handled here. I ...more

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Jun 03, 2017 Jacob Proffitt rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: romance, young-adult, unfinished

Based on some reviews, I had hoped that this would match, or even just approach, the stellar Everything Leads to You (both with lesbian protagonists feeling their way into a lasting relationship). Sadly, I don't think it came particularly close. And when a brick wall materialized on the train track at about the halfway point, I choose to put it down. I just can't stand the heartbreak that became inevitable, even with the promise of the genre that they'd get through it. I had half the book to go Based on some reviews, I had hoped that this would match, or even just approach, the stellar Everything Leads to You (both with lesbian protagonists feeling their way into a lasting relationship). Sadly, I don't think it came particularly close. And when a brick wall materialized on the train track at about the halfway point, I choose to put it down. I just can't stand the heartbreak that became inevitable, even with the promise of the genre that they'd get through it. I had half the book to go and I knew I'd be spending it anticipating the pain, then going through the pain, and the promise of the eventual reconciliation/growth wasn't enough to keep me interested.

The thing is, the whole situation has a couple of sloppy contradictions right from the beginning. Jo's dad is the more obvious (not least because Jo's internal dialogue calls him on it) as he supposedly loves and supports Jo for exactly who she is even as he asks her to "pass" for her entire senior year of High School. I'm sorry, but those are contradictory propositions. A senior in HS is mature enough to choose her own course. I could see a concerned father pointing out the difficulties and asking her to consider how "out" she wants to be. But that's not at all how he approached it. And bribing her to conform? No. Just. Hell no.

And sadly, Jo herself is as contradictory. It's clear that Jo ran with a rough, druggy, vandalizing (but gay and proud!) group who took pride in being "fringe" and "edgy" and "honest" (or, ahem, "real"). So she makes a deal to fly under the radar for the year and I was hoping to see that strain as she strives to maintain her internal honesty, even while compromising for her dad. So I completely lost all sympathy for her when (view spoiler). So it turns out that Jo isn't so much "honest" or "real" as she is "manipulative" and "stupid".

Anyway. When you're on the train and a convenient curve shows a wall built across the tracks, I choose to jump off before the inevitable twisted mass of burning metal becomes my new reality. I'm crazy that way. ...more

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Dec 15, 2016 charlotte, (½ of readsrainbow) rated it did not like it

Shelves: lgbt, f-lgbt, lgbtq-authors, 1-star, ya-or-mg-lit, disabilities-disorders-illnesses, romance, let-s-talk-diversity, ya-or-mg-contemporary

Rep: lesbian mc, side character with a learning disability

So I finished this, then I went and did some other stuff and while doing that other stuff, I realised I have some Thoughts about this book. Hence this mini-review.

1) It's way too long a contemporary book for me. Given that most contemporaries follow the same pattern - meet someone, fall in love, angst it out, make up - 430 pages drags it out for too long. Especially when the first 300 or so pages have not much going on. But maybe that's j ...more

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Apr 25, 2016 Danika at The Lesbrary rated it really liked it

It seems like all the lesbian YA I've been waiting for is out this year. This is definitely the first time I've read an inspirational (aka Christian) YA lesbian romance. I loved the writing style, which made me laugh out loud a couple of times at Jo's observations. The premise is interesting: Jo is the out lesbian daughter of a preacher, but when they move to a conservative small town in her senior year, her dad asks her to go back in the closet. She reluctantly agrees.

What I found interesting w ...more

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Aug 04, 2018 Lea (drumsofautumn) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: f-f-relationship, top-books-of-2018, most-anticipated-2016

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit hit me right in my heart and gut. It was beautiful and relatable and a book that I'm so happy to have brought into my life.

(Yes, I have a Bookstagram now!)

This book took me on an emotional ride from page one! Going into this, I thought it would just be a fun f/f romance Contemporary but I got so much out of it.
One of my favourite aspects, mostly because we don't get to see it a lot in queer books, is the huge connection to religion. Not only is Jo the da ...more

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Aug 31, 2016 Book Riot Community added it

Shelves: new-books-liberty-s-recs

Joanna Gordon has been out and proud for most of her years in high school. But when her radio evangelist father moves the family to Rome, Georgia, he asks her something unfair: lay low in her new school and pretend to be straight. Though she reluctantly promises, that agreement is tested when she meets Mary, the friend of a sister. This is a fabulous read! It’s a smart, sexy, funny book at queerness and teens and religion, and a refreshing take on what it means to be yourself. More, please.

Backl ...more

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May 13, 2016 Bee rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: arc, young-adult, books-i-own-ebook, controm2016challenge, contemporary, diversereads-challenge-2016, lgbtqiap, romance, edelweiss, newreleasechallenge-2016

Quite The Novel Idea ~ Words from the Clouds

2.5 stars

I've been having bad luck with reading lately. Either I'm going into a slump or I'm just expecting too much from books these days. Because yeah, there are some stand-outs every now and then that get 5 stars out of me. But those moments happen less every month. And I hoped this book would be one too, but it just... wasn't. I still enjoyed it for the most part, but I wanted to love it. And I didn't.

So, because I have no idea how else to go about ...more

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Mar 10, 2016 Christina (A Reader of Fictions) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: on-my-shelves, ala16, arc, diversity-yay, quiltbag, favorites-contemps, healthy-family-in-ya-chicka-whut

4.5 stars

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit has been one of my most anticipated releases ever since Dahlia (author of awesomeness) told me it was totally a Christina book. I mean, it was already on my to-read list because a contemporary f/f romance set partially in my hometown was a necessity. However, since I’d DNFed Brown’s debut, I feared that this one too wouldn’t work for me until Dahlia assured me that I most definitely would love it. Dahlia was right yet again. Georgia Peaches and 4.5 stars

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit has been one of my most anticipated releases ever since Dahlia (author of awesomeness) told me it was totally a Christina book. I mean, it was already on my to-read list because a contemporary f/f romance set partially in my hometown was a necessity. However, since I’d DNFed Brown’s debut, I feared that this one too wouldn’t work for me until Dahlia assured me that I most definitely would love it. Dahlia was right yet again. Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit has a great voice, a beautiful look at faith, and an adorable romance.

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit is the perfect readalike for Openly Straight, which I loved earlier this year. Both novels tackle some similar thematic elements, one m/m and one f/f. Jo has been out and proud for years, accepted by her radio preacher dad and dreaming of her own ministry to help LGBT kids of faith feel accepted. When her dad marries his third wife, Elizabeth, snarkily known as Three, she’s uprooted from the open-minded, LGBT-friendly land of Atlanta to Rome, GA for her senior year. Jo’s dad shocks and saddens her by asking her to lie low for the year, so as not to upset the in-laws.

Jo agrees to her dad’s request in exchange for a radio show of her own, on which she will eventually be able to reveal her sexuality and begin her ministry to change hearts and minds. She changes up her look to be more “normal,” so that she can blend. At first, she hates doing this, but, as she makes friends, she enjoys a lot of the privileges of passing. Like in Openly Straight, there’s this internal conflict of how nice it is to pass and not have to fight, but it’s also so fucking soul-killing hiding key elements of her true self.

For those who don’t already know, I generally really don’t like religion in books. It’s really hard to write about a character with strong faith without it coming across as preachy. That doesn’t mean it can’t be done, but books like Things I Can’t Forget and Level 2 have managed that feat. Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit joins the short list of books that I think get this just right.

Jo’s faith is strong and very crucial to who she is as a person, but she doesn’t judge others with different views. When it comes down to it, I think her radio tagline sums up her base views pretty well: “Keep it real. Keep it kind.” She doesn’t believe in using religion as an excuse to be hateful, as her step-grandmother does, but she wants to work to help people be more inclusive, not give up on her faith as a result of the hate some of the faithful have. Though I don’t share Jo’s faith in God, I relate to her views on kindness, caring for others, and not hating people for qualities intrinsic to them. There are many different kinds of faith shown in Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit, and it’s not advocating any way of being aside from being kind.

The romance manages to be very hot and shippy despite relying on one of my least favorite romantic tropes: the inevitable fight over a secret kept for no good reason. Jo doesn’t want to break her promise to her father, but she can’t resist her feelings for Mary Carlson, so she ends up starting a secret relationship. Obviously, this doesn’t go well. It’s inevitable from the beginning that the two are going to fight when the truth of Jo’s past comes to light, but Jo makes a succession of bad choices. It’s not my favorite plot. Still, I did like that Jo put her family above her love interest at all points, which isn’t something you see in YA much. Also, for all that I’m a bit tired of romance plots like this, I think they’re very believable bad choices.

The one thing that I really didn’t like about Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruits was the character of Deirdre. With most everyone else, Brown did such a great job developing the characters. Jessica, for example, doesn’t end up being supportive when Mary Carlson and Jo come out, but she’s not simply a terrible person. People have complexities, and anyone who’s actually important to the plot shouldn’t be one dimensional and evil. But then there’s the evil bitch lesbian Deirdre. She is characterized as having no good qualities whatsoever and I just don’t know why this happened at all.

In the author’s note, Brown mentions that this novel might possibly be too optimistic, and I think that’s true in some ways. Jo’s accepted by most of the people she’s gotten to know in Rome, despite the fact that she’s almost exclusively befriended people from a judgmental Baptist church that regularly preaches about how homosexuality is a sin. Still, as fiction, I think it’s important to see optimism in some LGBT novels. For years, what LGBT there was tended to be really sad. Those are important too, obviously, but it’s nice to see fluffier contemporary romances with happy endings coming out as well.

If Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruits isn’t on your radar, it should be. ...more

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Jun 02, 2016 Katherine Locke rated it it was amazing

For the most part, I'm not a contemporary reader. I'm more likely to go on a fantasy binge reading kick than a contemporary kick. And I'm not someone who particularly loves HAPPY books, though I recognize a need for them in my life.

But for the second time, as I absolutely loved NO PLACE TO FALL, Jaye Robin Brown reminds me that there *is* a special place in my heart for the contemporary that hits all the right notes: sweet, and funny, introspective and self-aware, relevant to the world, and yet ...more

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Jan 07, 2017 Ann Elise Monte rated it it was ok

Shelves: lgbtqiap-plus

Edit 2 June 2017: I'm adding Tasha's review as a link here because she discusses the ableism in this book, which I don't really touch on.

(Note: all page numbers are from my hardcover edition)

I wanted to like this book. I'd been excited to read it for months. On a basic writing level, there's nothing wrong with it. The writing style is easy to read and the protagonist's voice is fairly strong. I also really liked the peach motif that cropped up here and there, usually tied to sumptuous descriptio ...more

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Dec 16, 2016 sofia (sam willows) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016, e-books, contemporaries-read, lgbtq, own, debut, standalone, couples-i-like, favorites, 2017

Oh my god, my heart can't take this. RTC

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May 15, 2019 Jammin Jenny rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, romance, lgbt, young-adult, zz-2019-books, contemporary

I thought the author did a really good job of exploring alternative sexual relationships and how they aren't so different from heterosexual relationships. There is still doubt, jealousy, and hopefully finally love. Great story.

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Dec 07, 2016 Jessi ♡ rated it liked it

this book had a very important message to give and i'm so glad it exists, i'm smiling a lot right now

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Sep 22, 2016 Journey rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary-ya, lesbian-main-character

this was really really fantastic and one of those books where i cannot read any reviews less than 4 stars because i will get irrationally defensive.

the summary is spot on, so i won't rehash the plot of the book. here's the things i loved:

- it highlights how sometimes even for someone totally out, and even though it sucks, closeting yourself in situations can be tempting. and, further, that if you have the closet pushed on you, coming out AGAIN can be just as hard as it was the first time. even t ...more

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Aug 07, 2016 Jen Ryland added it

Shelves: lgbtq

I put off reading this because I wasn't crazy about the title (is it talking about a girl? about body parts? I find this distracting...) but what a lovely surprise this book was! It's a heartwarming story of identity and faith.

Jo is out as a lesbian to her radio preacher father, but when he remarries and moves them to a small, conservative Southern town, he asks Jo a favor. It's her senior year, so could she just ... tone herself down for that one year? Jo agrees and becomes Joanna, gets a mall ...more

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Oct 16, 2016 Lauren James rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: lgbtqia

For the sake of her peacher father’s new wife’s family, Jo lies to Mary Carlson about whether she’s out when they start dating, which leads to many more problems than I’d expect. Some of the drama is a bit contrived, which makes it infuriating in that "JUST COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER AND YOUR PROBLEMS WILL DISAPPEAR" rom-com way, but overall this is a very sweet and inclusive read.

The religious element is a central plotline without the book being overbearing for an atheist reader, and I actua ...more

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Dec 25, 2016 Sonja rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction-lgbtq, read-in-2016, read-in-2017, romance-lgbtq, favorite-lgbtq-romance, young-adult

I mean, honestly this is maybe just over four stars overall, but I'm giving it five stars anyway because of the way it resonated with me emotionally, and because it means so much to me that this book exists.

Jo(anna) promises her radio preacher dad when they move from Atlanta to rural Georgia that she would stay in the closet her senior year. Well, whoops, because she falls in love with a girl who's just realizing she's gay. And oh my god, Joanna and Mary Carlson are PHENOMENAL. I love them so m I mean, honestly this is maybe just over four stars overall, but I'm giving it five stars anyway because of the way it resonated with me emotionally, and because it means so much to me that this book exists.

Jo(anna) promises her radio preacher dad when they move from Atlanta to rural Georgia that she would stay in the closet her senior year. Well, whoops, because she falls in love with a girl who's just realizing she's gay. And oh my god, Joanna and Mary Carlson are PHENOMENAL. I love them so much. They're by far my favorite F/F relationship I've seen in YA literature so far. I adore them. Mary Carlson is AMAZING!!!!! She's honestly my everything. Joanna is a really wonderful character, too.

Here's where a couple of complaints come in: A lot of the drama in the book could have been fixed if Joanna had just TALKED TO PEOPLE (her dad and Mary Carlson, most of all) instead of, well, not doing that. But she's also a 17-year old girl, so I guess it makes sense that she wouldn't necessarily. The other one is that a lot of issues (homophobia, and also racism to an extent) were definitely handwaved or glossed over a little bit.

However, I feel like with 2016 having been as shitty of a year as it has been, it was great to just suspend disbelief for a few hours while reading this book and enjoying reading a book where even the most conservative of churches can (for the most part) accept their queer members and where (most) people just accept each other.

Here's everything that I loved, though!!
(view spoiler)[I loved Joanna's new group of friends and how they grew and changed because of Mary Carlson and because of Joanna, too, to a certain extent. George was the rare truly great dude in a book that was (rightfully) all about the ladies. He and Gemma were adorable, too. I wasn't super fond of Dana at the start, but I grew to really love her progression and how she grew up and changed in the course of the novel, too. And I love that she and Jo are best friends who made out with each other and hated it, I thought that was a great tidbit, haha. B.T.B. was great and so earnest and lovely and I can't speak to the way his autism was portrayed in the book because I don't know enough about it, but it seemed realistic and very respectfully done.

Other than Jo's step-grandmother, all the adults in this book were ACES. Her dad was pretty great for the most part, her stepmom was AMAZING. Mary Carlson's parents were really great parents. Althea was fantastic, as was Jo's step-grandfather Tater, who was just lovely.

But most importantly: MARY CARLSON!!! Fearless, wonderful, pretty, lovely Mary Carlson!! What a great lady, honestly. I LOVE how secure she was in herself and her sexuality and how she was basically like, well once I meet a person worth coming out for, I will, and then she met Joanna. She didn't take anyone's shit and she was just like, hey I'll tell you all something and then I'll leave, and she came out to them. I could have definitely done without Deirdre, the manipulative and evil lesbian and their not-relationship, but okay. All's well that ends well.

Jo and Mary Carlson though!!!! I LOVED all their little touches and lingering looks between them when it wasn't clear to either of them whether the other was into them or not. I LOVED their first kiss at Paradise, it was everything to me. I LOVED that Jo got her an elephant bracelet when she apologized to her, and I'm glad Mary Carlson forgave her, but man, I WANT SO MUCH MORE FOR THEM.

I thought we didn't get nearly enough of their story of how they made up, though. Not in a way where I thought some of the book was missing or it was imcomplete, more in a way of, here's what I want everyone to write me fic for, haha. I want more of them making up, of their first days in a real relationship. I want more of their summer trip with Dana. I want more of their established relationship because when do we ever get a great F/F relationship in YA? Rarely, unfortunately.
(hide spoiler)]

Asking for this for Yuletide next year, probably. Please prepare accordingly. ;) ...more

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May 14, 2016 Lucy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: arc, 2016-reads, lgbtq, young-adult, 2016-releases, contemporary

Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruits is one of the sweetest, fluffiest love stories I’ve read in a while, and Jaye Robin Brown manages to pack everything I look for in contemporary YA lit into its pages: diversity, complex characters, an interesting storyline, and a swoonworthy romance.

In Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit, Joanna Gordon has been out and proud for years, but when her popular radio evangelist father remarries and decides to move all three of them from Atlanta to the Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruits is one of the sweetest, fluffiest love stories I’ve read in a while, and Jaye Robin Brown manages to pack everything I look for in contemporary YA lit into its pages: diversity, complex characters, an interesting storyline, and a swoonworthy romance.

In Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit, Joanna Gordon has been out and proud for years, but when her popular radio evangelist father remarries and decides to move all three of them from Atlanta to the more conservative Rome, Georgia, he asks Jo to do the impossible: to lie low for the rest of her senior year. Jo reluctantly agrees, but things get complicated when she starts to fall for a girl at her new school.

Religion can be a tricky subject to navigate in LGBTQ+ literature, but Brown handles Jo’s faith and her feelings about going back into the closet surprisingly well. Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruits is one of the few books I’ve read with a religious protagonist, and probably the only book I’ve ever read which offers positive representation for queer Christian teens. That’s huge, and I hope this book finds its way into the hands of as many Christian readers as possible. That’s not to say that non-religious readers can’t enjoy it too - as an atheist I really appreciated the way Jo’s ambition to become a radio preacher for teens was handled. Jo recognised that Christianity isn’t for everyone, and accepted her Jewish and atheist friends without question.

The relationships in this book also really make Georgia Peaches worth reading. I especially loved the gradual development of Jo’s relationship with her stepmother, the friendships she made at her new school, and the romance between Jo and Mary Carlson. Jo and Mary Carlson have such amazing chemistry, and both girls were fantastically well-written characters.

I already know that this book is going to be one of my favourite new releases of 2016, and I’m looking forward to seeing other readers fall in love with it too. Many thanks to HarperTeen for providing a copy of Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruits. The opinions expressed in this review are my own. Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruits will be published on August 30th.

Publisher: HarperTeen
Rating: 5 stars | ★★★★★
Review cross-posted to Paperback'd ...more

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May 27, 2016 Lauren ✨ (TheBookishTwins) rated it really liked it

Shelves: lgbtqia-plus, contemporary, highly-anticipated-2016, edelweiss, ff-romance

Disclaimer: I received a free copy via Edelweiss for review purposes.

Joanna Gordon is an out and proud lesbian and has been for years now. But when her radio evangelist father remarries and re-locates her from Atlanta to small town Rome, Georgia, her father and hew new step-mum ask her to "lie low". Reluctantly, Jo agrees, on one condition: she gets to have her own religious Youth radio show. In Rome, Georgia, Jo finds it easier to fit in as a straight girl, but then she meets Mary Carlson - her ...more

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May 06, 2017 Mike rated it did not like it

Shelves: dnf

DNF at 100 pages.

I wanted to open this review by saying that this book made me legitimately consider giving up on YA, but that would be unfair to this book. This book is abysmal, don't get me wrong, but the fact that I want to move on from YA isn't solely this book's fault. This book just made me realize that over the last sixth months or so, I've hated far more YA books than I've liked, and I've hated most of them for similar reasons. Maybe the problem isn't me - maybe I'm just outgrowing this DNF at 100 pages.

I wanted to open this review by saying that this book made me legitimately consider giving up on YA, but that would be unfair to this book. This book is abysmal, don't get me wrong, but the fact that I want to move on from YA isn't solely this book's fault. This book just made me realize that over the last sixth months or so, I've hated far more YA books than I've liked, and I've hated most of them for similar reasons. Maybe the problem isn't me - maybe I'm just outgrowing this genre, and the books have always been this bad.

Or maybe - just maybe - I haven't changed at all, and this book is, in fact, fucking terrible.

I am sick to death of YA writers trying to include modern slang in their books. This is a PSA for any writers who are considering it: this never works. You are doing nothing but embarrassing yourself and making it completely transparent that an adult wrote the book. The prose in this novel is a hodgepodge of modern slang used incorrectly, slang that's completely dated (at one point, Joanna says something is 'the bomb' completely unironically), and turns of phrase that are awkward as hell. There are, in fact, ways to evoke how teenagers talk without sounding like a clueless camp counselor - just look at how authors like David Levithan and Courtney Summers use things like stream-of-consciousness and sarcasm to suggest the thought process of a teenager. Using slang is the lazy way out, and it almost invariably results in something unreadably bad. The fact that so many YA authors don't realize this is a big part of what's making me think that this genre just isn't for me anymore. Nearly every YA book I've read over the past six months or so has had some variant of this problem, and it's bad enough that I'd rather never read another YA novel than have to deal with another book this painful.

Apart from that, this book is just generally weak, in ways that I don't find particularly interesting. It's a shame, because if there's anything YA needed, it was a light-hearted, low-stakes gay romance. But this is just limp. I think Joanna is supposed to be quirky, but she just comes off as one-note, and most of her little winks to the audience are more painful than funny. I also find it irritating that Brown writes a protagonist who does have legitimate problems and issues in her life... and still manages to fill the novel with nothing but whining about things that don't really matter. This story pretty much fits the 'nice guy tries to win over the girl with a jerk boyfriend' archetype, except the nice guy is a girl. And that's just not something I want to read about - maybe ten years ago, before the 'nice guy' archetype became so infamous, this could've worked, but today, it's just played-out. This book isn't the worst thing I've ever read, but I'm having trouble finding anything nice to say about it. I guess it's kind of a microcosm of the dissatisfaction I've had with YA lately, and just thinking about all that makes me feel grumpy and depressed. ...more

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Feb 16, 2016 K.A. rated it it was amazing

I had the great pleasure of reading this manuscript early, and I loved this book to death. As all Jaye Robin Brown's books, it made me feel like coming home.

The characters were so brutally honest, each one so real and rich with emotion their experiences resonated with me on deep, personal levels. And the plot. Did you read the plot? KILLER.

The Main character, Joanna, God, I loved her. She was the perfect teenager: afraid, proud, spunky, weird (in the best way), caring, in your face, soft, brav ...more

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Mar 09, 2016 Silvana [The Book Voyagers] rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016, ya-contemporary-romance, lgbtq, harper

I really really liked Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit. Especially the cast of characters! Jaye Robin Brown knows how to write group of friends and family and love. I had such a fun time while reading this book and seriously, didn't want anything to end.

- A big part of this book is about religion and faith and belief. And you can see two sides of the coin in this book: Jo's family and her new stepmom's family.
- Jo (the MC) has a deal with her dad. And when they move to the new town, s ...more

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Aug 20, 2017 sage rated it it was ok

2.5 stars - interesting concept executed poorly, also one of those books that makes me wonder if the author's ever spoken to a teenage human in her life

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Mar 29, 2017 Latanya (Crafty Scribbles) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: High School/Middle School libraries; Parents; Teens; Diverse readers; Those readers based in reality

Shelves: contemporary, ya, lgbtqa, realistic-fiction, favorites

Save for the weird use of AAVE, quick happy ending, and way too convenient acceptance from the formerly intolerant, this story deserves reading.

Pros:

1. A cute story about acceptance of one's self, no matter the location of one's residence.
2. Sweet romance between a girl coming out and a girl already out (with all of the conflict of each box the girls lived)
3. Diversity of characters: a black, platonic friend, a mentally disabled brother, a Jewish friend (though you don't he's Jewish until the l ...more

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Jul 14, 2016 Ava rated it liked it

I enjoyed this book. While it's not a new favorite of mine, it is one I would highly recommend for people searching for books featuring an f/f relationship, and not just that, one whose main character is very religious. It's wonderful to read a book about a LGBTQIAP+ person of faith, and it's a book that I think is going to be wonderful for a lot of people.

3 stars is because it didn't blow me away by any means, but I did not hate it.

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Jan 13, 2017 Monika marked it as dnf

DNF: I'm bailing 50 pages in. Bisexuality being presented as a phase older women go through. Describing a character as "simple" right after he says he's in a special class for kids just like him...ummm, no. Plus, it feels like the author is trying too hard to achieve the voice of a queer teenage narrator; it's so uncomfortable. I don't feel motivated to read 350+ more pages of this.

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Sep 18, 2016 Heinerway rated it really liked it

Shelves: small-town, young-adult, coming-out

I really enjoyed this young adult story and believe it to be a great book for teens as well as adults. This novel is inspiring because it deals with ever-important issues such as faith, forgiveness, and of course love.

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Crazy for Young A...: Georgia Peaches and Other Forbidden Fruit, by Jaye Robin Brown → Start Date: December 27, 2016	7	28	Jan 31, 2017 11:14PM

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About Jaye Robin Brown

Jaye Robin Brown

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Jaye Robin Brown, or JRo to her friends, has been many things in her life--jeweler, mediator, high school art teacher--but is now living the full-time writer life. She lives with her wife, dogs, and horses in a sweet house in the NC woods where she hopes to live happily ever after. She is the author of NO PLACE TO FALL, WILL'S STORY, GEORGIA PEACHES AND OTHER FORBIDDEN FRUIT and THE MEANING OF BIR ...more

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“It's stupid because I don't even know her, but sometimes you see someone and there's just this flicker. Like a light bulb that glows around the person, making them shine brighter than all the others. It's not that they're more attractive or smarter or funnier than anyone else. It's just they have a combination of all the things that speak directly to you.” — 11 likes

“fear does make a mighty wall of protection against the things people don’t understand.” — 2 likes

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