An inspiring, uplifting and sympathetic story about sexuality and self-acceptance, Lucy Sutcliffe's debut memoir is a personal and moving coming out story. In 2010, at seventeen, Lucy Sutcliffe began an online friendship with Kaelyn, a young veterinary student from Michigan. Within months, they began a long distance relationship, finally meeting in the summer of 2011. Lucy's video montage of their first week spent together in Saint Kitts, which she posted to the couple's YouTube channel, was the first in a series of films documenting their long-distance relationship. Funny, tender and candid, the films attracted them a vast online following. Now, for the first time, Lucy's writing about the incredible personal journey she's been on; from never quite wanting the fairy-tale of Prince Charming to realising she was gay at the age of 14, through three years of self-denial to finally coming out to friends and family, to meeting her American girlfriend Kaelyn.
Firstly, I don't watch Lucy's videos, and when I heard about this book, I didn't know who she was but I was interesting in her story; it's something different to what I usually read and of course very inspirational by the sound of it. And while I did have a few niggling issues, I really enjoyed it. I liked Lucy's whole background, from making friends to moving to a bigger secondary school, getting bullied, all of these experiences made Lucy who she is and proved that she is more than just her sexuality.
The book was purely chronological, which might not have been the best way of setting it out as an autobiography, as the first few chapters on childhood friends was a little boring, but I actually took it as a story. That way, the back story just built up to the main plot, learning and accepting her sexuality and meeting Kaelyn.
Like I said, I was reading like a story, almost fiction in the way its set out and that worked for me. However, I would have loved some more of modern-day Lucy, like how she and Kaelyn worked as a couple and some more mention of their YouTube channel. I can understand why Lucy would want to keep some aspects of their relationship private but just skating over the "getting to know you" part of their relationship felt like I was skipping a chapter! Having said that, I did enjoy how it wasn't just about them, there was an overarching message about the LGBT community and how it supports each other and how the girls contributed to it, that was very touching to hear about.
There is also a tour-wide giveaway to win one of 3 copies of this brilliant book! Click here to go to the rafflecopter page.
Published 24th June 2016 by Scholastic. Thank you to the publisher and Faye Rogers PR for my copy in exchange for an honest review.
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