Good LDS story. Love and conversion. ( )

I am constantly scared for these characters, more so that they could exist in any plane of existence and that someone might try to recreate this. I listened to both audiobook and read the book and both characters are annoying, there's so much WHIMSICAL behavior from children and young adults that don't belong bursting from the mouth of a person that age. And even as adults, they often read as children.

Even the book description addresses the Ferris wheel scene. There are many moments like this that feel almost along the lines of blackmail. A perfect example is one telling the other they're engaged when they are, in fact, not, and the other party had no thought upon marriage let alone romance.

This book is extremely racist. Especially for the 80s. That was right after a lot of love and acceptance and right before the 90s changes. But Charly is full of awful racism(plural) and racist prerogative. Native Americans are also written as essentially barely even human, much like a certain Disney movie.

Our main characters are also, mainly Sam, racist, sexist, and extremely religious. Though I don't remember it coming up in book, Sam is also clearly homophobic. He's also patronizing. Meanwhile Charly has the personality of girl. She's a pixie love dream, a being who is wholly unreal and "quirky". She's written childish and often as much younger than Sam, to the point in some scenes I was certain he was dating a mentally regressed woman or someone with severe bipolar or emotional issues left untreated.

With all that said, it's almost like it's a comedy, right? Wrong. This is Mormon propaganda given to children to help them embrace a life where men are in power and women are lucky if they're the only wife. This is doctrine through and through. Charly and Sam are just puppets being used to sell children and youth into a religion that doesn't care about their well-being at all.

Read if you like trash and bad books, but skip otherwise. ( )

I love re-reading this book, full of nostalgia for me, and the ending is so bitter-sweet. ( )

I really enjoyed this book! It is entertaining, joyful, and heartbreaking. This book really makes you think about how short life is and the importance of every moment. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys a quick read. ( )