Full Disclosure by Camryn GarrettMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
In a community that isn't always understanding, an HIV-positive teen must navigate fear, disclosure, and radical self-acceptance when she falls in love--and lust--for the first time. Powerful and uplifting, Full Disclosure will speak to fans of Angie Thomas and Nicola Yoon.
Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time things will be different. She's making real friends, making a name for herself as student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she's HIV-positive, because last time . . . well, last time things got ugly.
Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps is not so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real--shy kisses escalating into much more--she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she's positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she's terrified of how he'll react! And then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles. Or everyone else will know too.
Simone's first instinct is to protect her secret at all costs, but as she gains a deeper understanding of the prejudice and fear in her community, she begins to wonder if the only way to rise above is to face the haters head-on...
Simone Garcia-Hampton is starting over at a new school, and this time things will be different. She's making real friends, making a name for herself as student director of Rent, and making a play for Miles, the guy who makes her melt every time he walks into a room. The last thing she wants is for word to get out that she's HIV-positive, because last time . . . well, last time things got ugly.
Keeping her viral load under control is easy, but keeping her diagnosis under wraps is not so simple. As Simone and Miles start going out for real--shy kisses escalating into much more--she feels an uneasiness that goes beyond butterflies. She knows she has to tell him that she's positive, especially if sex is a possibility, but she's terrified of how he'll react! And then she finds an anonymous note in her locker: I know you have HIV. You have until Thanksgiving to stop hanging out with Miles. Or everyone else will know too.
Simone's first instinct is to protect her secret at all costs, but as she gains a deeper understanding of the prejudice and fear in her community, she begins to wonder if the only way to rise above is to face the haters head-on...
--
This is an amazing book (and it's got amazing narration too--I read it as an audiobook), and I can't stop thinking about it. You know, every now and then you come across a book that's so so so important, that you know is a significant book that you just want to make everyone read? Well, this is it.
I've been looking for more books with chronically ill main characters, and Simone (the MC) is HIV positive. She was born with the virus, as her birth mother had it and was untreated, and as a baby Simone was really unwell. Now, however, she's got her viral load under control, so she's not actually unwell with HIV in this book. Instead, this book is about how Simone's navigating her first relationship with a boy--while believing she is probably bisexual--and she's directing her first play. But there's someone in her school who knows she's HIV positive, and they're determined to make things hard for her, threatening to reveal her secret if she doesn't break up with Miles.
I'll confess--before this book, I knew practically nothing about HIV. I wasn't even taught about it at school, and reading this was eye-opening. I learnt so much, and I'm kind of horrified by how schools hadn't taught this. For example, I didn't know there were medications that could make the viral load undetectable, and when it's undetectable it's untransmissible.
This book tackles the stigma around HIV. We see Simone as she's bullied by a classmate, threatened with having her secret exposed for all, and we see how her close friends and boyfriend react when she tells them she's positive. We know that she's already moved school before when people found out--and parents of other kids were petitioning for her to be taught separately to their children--and we see first-hand the awful way she's treated because of others' lack of knowledge and understanding.
The person threatening to expose her secret does indeed do exactly this--and then we see again how she is treated, this time with social media being hugely involved.
But this book isn't just about HIV. It's about Simone who wants to be theatre director, it's about her finding her identity and accepting herself. At its heart, it's a cute love-story (one of the best I've read), and it's also got thriller elements, with the unknown person trying to blackmail Simone.
It's also about sex--a lot. Although there's no actual sex scenes, there's a lot of discussion about it, not just about how Simone needs to be careful due to having HIV, but there's also general rhetoric on safe sex, on exploring sexual desires for the first time.
This book also has a lot of diversity. Simone and Miles are both Black. Claudia, one of Simone's best friends, is asexual, and Lydia (the other best friend) is bisexual. Simone is also bisexual. Then we've got Simone's parents--they're in a same-sex marriage, and one is Black and the other Mexican. Jesse, one of the Simone's classmates, is gay. There's just so much diversity in this.
This is a highly recommended read, and it's a great way for me to finish 2020.
View all my reviews
This is an amazing book (and it's got amazing narration too--I read it as an audiobook), and I can't stop thinking about it. You know, every now and then you come across a book that's so so so important, that you know is a significant book that you just want to make everyone read? Well, this is it.
I've been looking for more books with chronically ill main characters, and Simone (the MC) is HIV positive. She was born with the virus, as her birth mother had it and was untreated, and as a baby Simone was really unwell. Now, however, she's got her viral load under control, so she's not actually unwell with HIV in this book. Instead, this book is about how Simone's navigating her first relationship with a boy--while believing she is probably bisexual--and she's directing her first play. But there's someone in her school who knows she's HIV positive, and they're determined to make things hard for her, threatening to reveal her secret if she doesn't break up with Miles.
I'll confess--before this book, I knew practically nothing about HIV. I wasn't even taught about it at school, and reading this was eye-opening. I learnt so much, and I'm kind of horrified by how schools hadn't taught this. For example, I didn't know there were medications that could make the viral load undetectable, and when it's undetectable it's untransmissible.
This book tackles the stigma around HIV. We see Simone as she's bullied by a classmate, threatened with having her secret exposed for all, and we see how her close friends and boyfriend react when she tells them she's positive. We know that she's already moved school before when people found out--and parents of other kids were petitioning for her to be taught separately to their children--and we see first-hand the awful way she's treated because of others' lack of knowledge and understanding.
The person threatening to expose her secret does indeed do exactly this--and then we see again how she is treated, this time with social media being hugely involved.
But this book isn't just about HIV. It's about Simone who wants to be theatre director, it's about her finding her identity and accepting herself. At its heart, it's a cute love-story (one of the best I've read), and it's also got thriller elements, with the unknown person trying to blackmail Simone.
It's also about sex--a lot. Although there's no actual sex scenes, there's a lot of discussion about it, not just about how Simone needs to be careful due to having HIV, but there's also general rhetoric on safe sex, on exploring sexual desires for the first time.
This book also has a lot of diversity. Simone and Miles are both Black. Claudia, one of Simone's best friends, is asexual, and Lydia (the other best friend) is bisexual. Simone is also bisexual. Then we've got Simone's parents--they're in a same-sex marriage, and one is Black and the other Mexican. Jesse, one of the Simone's classmates, is gay. There's just so much diversity in this.
This is a highly recommended read, and it's a great way for me to finish 2020.
View all my reviews
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