Gay the pray away

This was as much the exploration of the patriarchy and contradiction of the quiverful movement being directed by an unmarried man who preyed on young women, as it was learning about your queerness within this structure.

Kelly:
Knowing how close to home this story was for the author/narrator, I was really swept up in her emotions that she laid bare in this novelization of how she wanted to tell her story of being in a religious cult, especially for someone who wasn’t born into the fold but a family who choose to become a part of a religious movement that takes away a woman’s rights.

Kelly:
The book was not what some would say groundbreaking, but it is so important that this kind of story be told. Naudus has long been a narrator to revere, and now she’s absolutely an author to watch.”—Dahlia Adler, award-winning author of Cool for the Summer

“A moving, fiercely tender book that I will hold dear to me for a long time.

They’re my people for sure. And for the people who loved Shiny Happy People. It’s achingly authentic, composed with equal parts sweetness, care, and stubborn queer perseverance. Privately, they grasp at any chance to continue their forbidden romance—until they are found out.

Kelly:
I really did feel for Valerie reading this novel, as it points out to how important reading and understanding how other people are seen in the world through representation in media.

I spent a lot of last spring and summer actively undoing a lot of the harm from this time in my life. Despite reports of individuals submitting themselves to reparative therapy and subsequently getting married and having children, there is no evidence that this treatment permanently changes people's attractions to their own sex.

The Audiobook Experience:

Christy:
I can only imagine what it felt like to narrate this deeply personal story. I need more books from Natalie Naudus ASAP!”—Julie Abe, author of The Charmed List and Our Cursed Love

“Gay the Pray Away is a beautiful, hopeful story.

Gay the Pray Away is raw, funny, furious, and full of heart: a deeply personal story about queerness, faith, family, and the long, complicated road to self-acceptance. It is not uncommon for survivors of these programs to wind up permanently emotionally scarred and at times, even suicidal.

The real diseases are homophobia and heterosexism, not homosexuality.

It is important to recognize that the great majority of psychotherapy professionals argue vociferously that such "treatment" is unethical because homosexuality is not an illness — rather the "illness" is our intolerance of sexual and gender behaviors falling outside restrictive societal norms.

Further, many professional organizations to which mental health practitioners belong, such as the National Association of Social Workers (NASW), the American Psychological Association, and the American Psychiatric Association, consider such treatment unethical, and its practitioners risk censure as well as suspension or revocation of their licenses.

On the few occasions I have been asked about conversion therapy by my clients, I tell them that I agree with the conclusions of my own professional organization (NASW).

We knew this one would spark a lot of feelings, so we’re doing something special: a co-review to unpack it all. I also tell clients that reparative and conversion therapies, besides being ineffective, are psychologically harmful to gays and lesbians, which is another reason I do not recommend them and will not assist clients in procuring such treatment.

People like Marcus and Michele Bachmann believe that accepting and even celebrating gay and lesbian people will inevitably lead to the moral decline of our society.

I found Natalie’s literary voice in this one so strong, and knowing one of my favorite audiobook narrators finds herself and uses her own words and literally her own voice to share this story was really impactful. Spitzer found that well after the treatment ended, many of the respondents still had feelings of attraction to members of their sex.

And these findings are not unique.

Val’s budding hope, wonder, and joy leap off the page, and will no doubt be a lifeline for readers who see themselves in her experience. An impressive debut!”—Julie Tieu, author of Fancy Meeting You Here

“Achingly heartfelt and resoundingly beautiful. From first impressions to favorite chapters to how Natalie’s voice brought the entire experience to life…here’s everything we felt while listening.

Gay the Pray Away

by Natalie Naudus
Narrator:Natalie Naudus
Published by: Quirk Books
on June 4, 2024
Genres:Contemporary, LGBTQIA+, Young Adult
Bookshop, Amazon
Goodreads

Valerie Danners is in a cult.

As Valerie explores her feelings for Riley, she begins to see that the world she knows is a carefully crafted narrative.

Publicly, the girls are close friends—holding hands in prayer, rooming together at a conference. The best-known group of such clinicians is the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), led by psychologist Joseph Nicolosi.

I wish this was a memoir, it might not be for Natalie, but maybe this is the way for some queer teens who are stuck in a religious stranglehold, and I hope that books and representation help them escape.

Final Thoughts & Rating:

Christy:
There’s a whole community on reddit dedicated to snarking on people in fundamentalist cults…those folks would love this book.

So for a teenager who is coming to terms with their own self awareness and living among the normal folks in a normal community, Valerie knows deep down that something isn’t right with the word of the “church” and how they treat woman and gay folks.