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Our Own Private Universe Robin Talley Books

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Fifteen-year-old Aki Simon has a theory. And it's mostly about sex. 

No, it isn't that kind of theory. Aki already knows she's bisexual—even if, until now, it's mostly been in the hypothetical sense. Aki has dated only guys so far, and her best friend, Lori, is the only person who knows she likes girls, too. 

Actually, Aki's theory is that she's got only one shot at living an interesting life—and that means she's got to stop sitting around and thinking so much. It's time for her to actually do something. Or at least try. 

So when Aki and Lori set off on a church youth-group trip to a small Mexican town for the summer and Aki meets Christa—slightly older, far more experienced—it seems her theory is prime for the testing. 

But it's not going to be easy. For one thing, how exactly do two girls have sex, anyway? And more important, how can you tell if you're in love? It's going to be a summer of testing theories—and the result may just be love.

Our Own Private Universe Robin Talley Books

I don't know how to rate this book... I try not to do reviews on my phone because, typos, but I don't feel like I should wait. First thing I liked, the diversity. The main character was WOC, but she was one of the only ones according to her own perspective in her life. She was a bisexual in a f/f relationship. There was Madison another all out gay female and proud. The book is based in Mexico so a few Latina side characters. I mean it was all over the place with character types. Second thing, the family relationship was close, and her dad was a good dad. Now here's the things I didn't like, or felt weird about. It's set in Mexico on a church mission trip where a group of boys only went to get drunk, and a lot of sex gets had? No.... I've been on a mission trip to Mexico and I don't care if the chaperone kid ratio is 5/100 that's still not something that actually happens, in normal churches. Boys and girls don't sleep in one room together with sleeping bags on the floor with no adult supervision. No children sneak off to the woods to drink and have sex because there's absolutely no adult supervision. I had this issue with Talley's last book, it's fictional but think about setting. Also there were some things said about black people to black people that just didn't feel right, like black people oppose gay marriage? Who says that to a black person? The book is set in Mexico and none of the characters speak Spanish hardly. I don't know. She gives it this church background and makes it seems super important but never actually puts anything in the book making it seem like the main character is faithful. Also the petty drama and lying just got to be to much for me. The garbage with her best friend made me super angry, who lies about that? Then Aki the MC lies the entire time to Christa about the stupidest stuff. Also how Aki treats Christa is kind of awful. She can't help how her parents act. Anyways, over all it wasn't for me. I loved the characters and concept but sadly it kind of failed in every other aspect.


Tags : Amazon.com: Our Own Private Universe (9780373211982): Robin Talley: Books,Robin Talley,Our Own Private Universe,Harlequin Teen,0373211988,Lgbt,Romance - Lgbt,Social Themes - Emotions & Feelings,Bisexual high school students,Lesbians,Lesbians;Juvenile fiction.,Teenagers,Teenagers;Juvenile fiction.,Young adult fiction.,10036712,115026X,20170201,707220,Canada,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12),Coming of Age; Contemporary; Multicultural; Relationship; Self-Discovery; Young Adult; Diversity; Gay; Lesbian; LGBT; LGBTQ; pride; queer; sexuality; YA; teen; teens; gay hero; Homosexuality; Novel; Fiction; First Love; representation; marginalized; Bisexual; Summer Camp; girls; Own Voices; ownvoices; Love story; Sweet; First crush; first time,Fiction-Romance,JUVENILE,Juvenile Fiction,Juvenile Grades 10-12 Ages 15+,TEEN'S FICTION ROMANCE,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,YOUNG ADULT FICTION LGBT,YOUNG ADULT FICTION People & Places Mexico,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance LGBT,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Dating & Sex,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Emotions & Feelings,Young Adult FictionPeople & Places - Mexico,Young Adult FictionRomance - LGBT,Young Adult FictionSocial Themes - Dating & Sex,Young Adult;Contemporary;Relationship;Multicultural;Coming Of Age;Self-Discovery;Diversity;Gay;Lesbian;LGBT;LGBTQ;pride;queer;sexuality;YA;teen;teens;gay hero;Homosexuality;Novel;Fiction;First Love;representation;marginalized;Bisexual;Summer Camp;girls;Own Voices;ownvoices;Love story;Sweet;First crush;first time,Young adult fiction.,YOUNG ADULT FICTION LGBT,YOUNG ADULT FICTION People & Places Mexico,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Romance LGBT,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Dating & Sex,YOUNG ADULT FICTION Social Themes Emotions & Feelings,Young Adult FictionPeople & Places - Mexico,Young Adult FictionRomance - LGBT,Young Adult FictionSocial Themes - Dating & Sex,YOUNG ADULT FICTION,Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12)

Our Own Private Universe Robin Talley Books Reviews

With a title that references My Own Private Idaho, a movie about a gay male hustler, the topic of sexuality is given away right from the start. Aki is a girl who’s bisexual—she thinks. Her sexual orientation plays a large part in this novel. But the other aspects of her world—fumbling through Spanish, dealing with her disinterest in continuing her music, hiding secrets (her own and other people’s)—form an equally significant portion of her summer.

Ms. Tallyn’s writing is superb. For a book that spans only one season, this one runs the gamut. The author is adept at giving us not only Aki’s thoughts but the behavior and inner workings of everyone around her.

But it’s Aki’s relationship with Christa that forms the large part of this novel. Aki thinks she can keep this as a summer fling, that she can experience Christa and satisfy her curiosity about her own sexuality without heartbreak. Of course, we suspect that it won’t be as easy as all that. The complexity of sexuality and its fluidity are subjects that Aki wrestles with and the passages in which she tries to sort out her own feelings are at once hilarious and frustrating.

She’s only a teenager which compounds her own confusion. Still sorting her place in the world, her mixed-up feelings aren’t helped by the fact that her sexuality falls outside of what is considered heteronormative. Part of the problem is that Aki has no one she can really talk to about the subject. By the time she does find a suitably willing ear and mouth to give advice, the summer is practically over and she’s left to her own devices again.

This is a terrific story about sex, sexuality, religion, foreign relations and the other contemporary issues. It’s head and shoulders above typical YA fare and therefore suitable for adolescents and adults.
I wanted to love this book. I love the cover and I was excited to read a love story between girls. Sadly I was a bit disappointed and since I'm not sure how to break it down, I'll do bullet points.

What I loved

•A girl/girl romance. Aki and Christa have some very sweet moments together.

• Sex was talked about openly between them and safe sex was researched and in the moment.

•Sexuality and the characters struggling to figure out what they identified with being bi or straight or gay or pan. There was even talk of romantic/sexual attraction.

•It showed the struggle kids have with coming out to their parents.

•Aki's dad is one of the best. He says some amazing and supportive things.

What I hated

•There's an insane amount of drama. Yes, teenage girls and hormones, but JFC this was A LOT OF DRAMA.

•The lying. Aki lies about stupid things. Like she doesn't tell people her favorite song. Oh, in her head, she constantly talks about having one, but won't tell people because she thinks it's stupid. By the end, it seemed like everyone was lying about something, but her stupid lies were stupid.

•The bullying. There's one kid who is constantly getting picked on. It doesn't ever explain why and there wasn't a resolution and that irritated me.

Overall, even though I thought about DNFing, I kept reading for some reason. I'm sure a lot of people will love this and I definitely think the sexuality/coming out aspect is important for readers.

**Huge thanks to Harlequin Teen and Edelweiss for providing the arc free of charge**
Everyone should have a chance to read this book. I is very inspiring and highly lad your attention from beginning to end.
The writing is a little simpler than Georgia Peaches but the feels! I liked the main character quite a lot. The Spanish though, I don’t understand and am glad there was only a tiny bit of it scattered throughout.
I don't know how to rate this book... I try not to do reviews on my phone because, typos, but I don't feel like I should wait. First thing I liked, the diversity. The main character was WOC, but she was one of the only ones according to her own perspective in her life. She was a bisexual in a f/f relationship. There was Madison another all out gay female and proud. The book is based in Mexico so a few Latina side characters. I mean it was all over the place with character types. Second thing, the family relationship was close, and her dad was a good dad. Now here's the things I didn't like, or felt weird about. It's set in Mexico on a church mission trip where a group of boys only went to get drunk, and a lot of sex gets had? No.... I've been on a mission trip to Mexico and I don't care if the chaperone kid ratio is 5/100 that's still not something that actually happens, in normal churches. Boys and girls don't sleep in one room together with sleeping bags on the floor with no adult supervision. No children sneak off to the woods to drink and have sex because there's absolutely no adult supervision. I had this issue with Talley's last book, it's fictional but think about setting. Also there were some things said about black people to black people that just didn't feel right, like black people oppose gay marriage? Who says that to a black person? The book is set in Mexico and none of the characters speak Spanish hardly. I don't know. She gives it this church background and makes it seems super important but never actually puts anything in the book making it seem like the main character is faithful. Also the petty drama and lying just got to be to much for me. The garbage with her best friend made me super angry, who lies about that? Then Aki the MC lies the entire time to Christa about the stupidest stuff. Also how Aki treats Christa is kind of awful. She can't help how her parents act. Anyways, over all it wasn't for me. I loved the characters and concept but sadly it kind of failed in every other aspect.