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Cover of What We Left Behind

What We Left Behind

Robin Talley

Ages 14–18

Readers rate it 2.4 (7 on Hardcover)

409 pages · Released Nov 1, 2015

Content report card

What We Left Behind parent’s guide: what’s inside

High confidence

Violence

What it offers

Educational value

A note for parents

This is a well-known LGBTQ+ young adult novel centered on two lesbian teens navigating their relationship through college and identity exploration. The book thoughtfully explores themes of self-discovery, gender identity, and the complexity of love, with Toni's journey as a genderqueer character being central to the narrative. While there is some sexual content and mild language appropriate to the college setting, the primary focus is emotional rather than explicit. This book is best suited for older teens already comfortable with LGBTQ+ themes and mature relationship dynamics.

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From the publisher

From the critically acclaimed author of Lies We Tell Ourselves comes an emotional, empowering story of what happens when love may not be enough to conquer all Toni and Gretchen are the couple everyone envied in high school. They've been together forever. They never fight. They're deeply, hopelessly in love. When they s... From the critically acclaimed author of Lies We Tell Ourselves comes an emotional, empowering story of what happens when love may not be enough to conquer all Toni and Gretchen are the couple everyone envied in high school. They've been together forever. They never fight. They're deeply, hopelessly in love. When they separate for their first year at college—Toni to Harvard and Gretchen to NYU—they're sure they'll be fine. Where other long-distance relationships have fallen apart, theirs is bound to stay rock-solid. The reality of being apart, though, is very different than they expected. Toni, who identifies as genderqueer, meets a group of transgender upperclassmen and immediately finds a sense of belonging that has always been missing, but Gretchen struggles to remember who she is outside their relationship. While Toni worries that Gretchen won't understand Toni's new world, Gretchen begins to wonder where she fits in this puzzle. As distance and Toni's shifting gender identity begin to wear on their relationship, the couple must decide—have they grown apart for good, or is love enough to keep them together?

Shelved under

  • Juvenile Fiction
  • Young Adult
  • Fiction
  • LGBTQ
  • College students
  • Identity (Psychology)
  • Self-realization
  • College stories
  • Lesbians
  • Identity
  • Lesbian teenagers
  • Fiction, gay

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ISBN 9781460390986 · Harlequin

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