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Shake Me Down
Harry knows about guilt. He knows about shame. But was he able to use these graces to help his fellow man escape a life of sin? If anything, Harry’s further entrenched this boy in his unholy beliefs. Maybe Harry’s not as good as he thought (which is saying something, because Harry doesn’t think much of himself at all, these days) and the notion fills his stomach with the frost of unadulterated dread.
Harry’s new to college, fresh out of Catholic school and conversion therapy camp, and Louis runs the campus LGBTQIA organization.
Harry’s new to college, fresh out of Catholic school and conversion therapy camp, and Louis runs the campus LGBTQIA organization.
- GenresFan FictionLGBT
712 pages, ebook
Published October 28, 2016
20 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 17, 2022
Matilda was written for this Harry :(
June 18, 2020
I love it! I like how sex is really not the focal point at all yet discussed thoroughly.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 26, 2021
Rating: 3.5 stars, leaning towards 3
I enjoyed this one. Harry went to conversation therapy camp and Louis is the president of Spectrum, the LGBTQ+ club at their college. It’s enemies to friends to lovers and overall very cute. I was expecting a shit ton more angst but it was actually very fluffy and wholesome. Louis was very protective of Harry and kind and caring and the angst was definitely there but not as bad as I thought, which is good because I was hesitant to read this for fear that it would be too heavy. It ended up being a really good book, it’s really long, definitely a slow burn, but a good one. I enjoyed the characters and the fluff and seeing their relationship develop. There is absolutely no smut here which is a nice change of pace but also I would’ve enjoyed a good ending. We never found out if Harry is asexual or if his lack of sexual desires came from conditioning himself not to like sex at camp. I would’ve liked to have a straightforward answer but we never really got one. The side plot was nice and although it was predictable at times and I felt like topics were forgiven or solved too quickly sometimes, it was still really nice. I loved so many scenes and I found some of them funny and cute and just ahh, so much fluff. Overall, this was extremely cute and i loved it.
Summary:
Harry is going to college for the first time and he's fresh out of conversion therapy. His parents drop him off and he's left to his own devices. He is freshly out of conversion camp which has taught him how to self harm with a rubberband and has made him feel like he's always dirty which triggered him to have OCD. He needs a new cleaning swifter and runs into Louis who is very obviously gay and has tattoos. Louis is immediately attracted to Harry and keeps his eyes on him at the store; when a lady drops stuff onto Harry, Louis rushes to go help. Harry, however, is very nervous about being around him and is very rude to him and tells him to go away. Louis is offended and leaves. Later on we find out that Louis is president of the Spectrum, the schools LGBTQ+ club. They are handing out flyers when Niall tries to give one to Harry, Harry tells him that they're sinners and calls him the F slur. Louis gets defensive and tells him to go away. Harry is having trouble making friends but finds some. He befriends Selena and Demi, 2 girls who go to church, and Zayn who is an artist. He comes across Zayn while he plays church songs on the piano late at night as a hobby. They become friends and it's cute. Zayn is taking swimming lessons from Liam, after Louis sets them up, and they have a bit of a love story going there. Harry and Louis end up working late at night at the same desk job and it's very tense at the beginning. Liam thinks that maybe Harry could be gay after Demi tells him about how Harry cried when she implied he was gay and he tries to befriend him while keeping his sexuality a secret as a sort of "trojan horse" idea. It fails when Harry finds Zayn and Liam kissing and tells them that they're going to hell for their sins. Later, Harry emails Zayn a link to his conversion therapy camp and tells him to "get well soon <3". Zayn is shocked and shows the rest of the boys and tries to convince them that Harry has internalized homophobia. The rest of the boys agree to help Harry. Zayn talks to Harry and Harry begs him not to tell anyone about the email, opps, and Zayn lies and promises not to. The boys start being nice to Harry and form a support group around him as he navigates his sexuality, his self harming habits, his OCD, his relationship with his parents, etc. They all get closer and Harry goes to a Spectrum meeting and comes out to Louis after a lot of self struggle. Louis accidentally lets him know that he knew about Harry going to conversion camp this entire time and Harry gets mad. He has a falling out with the boys. Harry keeps getting mail asking him to write an article about his good experiences while he was there to his conversion therapy place and he's very distraught. Harry and Louis make up before Harry goes home for break. His mom tells him that the people who keep mailing Harry told her about his response about not wanting to write an article for them for fear of regression. He comes out to her and then goes to his grandmas for Christmas. Louis finds out and invites him to his house. Harry spends Christmas at Louis' and it nice and warm and not homophobic. Harry thinks he might be asexual, we don't know for sure by the end but they never have sex, and he doesn't renounce his religion. He goes to church on Christmas with Louis (because Louis loves him a lot) and after he takes off his rubber band and prayer beads from his mom, Louis buys him new ones from him. He essentially tries to cut his family off by threatening to tell everyone why his mom is cutting his schooling off if she stops paying for it. His friends become his new found family and they go to a pride parade together. It's a happy ending.
Reading Thread: https://twitter.com/loveonsapphic/sta...
I enjoyed this one. Harry went to conversation therapy camp and Louis is the president of Spectrum, the LGBTQ+ club at their college. It’s enemies to friends to lovers and overall very cute. I was expecting a shit ton more angst but it was actually very fluffy and wholesome. Louis was very protective of Harry and kind and caring and the angst was definitely there but not as bad as I thought, which is good because I was hesitant to read this for fear that it would be too heavy. It ended up being a really good book, it’s really long, definitely a slow burn, but a good one. I enjoyed the characters and the fluff and seeing their relationship develop. There is absolutely no smut here which is a nice change of pace but also I would’ve enjoyed a good ending. We never found out if Harry is asexual or if his lack of sexual desires came from conditioning himself not to like sex at camp. I would’ve liked to have a straightforward answer but we never really got one. The side plot was nice and although it was predictable at times and I felt like topics were forgiven or solved too quickly sometimes, it was still really nice. I loved so many scenes and I found some of them funny and cute and just ahh, so much fluff. Overall, this was extremely cute and i loved it.
Summary:
Harry is going to college for the first time and he's fresh out of conversion therapy. His parents drop him off and he's left to his own devices. He is freshly out of conversion camp which has taught him how to self harm with a rubberband and has made him feel like he's always dirty which triggered him to have OCD. He needs a new cleaning swifter and runs into Louis who is very obviously gay and has tattoos. Louis is immediately attracted to Harry and keeps his eyes on him at the store; when a lady drops stuff onto Harry, Louis rushes to go help. Harry, however, is very nervous about being around him and is very rude to him and tells him to go away. Louis is offended and leaves. Later on we find out that Louis is president of the Spectrum, the schools LGBTQ+ club. They are handing out flyers when Niall tries to give one to Harry, Harry tells him that they're sinners and calls him the F slur. Louis gets defensive and tells him to go away. Harry is having trouble making friends but finds some. He befriends Selena and Demi, 2 girls who go to church, and Zayn who is an artist. He comes across Zayn while he plays church songs on the piano late at night as a hobby. They become friends and it's cute. Zayn is taking swimming lessons from Liam, after Louis sets them up, and they have a bit of a love story going there. Harry and Louis end up working late at night at the same desk job and it's very tense at the beginning. Liam thinks that maybe Harry could be gay after Demi tells him about how Harry cried when she implied he was gay and he tries to befriend him while keeping his sexuality a secret as a sort of "trojan horse" idea. It fails when Harry finds Zayn and Liam kissing and tells them that they're going to hell for their sins. Later, Harry emails Zayn a link to his conversion therapy camp and tells him to "get well soon <3". Zayn is shocked and shows the rest of the boys and tries to convince them that Harry has internalized homophobia. The rest of the boys agree to help Harry. Zayn talks to Harry and Harry begs him not to tell anyone about the email, opps, and Zayn lies and promises not to. The boys start being nice to Harry and form a support group around him as he navigates his sexuality, his self harming habits, his OCD, his relationship with his parents, etc. They all get closer and Harry goes to a Spectrum meeting and comes out to Louis after a lot of self struggle. Louis accidentally lets him know that he knew about Harry going to conversion camp this entire time and Harry gets mad. He has a falling out with the boys. Harry keeps getting mail asking him to write an article about his good experiences while he was there to his conversion therapy place and he's very distraught. Harry and Louis make up before Harry goes home for break. His mom tells him that the people who keep mailing Harry told her about his response about not wanting to write an article for them for fear of regression. He comes out to her and then goes to his grandmas for Christmas. Louis finds out and invites him to his house. Harry spends Christmas at Louis' and it nice and warm and not homophobic. Harry thinks he might be asexual, we don't know for sure by the end but they never have sex, and he doesn't renounce his religion. He goes to church on Christmas with Louis (because Louis loves him a lot) and after he takes off his rubber band and prayer beads from his mom, Louis buys him new ones from him. He essentially tries to cut his family off by threatening to tell everyone why his mom is cutting his schooling off if she stops paying for it. His friends become his new found family and they go to a pride parade together. It's a happy ending.
Reading Thread: https://twitter.com/loveonsapphic/sta...
July 11, 2023
the way harry struggles so hard with his internalized homophobia and somehow still manages to get out of it with the help of louis and his other amazing friends made this book one of my favs
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews