LEAVING THE STATION

After a disastrous start to her college career, an 18-year-old takes a cross-country train trip home for Thanksgiving.

Zoe Tauber hasn’t been going to classes, has fallen out with the fellow queer friends she made during orientation, and is unsure whether she wants to be with her boyfriend or be like him. The long journey from New York to Seattle seems like the perfect chance to escape into anonymity, but as the train chugs along, Zoe finds herself feeling more known than ever when she meets Oakley. As Zoe, who’s Jewish, alternates between reminiscing about the past few months and embracing the joy Oakley suddenly brings to her life, she learns about Oakley’s struggles as a lesbian in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Shared revelations—that Zoe has a boyfriend and that Oakley is considering returning to the church—result in the pair’s veering away from each other just as they’re on the verge of creating the community they both long for. Brief discussions of queer issues and Zoe’s gender dysphoria make for compelling and sympathetic hooks, but they’re overshadowed by Oakley’s sanctimonious musings and by banter between the white-coded leads that comes off as far too argumentative to be endearing. The escalation of Zoe and Oakley’s relationship over the course of a few days feels rushed and unearned, undermining the book’s attempts to deliver a genuine emotional payload.

Intriguing in places but underdeveloped.