Pray the Gay Away


Non-Fiction - Memoir
263 Pages
Reviewed on 05/06/2018
Buy on Amazon

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.

This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.

    Book Review

Reviewed by Romuald Dzemo for Readers' Favorite

Pray the Gay Away by Michael Zakar and Zach Zakar is a memoir, at times sensational and heartbreaking, of Iraqi twins in modern America, two brothers “cursed” to be gay — at least in the eyes of their own mother. How can they admit to themselves that they are gay and how can they make an unmitigated come-out to their classmates, friends and colleagues. Most of all, how can they come out plainly to the woman who gave birth to and raised them while feeling alienated from her? The story was inspired the very night they became convinced that their mother knew they were gay. This memoir takes readers on a rollicking ride with the twins, from the age of sixteen, as they navigate relationships and try to understand who they are. It explores their fears, their uncertainties, and their experience of rejection, even from their mother who looks at them as an abomination, a curse from God.

At sixteen, Michael is in a relationship with Sabrina while Zach is with Lee, and the book begins with disastrous adventures with their relationship partners. The reader will become keen to discover what happens next and the shift in narrative, which alternates the points of views of the twins, creates a gripping sense of suspense which will accompany the reader throughout the narrative. The book is well written, and the first person narrative is done well to capture the flood of emotions that runs through the narrative. The conflict is wonderfully handled and readers will find the internal — psychological — conflict as well as the physical one intriguing. Pray the Gay Away answers the questions: what does it take to be true to one’s self, to embrace one’s sexual preference, and to feel normal with that choice? The story is told with honesty and courage, and it is hard not to feel the pain of the protagonists. It’s riveting, a great read in gay literature.