Say a Little Prayer by Jenna Voris: Review
Welcome to my review of Say a Little Prayer by Jenna Voris! This book was just as good as I expected it to be, and I definitely want to read more by the author.
Title: Say a Little Prayer
Author: Jenna Voris
Genre: YA Contemporary
Publisher: Viking Children’s Books
Pub Date: 03/04/25
Description
Saved! meets Casey McQuiston in this wry, heartfelt tale of a teen who’s taking her church camp by storm—one deadly sin at a time.
Riley quietly left church a year ago when she realized there was no place for a bi girl in her congregation. But it wasn’t until the pastor shunned her older sister for getting an abortion that she really wanted to burn it all down.
It’s just her luck, then, that she’s sent to the principal’s office for slapping a girl talking smack about her sister—and in order to avoid suspension, she has to spend spring break at church camp. The only saving grace is that she’ll be there with her best friend, Julia. Even if Julia’s dad is the pastor. And he’s in charge of camp. But Riley won’t let a technicality like “repenting” get in the way of her true mission. Instead of spending the week embracing the seven heavenly virtues, she decides to commit all seven deadly sins. If she can show the other campers that sometimes being a little bad is for the greater good, she could start a righteous revolution! What could possibly go wrong? Aside from falling for the pastor’s daughter . . .
Review
This book was so good! The chapter titles alone had me hooked, but the characters and plot are what really kept me turning the pages. Riley’s mission to complete the seven deadly sins during church camp felt like such a unique premise, and I was interested in finding out her reasoning for it. Her growth and realizations over the course of the book made her a very complex main character, and I loved how something she was forced to do morphed into something that helped her.
For anyone that’s been to church camp (although thankfully Black church camp differed a lot from this one lol), it was like a walk down memory lane. The friendships you make. The weird challenges and activities. The secrets and inside jokes. A little doom and gloom.
I couldn’t stand Pastor Young, so I was completely on Riley’s side of trying to dismantle his reign. He was the perfect villain because even his most outlandish statements and behavior felt like something you could see in real life. He’s the kind of religious leader that cares only about keeping people submissive and living in fear, so the conflict of Riley liking his daughter Julia added great tension to the story.
Overall, this was such a fun story with a realistic ending and a great message about searching for the truth and accepting that people aren’t the bad things they’ve done. I would definitely recommend this for readers who love mission-oriented protagonists and female rage. And it’s a great book for teens struggling at churches where they’re afraid to be themselves.
*Thank you to the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.*
Author
Jenna Voris writes books about ambitious girls and galaxy-traversing adventures. She was born and raised in Indiana—where she learned to love roundabouts and the art of college basketball—and now calls Washington, DC, home. When she’s not writing, she can be found perfecting her road trip playlists and desperately trying to keep her houseplants alive. She is also the author of Made of Stars and Every Time You Hear That Song.
Where to Buy
Bookshop | Barnes & Noble | Amazon
