Adventure Bound Books Turns 1-Star Review Into A Win For LGBTQIA+ Youth
by Robin Wood, SIBA Social Media Coordinator

What do you do with a miserable and disheartening 1-star review?

If you’re Angela Shores, owner of Adventure Bound Books in Morganton, NC, you put it on a mug and use it as a charity fundraiser. Adventure Bound Books recently received a review that read: “Wokest bookstore east of the Mississippi. They support trans-ing the kids also.”

Shores’ first response was to reach out to her community – her customers and other indie booksellers, both groups of which responded overwhelmingly encouragingly. Shores decided to respond to the review letting the reviewer know the store had made a donation to the Trevor Project in their name.

Then, in the tradition of putting 1* reviews on store t-shirts, she had a mug made. You can now drink your morning hot beverage out of a rainbow-themed mug that declares Adventure Bound Books, the “Wokest bookstore east of the Mississippi.”

“The most effective way to rid the world of hate is to fight back with love,” Shores says. “We educate and advocate, resist and push forward, and we do so with love.”

And, the mug is a fundraiser for The Trevor Project, with Adventure Bound Books donating the profit from sales of the mug. The mug has immediately proved so popular that it sold through the initial in under five hours.

“It’s not about the bookstore profiting from the hate or the poor review. It’s about shedding light on a phenomenal resource that supports queer youth, about showing the world a little extra love, and about working together as a community to turn hate into kindness,” she says.