All blogs, except one, grow up. Actually, I'm not sure if that's true, and I don't know what the one blog that doesn't grow up would be...but the point is, today is the first time I'm review a book I truly didn't like. *Takes deep breath* And I guess in my mind, that's Bookshire growing up? Here goes!
Worldbuilding/Writing Style
So, I really enjoyed the setting of the area around London. I haven't read a lot of contemporaries set in England! And it was interesting reading about their school system. I thought that Rhys being deaf was handled well, and I loved how his family was structured. I was less in love with the portrayal of Steffi being selectively mute. It seemed like all of the conflict around that was in the past, and she was basically 'better' by the time the book began. More on that in a moment. In terms of writing style, it was overall good, but there was one page that was Steffi's "internal dialogue", which was both boring and panic inducing...at the same time. Not my fave.
Plot
Wait, there was supposed to be a plot? Oh, I remember...it consisted of the following tropes: Girl Meets Boy Who She Is Friends With; Boy Has A Girl Friend; Girl Friend Informs MC She's Not His Girlfriend; The MC and the Boy Start Dating; They Lie to Their Parents; The MC Is Not There For Her Best Friend; Insert Cliché Emotional Difficulties; These Are Solved In One Conversation; Best Friend and MC Make Up With No Problems. Ahem. Sorry about the snark, but it got a bit ridiculous. The main 'difficulty' about the end was *highlight for spoilers* Rhys having a bit of a breakdown about his ability to protect Steffi. Which is a normal thing, in my opinion! The man in the relationship is supposed to be protective! It's in their emotional makeup! But this is magically solved by a conversation where they agree to "lean on each other"? *end spoilers* In addition, most of Steffi's problems with selective mutism happened in the past...there was next to no actual conflict around her problems, and it seems that she can make most of them go away by just...trying harder? Unrealistic, in my opinion. There were also several characters who were supposed to be very important to the MCs, who only appeared once, for a plot point.
Characters
There characters were actually where this book shined for me. "Inside Steffi's head" was entertaining, and she was an engaging narrator for me. And I mean, she did have issues with her selective mutism, and that was really good to learn about. I liked Rhys as a character as well, although he seemed almost too perfect? I really enjoyed the parts with Steffi's friend Tem (September--I love that as a name! Maybe because I've read The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship of Her Own Making too many times?), who was such a good friend and a lovely, bubbly person. However, she was shown to be "Catholic" by which I mean Christmas/Easter Catholic, which really irritated me. There was one particularly flippant comment that really took by breath away with its callousness and joking about sacred things. I did enjoy the scenes with both Rhys's and Steffi's families--so fun! So relatable!
Romance
Okay--I love a good friends-to-romance occasionally, but wow, as soon as they started dating, the content skyrocketed? I had to start actually skipping pages for content, and I HATED it. I mean, guys, you're basically in HIGH SCHOOL. STOP. Also, *highlight for spoilers* Initially, Tem is shown as being very committed to waiting for marriage (although she's deifnitely shown as going as far as she can, which was also irritating), and then right in the middle, she just...randomly? loses? her virginity? And it's handled really flippantly? Grr...*end spoilers*
Content
Lots. Oodles. To be serious: several VERY steamy kissing scenes, and at least one more intimate scene (which I also skipped, so I can't say how detailed they were). Characters discussing sexual matters vulgarly. Some swearing sprinkled through, including the f-word.
Overall Rating
2 stars. The only thing saving this from a 1.5 star rating is the d/Deaf and selective mutism representation, and the fun family dynamics. Would not recommend.
Reminded me of...
Eliza And Her Monsters by Francesca Zappia (social anxiety, and MUCH less content!)
Have you read any good books with selective mutism representation? When did you post your first negative review?
I was reading the first paragraph and getting very sad because I thought you were hinting that the book you didn't like was Peter Pan....and then I remembered that this post has a title and that title mentions the book's title. *facepalm*
ReplyDeleteYour plot summary. XD
I don't understand what's with the level of content in YA. Even if some teenagers DO do these things in real life, why wouldn't you want to promote better, more responsible behaviors in your books, instead of normalizing unhealthy behaviors?? (Also, who thinks this is appropriate stuff for a thirteen-year-old to read?? The YA target audience encompasses 13-year-olds, y'all. I haven't read this particular book, I'm just thinking of others I've read.)
Oh no! I'm sorry I left you in suspense! I do really like Peter Pan. :)
DeleteThank you. XD I was very proud of it.
I KNOW! Why not promote good behavior, people? And seriously, I wouldn't even want a fifteen-year-old to read this, and I, as a seventeen-year-old skipped most of the content, because it was inappropriate for ME! Grr...
I haven't read this book, but it doesn't seem like something I would like, so I probably won't.
ReplyDeleteSome books really deserve snarky descriptions, so I appreciated it.
I absolutely loathe it when authors make it seem like this huge problem was solved just by talking about it or falling in love. Like, "Oh, this horrible traumatic thing happened to me, but I'm in love now, so it's all good."
Um, no. That is not the way things happen in real life.
Anyway, great review. I need to work on reviewing books that I hated.
Yeah, probably stay away from this one. :)
DeleteI'm glad! The snark is fun.
Oh, I know! Love is not the fix for everything, it's actually really hard work! And that's not the way it happens in real life!
Thank you! And thank you for all your comments!
Ah, yes, when you write your first review for something that you didn't like! I can't quite remember what mine was, but my reviews for the book and movie 2001: A Space Odyssey stick out to me. But, it's as important to recommend books as it is to say, "Don't read this!"
ReplyDeleteThe best-friends-to-lovers isn't my favorite, but there are some exceptions. I don't think I've ever read a book with selective mutism, so that's interesting! Nevertheless, based on your review I don't think I'll be checking this one out.
Argh, 2001: A Space Odyssey is the worst. XD
DeleteIt's true--it's important to do both recommendations and anti-recommendations. But I try to recommend more than I detract.
I'm ambivalent on friends-to-lovers, since I think it's actually a pretty good way to enter a relationship. But it's not usually well done. The selective mutism thread was definitely interesting! But yeah--please don't check it out. :)