_rowantree_'s review against another edition
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Bullying
Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Death, and Child death
Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, Sexism, Racism, Misogyny, Ableism, Alcohol, Cultural appropriation, Incest, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, and Homophobia
sar_bear's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
I don't think I've ever read a book/series this bad. I could not finish the series despite being given most of the books as a gift. The writing in general is just horrible (good news is that it makes others feel so much better about their own writing), and the main character is so unlikeable it feels purposeful. I could talk about the problematic things with the series but I don't think I have enough time in my day to cover everything.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Homophobia, Racism, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, and Eating disorder
nautikal's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
1.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Sexism, Bullying, Sexual assault, and Blood
Minor: Fatphobia, Drug use, and Alcohol
abbyleinbach's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
My friends asked me to read this with them and I will never forgive them
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Sexual assault, and Sexism
Minor: Homophobia, Bullying, Alcoholism, Fatphobia, and Alcohol
msradiosilence's review against another edition
I’m 95 pages in, and the last book I DNF’d was Allegiant 9 years ago, but I fucking CANNOT with this book.
First of all, way to whitewash your main “native” character. Very SMeyer of you. How is it that the other POC character (Shaunee, a black woman) is allowed to have ‘mocha’/‘chocolate’ skin but Zoey goes from ‘tanned’ to ‘pale white’ hm? Sounds very…cultural appropriative, no?
For a book that has a gay character and a black character in the main cast, this book was *checks notes* fatphobic, transphobic, racist, and slut shame-y all in the first 8 pages! And it only gets worse!! This is why I fucking DNFed, because there is much better shit out there.
The writing was annoying as fuck, Zoey was super judgmental and annoying as fuck, all the other characters were shallow and annoying as fuck…did I mention how annoyed I was with this book?
I read it back in middle school (and bc of the blow job scene in the beginning was subsequently banned from reading it) but as an adult I’ve been going through a nostalgia period and this was one of the books I wanted to revisit. Honestly, thanks Mom and Dad for sparing me from the rest of this series.
First of all, way to whitewash your main “native” character. Very SMeyer of you. How is it that the other POC character (Shaunee, a black woman) is allowed to have ‘mocha’/‘chocolate’ skin but Zoey goes from ‘tanned’ to ‘pale white’ hm? Sounds very…cultural appropriative, no?
For a book that has a gay character and a black character in the main cast, this book was *checks notes* fatphobic, transphobic, racist, and slut shame-y all in the first 8 pages! And it only gets worse!! This is why I fucking DNFed, because there is much better shit out there.
The writing was annoying as fuck, Zoey was super judgmental and annoying as fuck, all the other characters were shallow and annoying as fuck…did I mention how annoyed I was with this book?
I read it back in middle school (and bc of the blow job scene in the beginning was subsequently banned from reading it) but as an adult I’ve been going through a nostalgia period and this was one of the books I wanted to revisit. Honestly, thanks Mom and Dad for sparing me from the rest of this series.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Toxic friendship, Ableism, Blood, Classism, Cursing, Excrement, Lesbophobia, Mental illness, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Violence, Vomit, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Transphobia, Alcohol, and Sexual assault
atrkula's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Fatphobia, Sexual harassment, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Death
Minor: Body shaming
donxmore's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
1.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Body shaming, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Sexual harassment and Sexual assault
booktrotting's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
Screaming. What an absolute hot mess this book is; just the thought of the assembly process of this book - a middle aged woman writing the words “boobies” and “poopie” over and over and her 20 yo daughter deciding to keep all of that in in the editing process- absolutely sends me. It is also absolutely crammed full of stuff that absolutely would not fly now - all the teens in this book are absolutely rancid. There’s something mesmerising about this book that keeps you drawn in though, what a wild time.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming
Moderate: Ableism, Blood, Child death, Cultural appropriation, Death, and Fatphobia
eleanorryd's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
I read these books when I was 12-13? Ish? With my friends and while I didn't love the books as much as my friends did, I thought they were okay. Now, at 21, I definitely don't think they're okay. Zoey is the meanest most unsympathetic and unlikeable main character I have ever read and I absolutely hate that everyone thinks she's the ultimate good guy. She is the chosen, the saviour, the love interest, on top of all of the qualities that are almost given for a YA heroine (humble, pretty, smart, funny, sarcastic). Except, she's not. Her ego is so fucking massive and yet she looks down on other people (mainly Aphrodite) for also having an ego?
There are a bunch of problematic terms just casually thrown in there for no good reason ('retard' is used several time, she uses 'midget' about corn, so I don't know if that counts but it definitely made me cringe), the only lgbtqia+ character is described by his friends as the 'token guy friend of the group' but, eh, yeah, no. The only black character of the main cast is described as looking like an 'African princess' until we learn her name (and that she's not African at all, she's from Connecticut with Jamaican heritage?). The main character's grandma is Cherokee and 'her people' are described as 'barbaric'. I mean, I'm white as they come, but if even I react then that feels like a sign they should have hired (some more) sensitivity readers.
The plot was not good, much like the writing, but that's really all I have to say about that.
Zoey is so mean and judgemental and rather than being 'wise beyond her years' she just acts like everyone's mum Karen and judges all the 'kids today' for being just that - kids. It's so horrible to read and I can't believe I didn't notice it when I was younger - which is exactly the problem! A book aimed at young kids (girls, most likely) tells them that if you're mean to everyone, and I mean EVERYONE (who isn't, like, super-attractive), you're still the good guy. That whole message is huuuugely problematic and absolutely disgusting.
Here is an incomplete list of people Zoey thinks she's better than:
1. Fat people
2. People who condone drinking
3. Her step-dad
4. Her sister
5. Dorks
6. Emos
7. Goths
8. Vampyres
9. Kathy Richter, 'the biggest ho in school'
10. Aphrodite
11. Her mum
12. Enyo, Deino, and whatever the third girl was called (the Wasp)
13. Elliott
14. All of the Dark Sons and Daughters
15. Stevie Rae (geez just let the girl enjoy her cowboy boots)
16. Heath
17. Kayla
18. Aphrodite again
There are a bunch of problematic terms just casually thrown in there for no good reason ('retard' is used several time, she uses 'midget' about corn, so I don't know if that counts but it definitely made me cringe), the only lgbtqia+ character is described by his friends as the 'token guy friend of the group' but, eh, yeah, no. The only black character of the main cast is described as looking like an 'African princess' until we learn her name (and that she's not African at all, she's from Connecticut with Jamaican heritage?). The main character's grandma is Cherokee and 'her people' are described as 'barbaric'. I mean, I'm white as they come, but if even I react then that feels like a sign they should have hired (some more) sensitivity readers.
The plot was not good, much like the writing, but that's really all I have to say about that.
Spoiler
When tension actually starting building up and the story got closer to its climax, I was actually getting invested and thinking "wow this could actually be something? The stakes seem pretty high right now" but no. They pull the most cliché deus ex machina and all of Zoey's friends show up so she can save the day and look like the hero. After spending half the book talking about how she wanted to 'bring [Aphrodite] down', she then tells Aphrodite that she 'never wanted to win anything'?? That is simply not true. And then Zoey says that they don't have to 'continue playing their roles' and, again, 100 pages ago or something you called her a 'ho' for being comfortable in herself and her sexuality?Spoiler
Zoey is so mean and judgemental and rather than being 'wise beyond her years' she just acts like everyone's mum Karen and judges all the 'kids today' for being just that - kids. It's so horrible to read and I can't believe I didn't notice it when I was younger - which is exactly the problem! A book aimed at young kids (girls, most likely) tells them that if you're mean to everyone, and I mean EVERYONE (who isn't, like, super-attractive), you're still the good guy. That whole message is huuuugely problematic and absolutely disgusting.
Here is an incomplete list of people Zoey thinks she's better than:
1. Fat people
2. People who condone drinking
3. Her step-dad
4. Her sister
5. Dorks
6. Emos
7. Goths
8. Vampyres
9. Kathy Richter, 'the biggest ho in school'
10. Aphrodite
11. Her mum
12. Enyo, Deino, and whatever the third girl was called (the Wasp)
13. Elliott
14. All of the Dark Sons and Daughters
15. Stevie Rae (geez just let the girl enjoy her cowboy boots)
16. Heath
17. Kayla
18. Aphrodite again
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Vomit, Sexual content, Death, and Child death
Minor: Ableism, Fatphobia, and Xenophobia
leahkristin's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia, Body shaming, and Rape
Also would like to mention slut shaming.
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