augustinedreams's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Body shaming, Police brutality, Domestic abuse, Gore, Murder, Racial slurs, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Racism, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, and Hate crime
Moderate: Sexism, Misogyny, Gun violence, Cursing, and Alcohol
wrensreadingroom's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Mental illness, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Alcohol, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Classism, Racism, Car accident, Child abuse, Colonisation, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, Police brutality, Pregnancy, Violence, Sexual content, and Vomit
ghostlyprince's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Police brutality, Suicide, Bullying, Child death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Classism, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Racial slurs, Stalking, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Alcohol, Abandonment, Infidelity, and Car accident
Minor: Cancer and Gun violence
kumquats87's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Colonisation, Xenophobia, Police brutality, Murder, Death, Cursing, Blood, Bullying, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Death of parent, Violence, Cultural appropriation, Religious bigotry, and Racism
Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Torture, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Medical trauma, Grief, and Gore
Minor: Classism, Confinement, Genocide, and Gore
vanadiumbean's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
It's a faithful retelling of the events of Carrie.
The prose is functional, but it started to drag the longer the book went on. I noticed the author has a habit of tagging on these little "filter" phrases ("it seemed like," "he might have felt") that pulled me out of the flow of narrative.
I enjoyed the faux-multimedia aspect of the book and the dramatic irony, although I wish it had been used to better effect. I also, and this is a more personal issue, found the "true crime (but also ooky spooky paranormal)" slant to the media as pretty distasteful, especially given that in-universe the events of Bloody Prom are less than a decade old. I also found it hard to read how seriously we were meant to take the "Maddy Did It" podcast.
Spoiler
The whole "brought on people to talk really vaguely about how real and also Christian Telekinesis is made me roll my eyes. I personally don't care for them trying to make the events seem Grounded in Science, because the introduction of kooks just made the events seem absurd rather than Potentially Real.Ultimately, it's just kind of okay. I think where it works best is the conflict between all the teen characters and the descriptions of prom.
Graphic: Bullying, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Child death, Death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Animal death, and Police brutality
Minor: Alcohol, Gun violence, Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, Racial slurs, Death of parent, Sexual content, Murder, Cursing, and Car accident
ashylibrarian's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This modern-day Carrie retelling brings in classic Stephen King pops with the well-known Tiffany D. Jackson surprises.
I have not read Carrie, but I believe I watched the original movie a few years ago. Jackson did a fantastic job creating a modern retelling of this horror story while integrating in important conversations around race and the oppression that Black individuals still face today. This story may be fantasy but it is relevant. The events take place in 2014, not too far back from where we are today, though we are still seeing the racial bullying, the white supremacy mindset, and the horrific treatment of black folks (male-presenting, specifically) by police officers.
Like many have said before me, though I knew mostly what the ending would bring, I was not able to put this book down. Jackson expertly knows how to keep a reader invested in the story.
I also want to note that this book does come with a heavy content warning list, so please glace over that before reading if you feel this book might be triggering in any way.
Thank you, Ms. Jackson, for creating yet another powerful, emotional, relevant, and capturing story. I will absolutely be recommending this to my readers in the library.
Graphic: Death of parent, Bullying, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic friendship, Body horror, Racism, Gaslighting, Racial slurs, Confinement, Child abuse, Classism, Child death, Murder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Violence, Police brutality, Death, Blood, Hate crime, and Religious bigotry
Moderate: Suicide, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, and Gun violence
Minor: Sexual content, Abandonment, Cancer, Animal death, Cursing, and Alcohol
summer_19_'s review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, and Child abuse
Moderate: Emotional abuse and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Sexual content, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol
kell_xavi's review
4.0
Some parts of the story snowball so perfectly, accounting for the interplay of reputation, yearning, safety, anger, and belonging in each of the characters. Jules and the cops (the police brutality was the most horrific scene for me to read) are demarcated as the villains of the story, fitting tropes of the rich, white, rural, and violent with a believability that comes from reading about Southern white customs and Black Lives Matter protests across the USA.
Jackson has been a favourite YA writer of mine since Let Me Hear a Rhyme, and this is a star work of hers. The author doesn’t give answers, she tells us that teenagers’ lives are complicated, their politics and their decisions sometimes messy and their reasoning isn’t always articulate. I like that. Callie’s anger at Kenny for sympathizing with the light-skinned Black girl, but not seeing the harm of her passing or the trauma inflicted on Callie herself because of intentional, direct racism, was one of the strongest scenes of the book. The mess of Maddie, made to revere and perform whiteness, ashamed and internalizing her father’s racism, was written without needing to make it clean or okay. Kenny’s sharing in a similar cultural evasion causes harm and makes him complicit, and we can see that while also seeing his love and his desperation and his ingrained passivity to make him worthy of his father’s dreams.
The horror part of this novel is pretty contained to the prom scene, and even then, is gruesome mainly from a distance. Jackson mentions brains on a dress, decapitation, a few other specific deaths, but a lot of the carnage is fire, floating cars, blood on the ground, blanks to be filled in. The “pranks,” Mr. Washington’s verbal and physical abuse, and police violence are smartly written into the novel in a way that builds the horror and disgust, builds desire for revenge and suspense for what we know will happen. It’s a satisfying climax followed by a satisfying ending, while staying within the borders of my (relatively low) tolerance for body horror.
Graphic: Racism and Hate crime
Moderate: Gore, Blood, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Religious bigotry, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Cursing, Suicide, Animal death, Alcohol, Cancer, and Infidelity
amandas_bookshelf's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Blood, Bullying, Classism, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Racism, Gore, Physical abuse, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Confinement and Police brutality
Minor: Alcohol and Racial slurs
imstephtacular's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.25
Graphic: Racism, Bullying, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Hate crime, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Violence, Blood, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Police brutality
Moderate: Confinement, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Torture, Classism, Grief, Religious bigotry, Slavery, Suicide, Vomit, Misogyny, Sexism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Medical content, and Medical trauma
Minor: Cultural appropriation, Ableism, Drug use, Infidelity, Sexual content, Cancer, and Fatphobia