varshiniramaraj's review
4.0
The first interaction being a gatekeeper dude was honestly the best part of this book, because it's so true.
I might need to change my current genre of reading, because young adult emotions are a bit too OTT for me, currently. I tried to keep that aside and review the book as is, about girls who want to enjoy "boy" things just like anyone else.
I liked that her dorky dad introduced her to something which later became the inspiration for her portfolio. I also liked that there wasn't an everyone wins, everything is great ending, but a more realistic one. Brody.... aah I have met a lot of Brodies in my life, so his ending being the begrudging boy who doesn't realize how problematic he is sounds about right to me.
Good going, Whitney Gardner!
I might need to change my current genre of reading, because young adult emotions are a bit too OTT for me, currently. I tried to keep that aside and review the book as is, about girls who want to enjoy "boy" things just like anyone else.
I liked that her dorky dad introduced her to something which later became the inspiration for her portfolio. I also liked that there wasn't an everyone wins, everything is great ending, but a more realistic one. Brody.... aah I have met a lot of Brodies in my life, so his ending being the begrudging boy who doesn't realize how problematic he is sounds about right to me.
Good going, Whitney Gardner!
julietbridges's review against another edition
4.0
This was so cute and easy to read I finished it in a day! She’s the Man was one of my favorite movies in my younger days, and this is like the nerd version of that.
itsmytuberculosis's review
4.0
women? liking comics???? in MY EUGENE, OR??????? m o r e l i k e l y t h a n y o u t h i n k.
anyway props to Gardner for being able to encapsulae what it is like to be the only woman in the room as well as deal with The Internet As a Whole. Though I wish we could have had some interaction with Cam and Maria (the woman mentioned once) -- also Brody? buddy youre not redeemed in my eyes
anyway props to Gardner for being able to encapsulae what it is like to be the only woman in the room as well as deal with The Internet As a Whole. Though I wish we could have had some interaction with Cam and Maria (the woman mentioned once) -- also Brody? buddy youre not redeemed in my eyes
msmesser24's review
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
31stephanie's review
4.0
This was a fun little quick read. Honestly I picked the book at the used book store because of the super cute cover art. The story was just as cute in the end!
sciencesquall's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
francisopal's review
4.0
Full review: https://bookpeopleteens.wordpress.com/2018/05/29/review-chaotic-good/
I’d highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a short, fun, read about feminism, cosplay, crushes, and D&D. If Cath from [b:Fangirl|16068905|Fangirl|Rainbow Rowell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1355886270s/16068905.jpg|21861351] pulled a She’s The Man, this book would be the fantastically fabulous result. Like any good role-playing campaign, Chaotic Good was full of original characters, inside jokes, and a bunch of teenagers having way too much fun. Rating: four/five
I’d highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a short, fun, read about feminism, cosplay, crushes, and D&D. If Cath from [b:Fangirl|16068905|Fangirl|Rainbow Rowell|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1355886270s/16068905.jpg|21861351] pulled a She’s The Man, this book would be the fantastically fabulous result. Like any good role-playing campaign, Chaotic Good was full of original characters, inside jokes, and a bunch of teenagers having way too much fun. Rating: four/five
storytimed's review
3.0
Howwwwwwwwww are you going to write a whole! damn! book! about crossdressing without even mentioning that trans and nonbinary people exist!
I recognize and commend Whitney Gardner's decision to shine a light on harassment and toxicity within the nerd community, but this book is pretty much the epitome of straight cis white feminism. Everything bad that Cameron does, including causing a ton of harm to the two queer characters in this book, is excused because she's actually suffering! and a victim of so many terrible things! Except being a victim doesn't mean that you're allowed to offload your trauma onto everyone around you.
I feel like this would've been a much stronger book if at any point we'd taken a step back from What's Good For Cameron? and protagonist-centered morality. I wanted to explore how she felt having to become complicit in toxic masculinity to fit in, how gender and drag change the way she feels in the world. I wanted her to show up for her geek girl community or actively, realistically chase after her goals instead of having people offer her support and love and apology without her having to even ask. I wanted an exploration of how it feels to be brown and a nerd, or gay and a nerd, with at least one iota of acknowledgement that non-white and queer people are just as left out of the geek spaces as women are.
I understand that this book is a cis white geek girl power fantasy, and I guess most of my problems with it stem from that aspect. I wanted something more complicated from Cameron than girl power-y platitudes. I wanted her to be a person whose flaws are acknowledged and understood, I wanted her to be forced to interrogate who she was and come out the other side not only stronger but smarter for it as well. I also wanted some damn intersectionality, god damn it.
This is a perfectly fine book. It's fluffy, the writing's snappy, the comic inserts are super well-drawn and the cosplay/disguise/fashion design motif tracks surprisingly well. I just wanted more from it.
I recognize and commend Whitney Gardner's decision to shine a light on harassment and toxicity within the nerd community, but this book is pretty much the epitome of straight cis white feminism. Everything bad that Cameron does, including causing a ton of harm to the two queer characters in this book, is excused because she's actually suffering! and a victim of so many terrible things! Except being a victim doesn't mean that you're allowed to offload your trauma onto everyone around you.
I feel like this would've been a much stronger book if at any point we'd taken a step back from What's Good For Cameron? and protagonist-centered morality. I wanted to explore how she felt having to become complicit in toxic masculinity to fit in, how gender and drag change the way she feels in the world. I wanted her to show up for her geek girl community or actively, realistically chase after her goals instead of having people offer her support and love and apology without her having to even ask. I wanted an exploration of how it feels to be brown and a nerd, or gay and a nerd, with at least one iota of acknowledgement that non-white and queer people are just as left out of the geek spaces as women are.
I understand that this book is a cis white geek girl power fantasy, and I guess most of my problems with it stem from that aspect. I wanted something more complicated from Cameron than girl power-y platitudes. I wanted her to be a person whose flaws are acknowledged and understood, I wanted her to be forced to interrogate who she was and come out the other side not only stronger but smarter for it as well. I also wanted some damn intersectionality, god damn it.
This is a perfectly fine book. It's fluffy, the writing's snappy, the comic inserts are super well-drawn and the cosplay/disguise/fashion design motif tracks surprisingly well. I just wanted more from it.
littlewit's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Interesting story. Wish it had a bit more to it. It felt a bit like it would jump from plot development point to plot development point. It was also a bit rough reading about the online harassment. I wasn't prepared for that kind of vitriol and language but then is anyone ever ready for that?
skywalkerem's review
4.0
Definitely a fun read...pretty relatable. I usually don’t like reading about “nerd culture” but she was a different enough character that it didn’t feel weird or too real to me.