Reviews

Shooter by Caroline Pignat

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catherinegeorge11012's review against another edition

5.0

Do not start this book unless you have the whole day clear. I made the mistake of starting this book at midnight and finished at around 5:30 am. I couldn't put it down. I definitely think the character development could have been stronger and more realistic. Overall it was a page turner and easy read and the different POV's throughout the book was very distinctive which is not an easy task to accomplish.

lukel's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Content Warnings

haloliveontour's review against another edition

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4.0

i really loved the way all the characters had their own voice. and i love when things are written in more than just “book” format. seeing journal pages and text messages is always cool to me. really hard hitting and good

christineandthequeens's review against another edition

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3.0

I wrote this in a notes app half at 4am whilst half asleep so please forgive the mess.

I can't decide how I feel about the two autistic-coded characters in this book, Noah and Xander.

On one hand, Noah's chapters were for the most part spot on, though I'm not convinced she actually talked to any autistic people about their experiences; They show the fight-or-flight nature of meltdowns at one point and it's a good way to remind people that hey, autistic people are still people, they have thoughts -- you'd think this would be obvious but unfortunately a lot of people dont get that.

On the other hand, the way they discuss Noah, as well as the entire handling of Xander, makes me very uncomfortable. I can't tell how much of the ableism and misinterpreting was a conscious character-building choice and how much was the author's own opinions making themselves known.

Noah, for the most part, is roughly in-line behaviourally with a lot of of non-verbal autistic people. He stims (though it's only really portrayed as a negative), which is something a lot of authors leave out/aren't aware of, so that's nice. While he's somewhere between non- and semi-verbal during the hour we see, his chapters show that he does have an understanding and inner voice like anyone else, though any kind of AAC mention and usage would have been nice.

The main problem I have with his portrayal is the infantilism, assumption regarding his level of understanding and lucidity (not telling him exactly what's happening is a ridiculous thing to do, at the very least it would help him understand the schedule change and thereby calm him down), misunderstanding of what a meltdown is and the way they actively ignore him and bitch about him as if he isn't there.

And then there's Xander. Although he is never explicitly described autistic he is very obviously autistic-coded, but in the most stereotypical way you could go about it. Alice, in the end, seems to come around and work with his way of thinking, but again there is an awful lot of infantilism. The author very much sticks to the stereotype of autistic people being creepy/violent white boys, which is both untrue and extremely damaging. She went a bit too far trying to make him seem 'weird'.

All in all, the impression I get is that she read a pamphlet, maybe talked to someone who works with autistic people, and made a lot of assumptions, but hasn't actually consulted any autistic people. If she did, it certainly didn't come through.

The story was decent as a whole though, I burned through it in a day. I may recommend it to people, with a disclaimer about the stuff I mentioned earlier.

witchtash's review against another edition

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5.0

There was this line at the beginning of the book that said something along the lines of "Look, this has to be a drill. We're in the crack of nowhere; nothing like that happens here. That just happens to other schools". I really resonated with that line because I have said that multiple times. These shootings can really happen anywhere, at anytime, and that is the scariest part. Mrs. Pignat has written a compelling story that cuts to the heart of the simple facts. Anybody can be a shooter, and anybody can be shot. However, sometimes the cancelled culture that exists today jumps too soon, as the book demonstrates.

luhmzzy's review against another edition

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5.0

Absolutely amazing. Picked it up at random and read it in one sitting at B&N. I even started crying towards the end, which was embarrassing cause everyone could see me. My hands are still shaking as i type this lol.

I relate to a lot of the characters stories as a young teen, and so this had impacted me quite a lot.

5/5