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Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'
Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl by Brianna R. Shrum, Sara Waxelbaum
3 reviews
alexfromistemor's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
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
Thank you so much Inkyard Press & Netgalley for this eARC
I loved this book! Loved it, loved it, loved it!
I found myself reading two books dealing with neurodiversity essentially at the same time, but in different ways (the other being the arc for Cleat Cute). And obviously, the settings and scenarios are different, as well, but still I found it interesting that these two books both dealt with neurodiversity (I think of the Tiktok sound 'Oh, you're a queer couple? Which one of you has ADHD and which one is autistic?').
This book was also just so, so refreshing about just how plainly the characters talk about everything, ever. It's both no-holds-barred, and yes also thoroughly accurate when it comes talking about queer identities, biphobia, autism, sex, all of it. The authors have a note at the start about how they they wanted to be able to write a book about messy people and they nailed it! No one is a stereotype (apart from a few perfect moments of disaster queer mentality). The popular kids aren't necessarily the bad guys, the queer outcasts not necessarily the good guys, they're all just people, with flaws and virtues enough to feel real.
I love how much Margo knows herself. Not necessarily about being gay, per se, but knowing that she needs to know things to be able to be comfortable with them. Abbie as the expert about something that says right off the bat no one can be an expert about. The two of them together, with their start as fairly antagonistic, then friendly, and steadily building to love felt earned, and honest! The care they have for one another, not just when it comes to other people but also when one of them is being a dumbass, is great! They communicate!
I don't really have any negatives about the book, really. The closest I can come deals with the ending, thus spoilers:This book doesn't have the traditional forced 3rd act break-up, which is FINE (it's well established how much I hate the trope). But because there isn't that drama, and the ensuing resolution to it, the story just kinda goes until it stops. There's nothing bad about any of it, really, but we see them out as a public couple, and we see Abbie stand up for her needs with her parents, and Margo getting on a horse, and graduation, and they're all fine, there's nothing there that objectively shouldn't be there, it just kind of seems like those last chapters following them becoming an official couple loses a bit of steam, y'know?
My qualms are so, incredible miniscule, I can't even see them as worthy of losing anything from the rating, so I'm happily giving this 5 stars.
I loved this book! Loved it, loved it, loved it!
I found myself reading two books dealing with neurodiversity essentially at the same time, but in different ways (the other being the arc for Cleat Cute). And obviously, the settings and scenarios are different, as well, but still I found it interesting that these two books both dealt with neurodiversity (I think of the Tiktok sound 'Oh, you're a queer couple? Which one of you has ADHD and which one is autistic?').
This book was also just so, so refreshing about just how plainly the characters talk about everything, ever. It's both no-holds-barred, and yes also thoroughly accurate when it comes talking about queer identities, biphobia, autism, sex, all of it. The authors have a note at the start about how they they wanted to be able to write a book about messy people and they nailed it! No one is a stereotype (apart from a few perfect moments of disaster queer mentality). The popular kids aren't necessarily the bad guys, the queer outcasts not necessarily the good guys, they're all just people, with flaws and virtues enough to feel real.
I love how much Margo knows herself. Not necessarily about being gay, per se, but knowing that she needs to know things to be able to be comfortable with them. Abbie as the expert about something that says right off the bat no one can be an expert about. The two of them together, with their start as fairly antagonistic, then friendly, and steadily building to love felt earned, and honest! The care they have for one another, not just when it comes to other people but also when one of them is being a dumbass, is great! They communicate!
I don't really have any negatives about the book, really. The closest I can come deals with the ending, thus spoilers:
My qualms are so, incredible miniscule, I can't even see them as worthy of losing anything from the rating, so I'm happily giving this 5 stars.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Biphobia, and Homophobia
Moderate: Bullying, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Abandonment
Minor: Child abuse
ashcrash's review
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
cute fun fluff that’s pretty fine. LOVE the classic formula and autistic jewish lesbian rep holy shit but subtracting stars for slightly weird pacing, side characters that aren’t rlly defined bc there’s too many of them, and lots of repetitive back and forth. makes a point of hitting identity markers in a way that feels unnatural and often pretty shallow, which is sad bc there’s good stuff in there. ending was disappointing, for me. just felt kinda redundant, wish there was less of the established relationship honestly bc it feels anti climatic
Content Warnings
Moderate: Ableism, Biphobia, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
ezwolf's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Margo Zimmerman Gets the Girl is, well it's about Margo Zimmerman getting the girl. The summer before Margo's last year of high school Margo discovers that she's a lesbian. In a bid to learn more about the queer community and how to fit in she strikes a deal with openly bisexual, Abbie, who agrees to teaching Margo in exchange for AP US History tutoring.
I am very split on how I feel about this book.
First, I loved that it was queer Jewish rep, but without really any homophobia or antisemtism. I think this is only the second book I've read with Jewish characters where 'G-d' is used, it's also one of the ways I knew that they were Jewish before the line that confirmed it (I would have been very surprised if a character with a brother named Mendel wasn't Jewish).
I also really liked Margo on the whole as a character. She was very relatable in a lot of ways and I always appreciate that. On the flip side, I had a hard time with Abbie. She was was quick to be angry with Margo often and a lot of her "flirting" just came off mean so it was harder for me to take that as any build up to them having a relationship. Abbie has a lot of character growth and not all characters need to be nice, but they also kind of do when the story wants me to root for her to get together with another one. I did think that they had good communication though. This was most notable at the end of the book during what would usually be the "yay we're finally together, oh no! miscommunication, look we've made up, the end!". Instead we get them together and then Margo does not let that miscommunication happen, which was fantastic!
I thought Mendel was an interesting character, but it felt completely blindsiding for Margo to just "oh yeah my sibling is non-binary/agender/genderqueer" when you're 80% of the way through the book. That's something the audience should be told at the beginning.
A lot of things felt incredibly dragged out, but especially the back and forth with both Margo and Abbie denying feelings/she's not my type while very obviously actually having feelings. It felt like we could have come to the conclusion sooner or at least done more to show the building of feelings past thinking the other was hot. I'm not denying either of them having a crush, but Margo claiming to love Abbie by the end felt like about a hundred steps were missing on the way from crush to love.
Charlie. I really hated Charlie. I know that part of Abbie's growth came from realizing how terrible of a friend that Charlie was, but Charlie was a truly terrible friend and part of the queer community. Again, I know that was the point and I think it gave a good jumping off point for Abbie to realize the way she was telling Margo she had to do things like stand, sit, walk, dress to be taken seriously as queer was wrong.
The sex scene at the end was waaaaaaay more explicit than I was expecting out of a YA book and I realize I am not the intended audience of this book but it still felt like it pushed the YA grouping just a bit.
Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
I am very split on how I feel about this book.
First, I loved that it was queer Jewish rep, but without really any homophobia or antisemtism. I think this is only the second book I've read with Jewish characters where 'G-d' is used, it's also one of the ways I knew that they were Jewish before the line that confirmed it (I would have been very surprised if a character with a brother named Mendel wasn't Jewish).
I also really liked Margo on the whole as a character. She was very relatable in a lot of ways and I always appreciate that. On the flip side, I had a hard time with Abbie. She was was quick to be angry with Margo often and a lot of her "flirting" just came off mean so it was harder for me to take that as any build up to them having a relationship. Abbie has a lot of character growth and not all characters need to be nice, but they also kind of do when the story wants me to root for her to get together with another one. I did think that they had good communication though. This was most notable at the end of the book during what would usually be the "yay we're finally together, oh no! miscommunication, look we've made up, the end!". Instead we get them together and then Margo does not let that miscommunication happen, which was fantastic!
I thought Mendel was an interesting character, but it felt completely blindsiding for Margo to just "oh yeah my sibling is non-binary/agender/genderqueer" when you're 80% of the way through the book. That's something the audience should be told at the beginning.
A lot of things felt incredibly dragged out, but especially the back and forth with both Margo and Abbie denying feelings/she's not my type while very obviously actually having feelings. It felt like we could have come to the conclusion sooner or at least done more to show the building of feelings past thinking the other was hot. I'm not denying either of them having a crush, but Margo claiming to love Abbie by the end felt like about a hundred steps were missing on the way from crush to love.
Charlie. I really hated Charlie. I know that part of Abbie's growth came from realizing how terrible of a friend that Charlie was, but Charlie was a truly terrible friend and part of the queer community. Again, I know that was the point and I think it gave a good jumping off point for Abbie to realize the way she was telling Margo she had to do things like stand, sit, walk, dress to be taken seriously as queer was wrong.
The sex scene at the end was waaaaaaay more explicit than I was expecting out of a YA book and I realize I am not the intended audience of this book but it still felt like it pushed the YA grouping just a bit.
Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for making this available in exchange for an honest review!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Biphobia, Sexual content, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Ableism and Bullying
Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, and Outing