Scan barcode
annabong92's review
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
The whole book sounded like a normal high school experience with a girl who is falling for both the popular guy and the lonely misfit.... I was NOT expecting that ending though. To be honest I wish I did because it hit me hard. I kept wishing I knew beforehand or some kind of warning because it may trigger others as well.. might possibly end up a banned book one day in my opinion but then again it sounded like a 90s setting which most touchy subjects nowadays were considered common back then. Regardless, its been added to my favorites list of books.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, and Abandonment
gilmore25's review
1.0
So I got to page ten and put the book down. Normally I give books a bigger chance and try to read a few chapters. Couldn’t do it. I felt like I was reading a thirteen year old’s diary. I practically had war flashbacks to my badly written fan fiction days. Sorry, I just can’t say anything nice about this book. So I will definitely NOT be finishing it.
vividaway's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
The start of the book was very interesting, and sets the tone of Anika thinking she’s part something (vampire potentially?), which makes her feel like an odd one out. Her dosing her bosses food/drink with valium is crazy and im shocked this was included. Anika thinking that Becky is pregnant is an interesting plot point because they are still so young. She wants to defend Becky, but she’s scared. The homophobia and racism in this book was played out well and wasn’t too offensive. It was realistic and I like how it was done. The kiss between Anika and Logan was sweet, it being her first kiss was adorable and her freaking out is realistic asf. Anika’s boss being racist is really hard to listen to, but unlike other books i’ve read, this was done in a tasteful manner that depicts real life scenarios. I love the ties this has to mean girls, and i think it’s very good in those regards. I see the similarities but i also see how this stands alone as it’s own novel. The relationship between Becky and Anika is interesting to me because they both use each other. Becky is extremely racist and prejudiced and Anika fears what could happen if she gets exposed by her. The dynamic of Anika and her dad is also interesting, because he’s very strict and wants her to have a good education, so he presses grades very hard for both Anika and her bother. The racism between Anika’s stepdad was shocking and i wasn’t expecting that. The dinner scene was also a twist, and it was weird to see Tiffany’s mom so upset. Logan and Anika hanging out more is sweet and i like their relationship. The necklace he gets her is adorable. Logans dad being abusive was another twist that i thing was important to include, because alcoholism runs deep in the family. Tiffany stealing is an interesting side plot to the story because it shows that stereotypes need to be broken by the people holding them. She didnt steal because shes black (OBVIOSLY) its because she’s poor. Logan attacking the security guard is a big WTF moment and i still don’t know how to process that, just like Anika. I can’t highlight or annotate this book because its a library book so ill just directly add the quote that hit me HARD ASFFFFFFFF: "I did it. Not exactly the way I had planned but... I did it. I made him feel important. And walking back to the locker room with Shelli by my side, I can't help but wonder... If it's such a big deal for a middle-aged white guy to feel important... What happens when he doesn't?" like WOW. The dynamic between Jared and Anika’s parents is really cute, and i think it’ll work out better than it would with Logan, though the drama is there, seeing as Logan thinks theyre together, kind of. Anika giving Tiffany all the money she stole was really sweet and i liked that scene. The actual twist in the book is so reminiscent to “If he had been with me” and i genuinely wasn’t expecting it. Logan dying to protect his family was tear jerking, and i can’t believe this all happened. The sign were all there, but i didn’t expect it, just like real life. The ending scene was heartfelt, before it turned into a real mean girls retribution moment. It was deserved, and needed, and its a valid way to show grief if we’re being honest! The ending about the sky was so beautiful, and this book made me tear up multiple times reading it. This was such a good much of multiple things i’ve read and watched, while being nothing like them at the same time. Perfect as a stand alone book. I loved it, a lot.
cassguin's review
5.0
So I find this book, read the synopsis, and I think to myself "alright, this should be interesting." I start reading the book and after a while, I don't know. The book just wasn't doing anything for me, but I couldn't stop reading. So I keep going and suddenly I start to realize what this book is really all about. Yes, the whole cliche high school mean girl and the hot guy everyone wants and the nerd no one likes and all that junk but it means so much more. What the book is really all about is basically summed up in Anika's speech at the end after Logan's death. It was amazing that such an important part of life was spoken about. I'm writing this review after just having finished the book and although I had to struggle a bit through it, I'm glad I stuck around because the final realization made in the book about not caring about what so-and-so said is something everyone should live by because you never know when it all might be taken away from you.
bluebeereads's review
3.0
Istyria book blog ~ B's world of enchanted books
3.5 stars
Well shit. I'm kinda speechless right now. I knew what I was going to say in this review and I knew what I was going to rate it and I was already writing the review in my head and then the end happened and well... shit.
Anatomy of a Misfit is about Anika Dragomir. On the outside, she's the third most popular girl in her High School. Blonde hair, blue eyes and all that. On the inside, she's a weird and kind of nerdy girl with strange and dark thoughts and vampire DNA (her dad is Romanian). When school starts again, former nerd Logan McDonough comes back to school no longer looking like a nerd. Actually he's kind of hot. But Anika can't like him because it would ruin her reputation and who needs him when Jared Kline, the bad boy of every girl's dreams, is showing a lot of interest in her?
So this book was just okay most of it. I liked the narration, Anika has a unique voice even though I do think she needs help. She's really really weird on the inside, but I liked that about her. And yes, for most of the book that was the only thing keeping me reading. That and the promise of a horrible tragedy. Those often save a book, you know. And in this one it was no different. Near the end something horrible happens and it broke my heart, kind of. I did like how it concluded but I'm still left feeling disappointed. And why is that? Let me tell you!
This book has stereotype characters. All of them. The annoying, mean queen bee and her minions. The bad boy everyone wants. The nerd nobody wants to bee seen with and all of the other ones you can think off. And in some books that works fine. Some books pull it off! This one did... almost. I was so frustrated with most of the characters for a huge part of the book. Anika was so stupid for putting up with all of Becky's crap (aka Queen Bee). Most of these characters made so many racist remarks even I was offended. I know that still happens a lot in the world, but I do not want that in a book like this. And also the conversations... I know a lot of teenage girls nowadays like to use the word 'like' a lot in one sentence, but it's so annoying to read. It literally made my head hurt. After a while I had to stop reading because all I could see was the word 'like'. It's annoying to hear, it's even more annoying to read.
Then the other part that bothered me the most. The romance(s). Yes it's kind of sort of a love triangle, but it could've worked so well! And I'm supposed to root for Logan but I really didn't. In case you're wondering, the following will not be a spoiler because it happens really early in the novel and it's obvious. So a few chapters into the book Logan suddenly asks Anika if she wants a ride home because she has to walk and it's very far and he has a moped. Then he brings her home and he kisses her. And that's the first time they even talk to each other. The next chapter we're a few weeks later and they've been seeing each other in secret. There's no build up whatsoever and for me that means no feels. Then we have Jared on the other end and honestly I rooted for him at first. He was surprisingly nice and charming and there was enough build up for me to get into the romance. But then he starts acting like a jerk and Logan is suddenly a sociopath and I'm left with a love triangle where I don't want the girl to end up with either boys. So yeah.
A few more things about some of the characters... Anika may have been a bit frustrating at times, I still liked her as a character. She's funny and weird and I did love her speech in the end. I also loved her mom because she's such a sweetheart. I also kinda liked Shelli. She was nice, but I didn't get to know her enough to love her.
Anatomy of a Misfit could've been much better and for the most part it was only okay. The ending saved it a bit and pushed the rating a bit higher but overall I'm still disappointed. I do encourage you to try it though because while it may not have been for me, you never know if you will feel the same.
hshamroukh's review
5.0
Only one word can describe what I felt at the end of the book: heartbreak. This book is quite possibly my favorite novel. I read this already, and I just finished it once again because of my absolute love for it. The love shown from Logan was perfect, leaving me feeling emotional at the-- I don't think it would be a good idea to spoil it for those who haven't read it. But I recommend it to anyone who like contemporary fiction with a bit of romance. And maybe that's what made me love it so much, the perfect amount of love in this book. READ ITTTTT
sb_ginger's review
3.0
This book used basically every slur possible but it was a good plot line and story.
kellertson3's review
1.0
Terrible language.... Good moral but you could find other books that teach the same thing..also, hated the ending.
oddio's review
1.0
Holy cow this was poorly written all around. I'm sure the author had very good intentions, but nothing worked. Especially with the abrupt "tearjerker" ending.
Nothing was really shown. Everything is relayed through this jerk of a main character, Anika, as if saying "my sisters are horrible" will automatically make the readers agree that they are horrible when they've never ever said a word to our main character. Everything is told, not shown. Sure, telling can occasionally be better than showing, but when a book is attempting to build up to a grand emotional climax, we've got to care for this main character. That's very hard if we are detatched to what she's feeling due to the huge amount of mere "telling" rather than " showing". I genuinely felt more sorry for her sisters and stepfather and the narrative bashing they got than I did for Anika. I get that the point is that Anika is a jerk, but I can't even believe that when she does nothing to be a jerk aside from some snide comments in her narration and her understandable passiveness towards Becky's bullying.
Speaking of Becky, "the mean girl" of the novel, she was so unbelieveably one-dimensional. Mean Girls (the movie) worked because it genuinely attempted to give dimension and redemption to its titular mean girls. Regina George was believably bitchy, and I believe that's part of the reason the film worked so well. There's reasoning for why she would have ended up that way (her mom and her wealth), and she seems genuinely hurt when Cady mocks her in front of the entire school (and Cady is shown to be in the wrong for this, as enforced when Regina immediately gets hit by a school bus after storming off). In short, Becky gets none of that dignity. She's almost cartoonishly evil, plotting to ruin people's lives and having no justification for doing so. Because of this, I found myself rolling my eyes at Becky's inevitable downfall. Becky was nothing but a scapegoat for Anika to fight.
Not only that but...the romance. Just...the romance. In short, the two love interests in this novel only seem to love Anika because she's pretty (despite her Bella Swan-esque attempt at reasurring us that she's super ugly). Logan is worse than Jared with this, despite Logan being the book's "emotional" core and the "right" choice for Anika. At least Jared and Anika have a decent conversation before Anika leaves Logan in the dust to date Jared, but Jared seemed to like her before this for...some reason?
Logan and Anika's relationship starts by him starring at her and asking if she wants a ride for...again, some reason. She's pretty. Oh, I forgot, that's totally enough to base a teenage romance on /sarcasm. Logan spends the entire novel pining after her for...some reason, despite the fact that these two "star-crossed lovers" have hardly had half a conversation, and seem more physically attracted to each other than emotionally. Anika seems more in love with the moped than Logan himself. And we're supposed to care when [spoiler] happens? LOL no.
Overall, Anatomy of a Misfit was a huge disappointment all around. I sincerely hope that [a:Andrea Portes|278993|Andrea Portes|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1199138983p2/278993.jpg] real life wasn't this one-dimensional.
Nothing was really shown. Everything is relayed through this jerk of a main character, Anika, as if saying "my sisters are horrible" will automatically make the readers agree that they are horrible when they've never ever said a word to our main character. Everything is told, not shown. Sure, telling can occasionally be better than showing, but when a book is attempting to build up to a grand emotional climax, we've got to care for this main character. That's very hard if we are detatched to what she's feeling due to the huge amount of mere "telling" rather than " showing". I genuinely felt more sorry for her sisters and stepfather and the narrative bashing they got than I did for Anika. I get that the point is that Anika is a jerk, but I can't even believe that when she does nothing to be a jerk aside from some snide comments in her narration and her understandable passiveness towards Becky's bullying.
Speaking of Becky, "the mean girl" of the novel, she was so unbelieveably one-dimensional. Mean Girls (the movie) worked because it genuinely attempted to give dimension and redemption to its titular mean girls. Regina George was believably bitchy, and I believe that's part of the reason the film worked so well. There's reasoning for why she would have ended up that way (her mom and her wealth), and she seems genuinely hurt when Cady mocks her in front of the entire school (and Cady is shown to be in the wrong for this, as enforced when Regina immediately gets hit by a school bus after storming off). In short, Becky gets none of that dignity. She's almost cartoonishly evil, plotting to ruin people's lives and having no justification for doing so. Because of this, I found myself rolling my eyes at Becky's inevitable downfall. Becky was nothing but a scapegoat for Anika to fight.
Not only that but...the romance. Just...the romance. In short, the two love interests in this novel only seem to love Anika because she's pretty (despite her Bella Swan-esque attempt at reasurring us that she's super ugly). Logan is worse than Jared with this, despite Logan being the book's "emotional" core and the "right" choice for Anika. At least Jared and Anika have a decent conversation before Anika leaves Logan in the dust to date Jared, but Jared seemed to like her before this for...some reason?
Logan and Anika's relationship starts by him starring at her and asking if she wants a ride for...again, some reason. She's pretty. Oh, I forgot, that's totally enough to base a teenage romance on /sarcasm. Logan spends the entire novel pining after her for...some reason, despite the fact that these two "star-crossed lovers" have hardly had half a conversation, and seem more physically attracted to each other than emotionally. Anika seems more in love with the moped than Logan himself. And we're supposed to care when [spoiler] happens? LOL no.
Overall, Anatomy of a Misfit was a huge disappointment all around. I sincerely hope that [a:Andrea Portes|278993|Andrea Portes|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1199138983p2/278993.jpg] real life wasn't this one-dimensional.