girlreading's review against another edition
3.0
3.5* ~ This wasn't what I had expected. I thought it was going to be a simple revenge story but it ended up being a lot darker, with some deeper themes. I definitely recommend this to people who loved 'We Were Liars' by E. Lockhart as, although I didn't love 'We Were Liars', this definitely has a similar feel to it and I know a lot of people adore that book!
Read my full review for 'Deviants' on my blog. http://girlreading.co.uk/bookreviews/the-deviants-by-c-j-skuse-book-review/
Read my full review for 'Deviants' on my blog. http://girlreading.co.uk/bookreviews/the-deviants-by-c-j-skuse-book-review/
thereza's review against another edition
4.0
started kinda slow but OMG this book is beautiful.and sad and raw.i didn't expect this at all.made me feel empty and complete at the same time.you just need to read this book,go through the first 100 pages and then it just gets better and better.*hides in my room and cries for a month*
phdoingmydamnbest's review against another edition
5.0
So when Harper Collins approached me with the synopsis of this book I am not ashamed to say I JUMPED AT THE CHANCE to read an ARC of it. I had never read anything by CJ Skuse before but had heard good things on the YA circuit, but I have always been a massive fan of Enid Blyton- particularly The Secret Seven and The Famous Five.
This book is like a fantastic gritty, authentic, YA version of The Famous Five. It's really very cleverly done so that even the chapter headings sound like something from a Blyton novel. It adds a real sinister and dark element to the writing having these reminders of fluffy, light, children's books open the chapters that can sometimes contain some pretty harrowing things. The Deviants reads like an adventure-mystery story of days gone by, but with a grit and urgency untouched by Blyton in her books where you knew everything was bound to come right in the end. If CJ Skuse wasn't busy writing fab YA fiction I'd bet money she'd be a dab hand at crime thrillers; she can create a small cast of vividly coloured, intricately connected characters, a serious plot, well paced with well placed clues and red herrings, and a fantastically (though devastatingly) satisfying ending.
SERIOUSLY, I applaud her for the ending, not many writers of any genre have the nerve or the finesse to pull off an ending like that. Skuse is up there with E. Lockart and Sarah Crossan for creating an emotional and authentic ending in YA.
This book also explores some pretty harrowing themes but caught my interest for its unflinching look at childhood and the loss of childhood in becoming a teenager in a largely rural community in England. The setting, like in most Blyton novels, is a character in itself and the novel would be completely different without the (I imagine) Cornwellian setting.
Alcohol, drugs, sex, sexuality, pregnancy, class divides, friendship (old and new), love, and loss- but all done with a light and respectful hand that never comes across as too much (which, lets be honest, is so easy to do when dealing with teenage characters). Skuse walks the fine line between presenting a cliched and unfair representation of teenage life and an idealised, pompous, unbelievable colouring of the same subject. Her writing feels REAL and I really enjoyed it as a result.
-This is quite an emotional book, so fair warning you maybe/probably/definitely will make you cry (or maybe I am just a mega wuss). But yes, definitely a 5 star review from me!
Booklove,
Grace
This book is like a fantastic gritty, authentic, YA version of The Famous Five. It's really very cleverly done so that even the chapter headings sound like something from a Blyton novel. It adds a real sinister and dark element to the writing having these reminders of fluffy, light, children's books open the chapters that can sometimes contain some pretty harrowing things. The Deviants reads like an adventure-mystery story of days gone by, but with a grit and urgency untouched by Blyton in her books where you knew everything was bound to come right in the end. If CJ Skuse wasn't busy writing fab YA fiction I'd bet money she'd be a dab hand at crime thrillers; she can create a small cast of vividly coloured, intricately connected characters, a serious plot, well paced with well placed clues and red herrings, and a fantastically (though devastatingly) satisfying ending.
SERIOUSLY, I applaud her for the ending, not many writers of any genre have the nerve or the finesse to pull off an ending like that. Skuse is up there with E. Lockart and Sarah Crossan for creating an emotional and authentic ending in YA.
This book also explores some pretty harrowing themes but caught my interest for its unflinching look at childhood and the loss of childhood in becoming a teenager in a largely rural community in England. The setting, like in most Blyton novels, is a character in itself and the novel would be completely different without the (I imagine) Cornwellian setting.
Alcohol, drugs, sex, sexuality, pregnancy, class divides, friendship (old and new), love, and loss- but all done with a light and respectful hand that never comes across as too much (which, lets be honest, is so easy to do when dealing with teenage characters). Skuse walks the fine line between presenting a cliched and unfair representation of teenage life and an idealised, pompous, unbelievable colouring of the same subject. Her writing feels REAL and I really enjoyed it as a result.
-This is quite an emotional book, so fair warning you maybe/probably/definitely will make you cry (or maybe I am just a mega wuss). But yes, definitely a 5 star review from me!
Booklove,
Grace
hazelstaybookish's review
1.0
I have never been one to shy away from gritty topics. In fact, I usually find myself in awe of books that are brave enough to tackle them. But despite all the issues that The Deviants packs in its pages, this book unfortunately didn't make me feel as emotional as it was supposed to. I was just so detached from the voice, and disappointed by how predictable the story was. I badly wanted to find myself invested in the characters, feel their hurt and their grief, but I just couldn't. The ending wasn't very satisfying either, sadly.
thesilmarillions's review against another edition
3.0
This was a free arc given to me by Mira Ink in exchange for an honest review.
A group of friends reunited to take revenge on the people who torment them? This is definitely a concept I can get behind. But it did take me a little while to get into it. Luckily, it took just under 50 pages to get me from plodding through to racing.
Ella was sort of dull at first, and Max is a complete douche. Basically. The beginning is the two of them on a date. Max has recreated their first date in the garden centre his dad owns (only with more fairy lights and Yankee Candles). An awkward almost-sex scene and a talk later, and things finally start to get a lot better. The minute we finally meet Corey, the story starts moving.
This book looks at a lot of different topics in a pretty short space of time (such as sex and sexuality, disabilities, teen pregnancies, to name a few). And for that, it made things kind of busy. Sometimes it felt like there were so many things going on at once that I occasionally forgot who was dealing with what. In a way, it showed that each character was living with their own problems. But at the same time, it was a lot of information to process in the short time it was all given out. Had it been spread out a bit more, it may not have been so jarring.
I loved the setting of the small town where everyone knew everyone. I loved seeing this group of friends reunited after years apart. I loved Fallon and Corey. I loved the theme of justice through the whole book, of righting wrongs and people getting what they deserved.
In a twisted way, it was fun to see Ella, Max, Corey and Fallon get payback. And much of what they did was inspired by the stories Jess (Max's late sister) told them when they were young. It was an awesome way to make her a main character without her being there.
Although I really did enjoy this book, the pacing just wasn't quite right for me. The setting, characters and descriptions I loved. The generally slow, often meandering, narrative is probably what made me go through the book so fast. And then about five revelations would happen at once and I'm slammed back to reality and need to take a minute to understand what happened. Or maybe I'm just bitter that Ella stayed at Max's side despite his every action screaming no at me.
A group of friends reunited to take revenge on the people who torment them? This is definitely a concept I can get behind. But it did take me a little while to get into it. Luckily, it took just under 50 pages to get me from plodding through to racing.
Ella was sort of dull at first, and Max is a complete douche. Basically. The beginning is the two of them on a date. Max has recreated their first date in the garden centre his dad owns (only with more fairy lights and Yankee Candles). An awkward almost-sex scene and a talk later, and things finally start to get a lot better. The minute we finally meet Corey, the story starts moving.
This book looks at a lot of different topics in a pretty short space of time (such as sex and sexuality, disabilities, teen pregnancies, to name a few). And for that, it made things kind of busy. Sometimes it felt like there were so many things going on at once that I occasionally forgot who was dealing with what. In a way, it showed that each character was living with their own problems. But at the same time, it was a lot of information to process in the short time it was all given out. Had it been spread out a bit more, it may not have been so jarring.
I loved the setting of the small town where everyone knew everyone. I loved seeing this group of friends reunited after years apart. I loved Fallon and Corey. I loved the theme of justice through the whole book, of righting wrongs and people getting what they deserved.
In a twisted way, it was fun to see Ella, Max, Corey and Fallon get payback. And much of what they did was inspired by the stories Jess (Max's late sister) told them when they were young. It was an awesome way to make her a main character without her being there.
Although I really did enjoy this book, the pacing just wasn't quite right for me. The setting, characters and descriptions I loved. The generally slow, often meandering, narrative is probably what made me go through the book so fast. And then about five revelations would happen at once and I'm slammed back to reality and need to take a minute to understand what happened. Or maybe I'm just bitter that Ella stayed at Max's side despite his every action screaming no at me.
lucyjunee's review against another edition
5.0
FIVE STARS. ALL THE STARS FOR YOU.
**Okay, before we start, I’m going to give you the trigger warnings because I didn’t know about them and they were a lot for me to handle. However, they are MAJOR plot spoilers and are basically most of the plot-twists, so read the rest of this paragraph if you want to know them. If you don’t, just skip ahead to the next paragraph, okay? Alright, the triggers are: rape, sexual abuse, drowning, drugs, suicide, animal abuse, bullying, incest, miscarriages, attempted murder, attempted suicide, self-harm, teenage pregnancy and homophobia.**
Wow. C. J. Skuse has only gone and done it again! This being my fourth book by her, I can honestly say she is a writer that doesn’t disappoint. Fantastic. From developed, authentic and raw characters, engaging plot twists, sensitive inclusion of mature themes and an important story, this book is remarkable.
This being my fourth book that I’ve read by her, I can now say she’s definitely an author to be admired and you should be adding her books to your Want-to-read (TBR) piles. Now. Go do it! This book should probably be first on your list because it’s the best one she’s done.
Firstly, the characters were fabulous. Ella, our narrator was so brilliant because she was flawed and that made her real. She lashed out at people for things that aren’t their fault and overreacted and bottled things up but she was so kind and loyal and selfless and so, so brave. She was truly astonishing.
Corey was another one of my favourites. I really loved how his disability wasn’t just there for the sake of ticking diversity off of the list, it was simply just part of who he is. He’s so sweet too and sacrifices everything for Fallon. Also he’s a huge Harry Potter nerd. I think we’d get on well.
The book was full of interesting and unique character dynamics which were so intriguing to read about. Zane being a bully, for example. I also find bullying fascinating to read about as I have experienced a harsh and painful version myself so to read about other perspectives on it is great. Seeing Zane's motives behind his behaviour and his reasons for being so cruel was incredibly gripping.
Max was also insanely flawed and a lot of his actions throughout the novel are questionable yet there’s something so special about him.
Finally, Fallon. I admit she wasn’t my favourite. No harsh feelings, just I liked the others slightly more. She was also very lifelike and I fully supported some of the things she said throughout the book. She was so brave and courageous. An amazing character to look up to.
As for Jess, when her name was put in the synopsis I expected a much bigger role from her and until halfway through the book, she just didn’t seem relevant but then we get the plot twist. THAT. PLOT. TWIST.
Honestly, all the female characters in here are strong and true inspirations.
Having such a heavy focus on friendship is just something that we don’t see often in literature, especially young adult. This is the rare time we get that and the Fearless Five were the best. I want to be in their group. Please?
The story itself handles some deep and mature topics that I wasn’t expecting. Despite being caught off guard and totally overwhelmed, I couldn’t help but absolutely admire the way Skuse had managed to integrate so many important issues into one story seamlessly and not only bring awareness, light and understanding to something so relevant in society today, but also portray them with respect and sensitivity; they weren’t plot points. Catalysts. Dumped in there for the sake of shocking the audience. They were put there to educate the reader on something so, so significant and impacts thousands of people every single day. I can only applaud Skuse for her remarkable work.
In addition to this, the plot was quite engaging. I was definitely expecting a thriller going in to this, similar to “Monster” about solving the murder of Jess but I got a contemporary instead. I’m not complaining, I loved it nonetheless. It’s definitely quite slow-paced during the middle but the ending is just insane! I mean, have you eve read anything so absurd but fantastic?! I think the speed of the story worked for this one though, we needed the time to learn about the characters and get to know them before it all unfolds.
Overall, the book was just phenomenal and I would recommend you picking this one up. Beware of the gritty topics and make sure you’re in the right state to read something so heavy but other than that, it was brilliant. Skuse has undeniable talent.
Love, Lucy x
**Okay, before we start, I’m going to give you the trigger warnings because I didn’t know about them and they were a lot for me to handle. However, they are MAJOR plot spoilers and are basically most of the plot-twists, so read the rest of this paragraph if you want to know them. If you don’t, just skip ahead to the next paragraph, okay? Alright, the triggers are: rape, sexual abuse, drowning, drugs, suicide, animal abuse, bullying, incest, miscarriages, attempted murder, attempted suicide, self-harm, teenage pregnancy and homophobia.**
Wow. C. J. Skuse has only gone and done it again! This being my fourth book by her, I can honestly say she is a writer that doesn’t disappoint. Fantastic. From developed, authentic and raw characters, engaging plot twists, sensitive inclusion of mature themes and an important story, this book is remarkable.
This being my fourth book that I’ve read by her, I can now say she’s definitely an author to be admired and you should be adding her books to your Want-to-read (TBR) piles. Now. Go do it! This book should probably be first on your list because it’s the best one she’s done.
Firstly, the characters were fabulous. Ella, our narrator was so brilliant because she was flawed and that made her real. She lashed out at people for things that aren’t their fault and overreacted and bottled things up but she was so kind and loyal and selfless and so, so brave. She was truly astonishing.
Corey was another one of my favourites. I really loved how his disability wasn’t just there for the sake of ticking diversity off of the list, it was simply just part of who he is. He’s so sweet too and sacrifices everything for Fallon. Also he’s a huge Harry Potter nerd. I think we’d get on well.
The book was full of interesting and unique character dynamics which were so intriguing to read about. Zane being a bully, for example. I also find bullying fascinating to read about as I have experienced a harsh and painful version myself so to read about other perspectives on it is great. Seeing Zane's motives behind his behaviour and his reasons for being so cruel was incredibly gripping.
Max was also insanely flawed and a lot of his actions throughout the novel are questionable yet there’s something so special about him.
Finally, Fallon. I admit she wasn’t my favourite. No harsh feelings, just I liked the others slightly more. She was also very lifelike and I fully supported some of the things she said throughout the book. She was so brave and courageous. An amazing character to look up to.
As for Jess, when her name was put in the synopsis I expected a much bigger role from her and until halfway through the book, she just didn’t seem relevant but then we get the plot twist. THAT. PLOT. TWIST.
Honestly, all the female characters in here are strong and true inspirations.
Having such a heavy focus on friendship is just something that we don’t see often in literature, especially young adult. This is the rare time we get that and the Fearless Five were the best. I want to be in their group. Please?
The story itself handles some deep and mature topics that I wasn’t expecting. Despite being caught off guard and totally overwhelmed, I couldn’t help but absolutely admire the way Skuse had managed to integrate so many important issues into one story seamlessly and not only bring awareness, light and understanding to something so relevant in society today, but also portray them with respect and sensitivity; they weren’t plot points. Catalysts. Dumped in there for the sake of shocking the audience. They were put there to educate the reader on something so, so significant and impacts thousands of people every single day. I can only applaud Skuse for her remarkable work.
In addition to this, the plot was quite engaging. I was definitely expecting a thriller going in to this, similar to “Monster” about solving the murder of Jess but I got a contemporary instead. I’m not complaining, I loved it nonetheless. It’s definitely quite slow-paced during the middle but the ending is just insane! I mean, have you eve read anything so absurd but fantastic?! I think the speed of the story worked for this one though, we needed the time to learn about the characters and get to know them before it all unfolds.
Overall, the book was just phenomenal and I would recommend you picking this one up. Beware of the gritty topics and make sure you’re in the right state to read something so heavy but other than that, it was brilliant. Skuse has undeniable talent.
Love, Lucy x
theperksofbeingpeculiar's review against another edition
5.0
Read the full review on my blog...
My first thought about this book is how gripping the plot was. I really struggled to put this book down because I was enjoying it so much (honestly I only put it down when I had to do something else). It constantly gave me the feeling that there was ‘something coming’, which made me want to read on to find out what the ‘something’ was. At the end of each chapter, there was a question being asked to Ella, what made them more intriguing was the fact that you don’t know who is asking the questions, this really added to the book.
One of my favourite things about this book was the way all the characters re-bonded. It didn’t feel forced or fake, and it was good to see how they could all get on even though they’d grown up a bit, meaning they’d matured. This leads to the only bit of criticism I have for the book, was that Zane’s re-connection didn’t feel like it fit properly. There were no scenes of him having a friendly, genuine discussion before the one of him and Ella on ‘the hill’.
I loved the way the character diversity made the story more interesting., the five of them make a good friendship group despite them all being quite different. This could especially apply to one of the Characters, Fallon, who lives on a farm and therefore has a bit of a different lifestyle to the others. The story was set in a small seaside town – the perfect place to put a group of people who all have secrets, Ella’s being the biggest and most shocking to everyone.
My first thought about this book is how gripping the plot was. I really struggled to put this book down because I was enjoying it so much (honestly I only put it down when I had to do something else). It constantly gave me the feeling that there was ‘something coming’, which made me want to read on to find out what the ‘something’ was. At the end of each chapter, there was a question being asked to Ella, what made them more intriguing was the fact that you don’t know who is asking the questions, this really added to the book.
One of my favourite things about this book was the way all the characters re-bonded. It didn’t feel forced or fake, and it was good to see how they could all get on even though they’d grown up a bit, meaning they’d matured. This leads to the only bit of criticism I have for the book, was that Zane’s re-connection didn’t feel like it fit properly. There were no scenes of him having a friendly, genuine discussion before the one of him and Ella on ‘the hill’.
I loved the way the character diversity made the story more interesting., the five of them make a good friendship group despite them all being quite different. This could especially apply to one of the Characters, Fallon, who lives on a farm and therefore has a bit of a different lifestyle to the others. The story was set in a small seaside town – the perfect place to put a group of people who all have secrets, Ella’s being the biggest and most shocking to everyone.
darkclouds's review against another edition
5.0
This book was just phenomenal. And will leave you devastated. It covers so many topics, dark and intense and horrific. The way CJ has written about them with a thriller twist is outstanding. I am SO impressed. So many unexpected plot twists, filled to the brim with raw emotions, flawlessly flawed cast of characters and a bombshell of an ending - it's impossible not to love CJ's work. This is one of her best pieces and I can't wait for the rest of the world to get to read it.
It's bone chilling til the very last page. You won't be ready. You'll never be ready.
Full review to come closer to publication date.
It's bone chilling til the very last page. You won't be ready. You'll never be ready.
Full review to come closer to publication date.
abookloversdiary's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
infi85's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
4.25