Reviews tagging 'Dysphoria'

Can't Take That Away by Steven Salvatore

4 reviews

melancholymegs's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring tense 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
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apfelkistenbuch's review against another edition

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medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

ohhhhhhh good god.
i wanted to like this so bad, but. no.
i really wish i’d DNF’ed it but i was curious and stupid enough to keep reading.

this was a LOT. 
if you like mariah carey (an unreasonable amount), or completely avoidable drama, congrats, i’ve got a book for you!

tbf: if this had been an ACTUAL musical, it could have worked.
the randomly-bursting-into-song (CRINGE), creating a whole movement because of one (1) queerphobic teacher (i wish!) and insta love turned heartbreak were insufferable to read, but as a movie — maybe!

there was just so much ~there~ … 
  1. pop culture references AAAALL around (they CAN be done well but this is not how you do it!)
  2. anonymous school gossip blog (SERIOUSLY! what is it with YA novels and this trope?? is that an american thing,?? what school actually HAS that) 
  3. “omg im shy 🥺” main character who is very much Not shy and actually a little embarrassing in their confidence. 
  4. dialogues that feel copy pasted from bad romance novels 
  5. a whole ass revolution in a high school? i am once again wondering if that is an american thing but it seemed incredibly unrealistic 

let me give examples. 

1. mariah carey and sam smith..? i mean oookay, but: these two are not ACTUALLY a thing with teens. so the fact that everyone understood carey’s references / info dumping was just not realistic. (also it was unnecessary and annoying to actually print all that wikipedia-type info. i get it they like mariah carey. please give me a break) 

3. 
…but i'm no drummer or guitarist or background bitch. I'm a fucking diva.
… what? 

carey to me was just such a strange character, they weren’t exactly self centered and not exactly unlikeable either but just so .. melodramatic? (literally lol). 
all of the relationship drama was so forced it didn’t even make any logical sense. just talkkkkkk to each other 

4. 
You're the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about at night, and when we're not together I want to be with you.

ITS JUST NOT GOOOOOD WHAT CAN I SAY

5.  a walkout that is suddenly a huge protest and BAM suddenly there’s a lot of police (i saw another reviewer say that that the way cops are portrayed here is also lowkey problematic and, fair) now oops! suddenly the news are there and investigating IN FAVOR of you (unlikely?) and next thing you know (spoiler) mariah carey wants to meet you. (????)
what even went on. 

i could keep going with all the things i didn’t like but it feels so mean, so i’ll just say SOMEthing positive: 
  • mr kelly, we love you. a supportive teacher we love to see it! 
  • carey’s mom, we love you too. 
  • i liked the bracelet idea and that they still made room to criticize the fact that colors are gendered. i also liked that their gender identity was more casual than i expected, like at least there wasn’t big drama with coming out to friends and family, they were all quite sweet 
  • salvatore CAN write !! their writing style isn’t bad at all i just did not like the tropes they were writing 
—> two stars just for these reasons. 

i was just happy to have finished this. good representation does not make a good book; and idk what the other reviewers liked so much about this, i was really disappointed. (but good for them !!! genuinely !!! i don’t wanna say don’t read this book just because i hated it, maybe it’s just me.) 

🤠🤠🤠
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misssleepless's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-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? Yes

2.5

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foreverinastory's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The school/principal really made me mad. But otherwise I definitely loved this! However, the audio quality was TERRIBLE and it's not even from Netgalley--wtf @Bloomsbury!?!

Rep: white genderqueer MC with anxiety and anxiety/panic attacks, Black female side character, bisexual male love interest, disabled elderly grandmother who can't speak much--implied side effects of a stroke possibly.

CWs: Alcohol consumption, biphobia, bullying, death/death of grandparent, dysphoria, gaslighting, grief, hate crime, homophobia, lesbophobia, mental illness (anxiety), panic/anxiety attacks, misogyny, sexism, transphobia. 
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