samantha_89's review
4.0
I really, really wished I hadn't gone in to this novel knowing that Kody Keplinger was around my age. I wished I could have made the assumption that she was in her thirties or whatever. Unfortuantely, I couldn't and because of that I looked really closely at how it was written. There aren't too many young authors out there so how did she measure up to other authors?
Fortunately and unfortunately, I found that her age showed through out the book. There's an upside and a downside. The upside (and what kept this book at four stars for me) was that the dialogue between the teens was, 99% of the time, very spot on. There was cussing, and lots of it. They were crude sometimes, but at the same time they could wax poetic. Keplinger's teen years aren't too far behind her and that served her very well in this novel. The downside of her age is that she just hasn't had enough time to perfect her craft. The storytelling sometimes felt like it needed a bit of grease. The narrative and dialogue would sometimes be awkward and unnatural just to serve the purpose of dropping information. Keplinger is extremely talented, and the book as a whole is absolutely amazing. The storytelling sometimes took me out of it though and that's never good.
Shut Out is a very courageous story. Sex is not something that's talked about a lot in YA and when it is it's very simple and definitely not the entire plot of the novel. I hope that Shut Out takes off because it brings up excellent points of how us girls are treated unfairly when it comes to sex. I think this book could bring up excellent discussions in schools and really bring to light some of the inequalities between guys and girls. For those of you who wonder, despite the book being about sex there really isn't anything terribly graphic in it.
I enjoyed the fact that Lissa starts out with a boyfriend as you really don't see that all too much in books. I loved Cash's character, absolutely dreamy and easy to fall in love with. The introduction of his character was awkward and definitely is a huge point in how I was saying Keplinger's writing just isn't quite *there* yet.
So, writing aside I think this is a really important book. I would love to see more honesty like this in the YA section. I think I could even put up with clunky writing if I got more honestly.
Fortunately and unfortunately, I found that her age showed through out the book. There's an upside and a downside. The upside (and what kept this book at four stars for me) was that the dialogue between the teens was, 99% of the time, very spot on. There was cussing, and lots of it. They were crude sometimes, but at the same time they could wax poetic. Keplinger's teen years aren't too far behind her and that served her very well in this novel. The downside of her age is that she just hasn't had enough time to perfect her craft. The storytelling sometimes felt like it needed a bit of grease. The narrative and dialogue would sometimes be awkward and unnatural just to serve the purpose of dropping information. Keplinger is extremely talented, and the book as a whole is absolutely amazing. The storytelling sometimes took me out of it though and that's never good.
Shut Out is a very courageous story. Sex is not something that's talked about a lot in YA and when it is it's very simple and definitely not the entire plot of the novel. I hope that Shut Out takes off because it brings up excellent points of how us girls are treated unfairly when it comes to sex. I think this book could bring up excellent discussions in schools and really bring to light some of the inequalities between guys and girls. For those of you who wonder, despite the book being about sex there really isn't anything terribly graphic in it.
I enjoyed the fact that Lissa starts out with a boyfriend as you really don't see that all too much in books. I loved Cash's character, absolutely dreamy and easy to fall in love with. The introduction of his character was awkward and definitely is a huge point in how I was saying Keplinger's writing just isn't quite *there* yet.
So, writing aside I think this is a really important book. I would love to see more honesty like this in the YA section. I think I could even put up with clunky writing if I got more honestly.
lanica's review
2.0
PERSONAL REVIEW: Wow! Is that really what High School is like these days? I'm getting old!
SCHOOL LIBRARIAN REVIEW: I think parents who opened this up to some random page and started reading might have some issues with this book. If I put this on my library shelves, I'd expect someone - at some point - to complain...or even challenge this book. And, I might have to agree, which is why this book would not be one I would purchase for my school library.
First off let me say that this has an overall good message. Be yourself. Don't let other people make you do things you are not willing to do. Be an individual. Think for yourself. Think! But, that being said, this book is not for everyone.
The girlfriends of both the soccer and football teams all agree to withhold sex until the rivalry between the teams is quashed.
I have a few problems with the premise:
*It assumes that the girls are all having sex, only one comes out as being a virgin and she is treated poorly when she says so.
*It assumes that the girls are not a part of the rivalry. I know that in many cases girls are a lot more mean-spirited than boys and it's unlikely that they are all going to want the same ends here.
*It assumes that none of the girls are in sports of their own. They are all available after school for the games and shopping or whatever, but not one girl is said to be involved in extracurriculars of their own of any kind.
The idea that the girls are afraid to talk about sex, but the 'sex strike' makes them open up to one another is a good idea, but it doesn't really help the girls who are likely to read the book understand anything that they may need in real life. The girls say, "I don't like it" or "I'm afraid" or whatever, and a girl who reads this book will say, yeah...me, too. But then the writer does nothing to help the reader truly understand the issues. It had the potential to be life-changing...instead, it's just fluff.
SCHOOL LIBRARIAN REVIEW: I think parents who opened this up to some random page and started reading might have some issues with this book. If I put this on my library shelves, I'd expect someone - at some point - to complain...or even challenge this book. And, I might have to agree, which is why this book would not be one I would purchase for my school library.
First off let me say that this has an overall good message. Be yourself. Don't let other people make you do things you are not willing to do. Be an individual. Think for yourself. Think! But, that being said, this book is not for everyone.
The girlfriends of both the soccer and football teams all agree to withhold sex until the rivalry between the teams is quashed.
I have a few problems with the premise:
*It assumes that the girls are all having sex, only one comes out as being a virgin and she is treated poorly when she says so.
*It assumes that the girls are not a part of the rivalry. I know that in many cases girls are a lot more mean-spirited than boys and it's unlikely that they are all going to want the same ends here.
*It assumes that none of the girls are in sports of their own. They are all available after school for the games and shopping or whatever, but not one girl is said to be involved in extracurriculars of their own of any kind.
The idea that the girls are afraid to talk about sex, but the 'sex strike' makes them open up to one another is a good idea, but it doesn't really help the girls who are likely to read the book understand anything that they may need in real life. The girls say, "I don't like it" or "I'm afraid" or whatever, and a girl who reads this book will say, yeah...me, too. But then the writer does nothing to help the reader truly understand the issues. It had the potential to be life-changing...instead, it's just fluff.
nannasa16's review
3.0
Le scene tra le ragazze sono EPICHE.
Chloe merita tutta la mia stima, alcune delle sue frasi mi hanno fatto ridere come una scema per ore AHHAHAHAHAHHAHA.
Good work Keplinger ;D
Chloe merita tutta la mia stima, alcune delle sue frasi mi hanno fatto ridere come una scema per ore AHHAHAHAHAHHAHA.
Good work Keplinger ;D
blakehalsey's review
3.0
3.5 Stars. SHUT OUT is a fun, quick read and is an interesting way to address double standards and how females in particular view sex and are judged for how they view sex. Keplinger never got preachy with the content, although some scenes with the girls slightly resembled an after school special. I loved the romance between Cash and Lissa. My one complaint is that I had a difficult time connecting with Lissa. In THE DUFF, Keplingers first novel, I immediately connected with Bianca and thought the ways in which Keplinger wove in her familial life into her school/sex life was really well done. In this book, it wasn't as thorough. There was a family history and some drama with the brother that I cared very little about, but it wasn't as developed. Still, this book was fun and sexy!
kerrisbooks13's review
4.0
Minor issues with some of the writing and some of the portrayals BUT I actually kinda loved it soooo
noura_rizk's review
2.0
I didn't write a review right after finishing it, because I was gonna rate it with 4 stars.
I tried to like it to be honest, but I couldn't. I didn't like Lissa at all. I liked Randy even though he was such a jerk, but he was nice to her and her family except the cheating part of course, but may be this happened because she wasn't talking to him about what she want or how she felt, and she was thinking about someone else it's also a cheating you know, and I felt like she just broke up with him because she had a physical attraction to Cash. yeah Cash is a very nice guy and all and he's better than Randy but she liked him before she even knew him.
I tried to like it to be honest, but I couldn't. I didn't like Lissa at all. I liked Randy even though he was such a jerk, but he was nice to her and her family except the cheating part of course, but may be this happened because she wasn't talking to him about what she want or how she felt, and she was thinking about someone else it's also a cheating you know, and I felt like she just broke up with him because she had a physical attraction to Cash. yeah Cash is a very nice guy and all and he's better than Randy but she liked him before she even knew him.
freesien's review
3.0
Das Konzept an sich fand ich klasse! :D
Aber ich hab so meine Probleme mit Lissa, im letzten Viertel hat sie einfach nur noch genervt. Dafür war Chloe einfach nur toll!
Aber ich hab so meine Probleme mit Lissa, im letzten Viertel hat sie einfach nur noch genervt. Dafür war Chloe einfach nur toll!
wandereaderr's review
5.0
Tbh, nothing will live up to THE DUFF for me. But I enjoyed SHUT OUT immensely.
alexa_gr's review
3.0
I liked this book more than I thought I would. It´s a typical teenage romance and I was really rooting for the love interest. It's similar to Kasie West novels, so if you like those, you´ll have fun with this one too.
mehsi's review against another edition
5.0
Decided to do a reread of this one during my vacation and I ENJOYED IT SO MUCH. It is funny how my views changed, as I don't mind the sex, even read books with plenty of sex in them. Mehsi 2013 would have been shocked if she knew. :P
I loved what the our girl thought of and what her plan was. I loved seeing the various perspectives on sex. From being a virgin to not liking sex that much to loving sex a lot. I am glad everyone could talk about it, though it took some time.
Randy... I don't know something was just off about him and I wondered how he never knew why his girlfriend is pissed. I mean... after so many times you would think something would enter that thick skull of his?
The ending was fabulous. I loved seeing the romance spark between Cash and our MC.
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Really funny and wonderful book. :)
Normally I would avoid books that talk about sex to much. But this book had just the right amount of it. I really liked that it is based on a greek play and I like how that is also said numerous times in the book.
I loved what the our girl thought of and what her plan was. I loved seeing the various perspectives on sex. From being a virgin to not liking sex that much to loving sex a lot. I am glad everyone could talk about it, though it took some time.
Randy... I don't know something was just off about him and I wondered how he never knew why his girlfriend is pissed. I mean... after so many times you would think something would enter that thick skull of his?
The ending was fabulous. I loved seeing the romance spark between Cash and our MC.
--------------------------
Really funny and wonderful book. :)
Normally I would avoid books that talk about sex to much. But this book had just the right amount of it. I really liked that it is based on a greek play and I like how that is also said numerous times in the book.