Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Counselors by Jessica Goodman

18 reviews

bessadams's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, Murder, and Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Sexual content and Blood

cassroberts89's review against another edition

adventurous tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

Did that really take me four days to read? It felt much, much longer. Wavering between two and three stars, I had to round down because I was pretty much skimming near the end just to finish. 

I’ll try to do this without spoilers:

I enjoyed some bits and pieces, but there was just so much toxicity. Weird friendship dynamics, super toxic boyfriend (I don’t buy for a second that he loved her until the end. Actions speak louder, my friend), even Goldie’s parents showed some seriously questionable judgment. 

And about the counselors all getting two nights per week off to go into town, get piss-drunk, and then crawl back into cabins full of children? Wha?

I actually really enjoyed hearing about the camp experiences and imagery. It felt very nostalgic, having spent a couple of summers in my youth at a (far less glamorous!) summer camp. The tension between “townies” and campers was good too. That’s really all that carried the book though. 

I’ve heard good things about other books by Jessica Goodman that I might take a chance on, but I’m in no hurry. 

P.S. The motive was lame. I saw it a mile away. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

liciaaaaa's review

mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

Every character sucked except Imogene, but that’s because she was severely underdeveloped. I feel like Scooby Doo episodes have cleaner wrap ups than this book did. All that for tax evasion? Really?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Car accident, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Toxic relationship, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Toxic friendship

Minor: Confinement, Drug use, Death of parent, and Classism

greyce_olivia's review

dark funny mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

huntress's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Alcohol, and Classism

ktame001's review

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Car accident, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Bullying, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Deportation

libraryghost's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Bullying, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

cady_sass's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is so fun! Very reminiscent of “The Last Time I Lied” by Riley Sager but written for a younger audience. I have some minor qualms with the glorification of an obviously unhealthy relationship, and it’s clear based on other reviews that lots of other readers feel this way too, but let’s remind ourselves that this is YA and we are talking these are circumstances where the kids are just doing whatever their parents say because they’re scared. I can’t say much more about that without spoilers. I think this is very well crafted, the conflicts feel realistic for the characters and their social settings and/or class differences. The villain monologuing at the end to fill in story holes is always a pain point for me, so that’s my only real gripe. I prefer better storytelling and an MC who digs in and figures it out without having to have it spelled out for them in the final pages. That being said, every actual adult in the book behaves as if they don’t have a single brain cell. The parents, the staff, the townspeople. Collectively not a single intelligent thought. So obviously teens will love it. 

(side note- there are a LOT of reviews here that should be hidden due to spoilers, tread carefully if you’re reading reviews prior to finishing) 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Drug use, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, and Alcohol

This is so fun! Very reminiscent of “The Last Time I Lied” by Riley Sager but written for a younger audience. I have some minor qualms with the glorification of an obviously unhealthy relationship, and it’s clear based on other reviews that lots of other readers feel this way too, but let’s remind ourselves that this is YA and we are talking these are circumstances where the kids are just doing whatever their parents say because they’re scared. I can’t say much more about that without spoilers. I think this is very well crafted, the conflicts feel realistic for the characters and their social settings and/or class differences. The villain monologuing at the end to fill in story holes is always a pain point for me, so that’s my only real gripe. I prefer better storytelling and an MC who digs in and figures it out without having to have it spelled out for them in the final pages. That being said, every actual adult in the book behaves as if they don’t have a single brain cell. The parents, the staff, the townspeople. Collectively not a single intelligent thought. Her mother????? Absolutely inexcusable. So obviously teens will love it.

growintogardens's review

emotional medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.0

So emotional. Imo, it isn't tense or dark at all. It's very *teen show,* just so many times when you want to yell, dude, be smart about this, why are you doing that, etc etc. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Car accident, and Murder

Minor: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

bellaguiliano's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying and Death