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A review by caseythecanadianlesbrarian
Grrrls on the Side by Carrie Pack
2.0
This was overall fine, but not great? I was pretty interested in the 90s riot grrrl culture with the zines and punk music (I'm just slightly too young to have experienced it first hand) but I'm not really sure how much this would appeal to teens today who didn't already know about it. I wish the author had done more descriptions of the music, what it sounded like, and how it made the girls feel. I guess I love the idea of a YA novel being set in this time but Pack didn't have the best execution--I didn't really feel immersed in the time period. Although some parts of the zines were really great--the band lyrics were adorable!
As far as the plot and characters go, I didn't feel really invested. The story seemed to happen really fast without careful development of the characters and their relationships. I kept thinking things like "She has a crush on Mike? When did that happen?", "What, Tabitha has a crush on Kate now? When did that happen?", then "What, they're a couple already?" "What, they broke up already?" "What, now she likes Jackie?" It just felt like the author was throwing plot developments about Tabitha and her relationships at us but didn't take the time to actually develop the characters and their relationships. Her whole coming out as bi felt super rushed too, and the throwaway moment of her mom finding out was really downplayed in a way that just didn't feel believable to me. Like, her mom finding out she was bi was a non-event!
My biggest problem: it feels like the only purpose of the black characters is to criticize the whiteness of riot grrrl... which is a very necessary and historically accurate critique but it is really demeaning to have three black girl characters in the novel whose only defining feature is blackness and who are only there to serve the narrative of the white girl. [Although to be fair I don't think Pack did a good job fleshing out the other white characters either (riot grrrls Marty and Kate were fairly one-note characters as well)]. Another point related to race that seemed weird to me was that Pack used the black characters to point out the racism of riot grrrl but not Cherie, who's Asian (did it specify what exactly her heritage was? I can't remember--if the book did, it was a throwaway moment too).
As far as the plot and characters go, I didn't feel really invested. The story seemed to happen really fast without careful development of the characters and their relationships. I kept thinking things like "She has a crush on Mike? When did that happen?", "What, Tabitha has a crush on Kate now? When did that happen?", then "What, they're a couple already?" "What, they broke up already?" "What, now she likes Jackie?" It just felt like the author was throwing plot developments about Tabitha and her relationships at us but didn't take the time to actually develop the characters and their relationships. Her whole coming out as bi felt super rushed too, and the throwaway moment of her mom finding out was really downplayed in a way that just didn't feel believable to me. Like, her mom finding out she was bi was a non-event!
My biggest problem: it feels like the only purpose of the black characters is to criticize the whiteness of riot grrrl... which is a very necessary and historically accurate critique but it is really demeaning to have three black girl characters in the novel whose only defining feature is blackness and who are only there to serve the narrative of the white girl. [Although to be fair I don't think Pack did a good job fleshing out the other white characters either (riot grrrls Marty and Kate were fairly one-note characters as well)]. Another point related to race that seemed weird to me was that Pack used the black characters to point out the racism of riot grrrl but not Cherie, who's Asian (did it specify what exactly her heritage was? I can't remember--if the book did, it was a throwaway moment too).