A review by michelle_pink_polka_dot
Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman
3.0
A tad juvenile feeling, but a quick read.
I've been wanting to read this for a long time because I love books about real-life issues. And also books like this always make me really happy that I didn't have to deal with social media when I was "growing up". I can only imagine all the stupid stuff that teenagers do to each other over the internet just because it's easy.
My heart breaks for all the kids out there going through online bullying and having to see the mean things that people write. If you're one of those people, just know that people suck, and Facebook makes it easier for sucky people to show off their suckage. They would never say it to your face, they're just cowards w/ a keyboard. (I know that doesn't make it any better, but I wish there were words that could!!).
As far as books go, I wouldn't put this up with my favorites. It had a good story: girl with a history of depression gets dumped publicly on social media, peers jump in and "like" the post, girl ends up in the hospital over it... and other spoilery stuff I can't mention. It was a book I read really fast and wanted to keep reading and reading, but there was a lot I didn't like about it also. The characters weren't my favorite. I like a flawed character, but all the characters in this book were mega-selfish and had MAJOR brat moments, even the adults. It's like each character was trying to yell louder than the other character to be able to be heard. And they all got super pissed if anyone else was getting the attention. I can take 1 or 2 people like that, but everyone? It was super difficult.
Beyond the brat-attack moments, the book also felt a little juvenile. I read almost exclusively YA, and most of them don't feel this young. I don't know if it was because the characters were less developed or what, but I definitely would recommend this to younger readers. Also, the cautionary, after-school specialness of it would be for the younger reader.
The ending frustrated me a little because I wanted people to feel bad, and not just for themselves. There are things that happen in this book that deserve many apologies and very few of those apologies went around. Yes, many (all) of the characters were self-centered, but I wanted them to GROW and they didn't. It was all about ME ME ME in the beginning and it was the same in the end. I did like that some things were left up in the air. Problems weren't just magically fixed, but more character growth would have been nice.
OVERALL: I liked it, not anywhere near loved. I'm glad I read it, and even enjoyed reading it, but it wasn't without it's flaws. The characters got on my nerves, and there was a frustrating lack of character growth, but it was an issue that I'm glad a book was written about. I'd say it's worth a try, but get it from the library.
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I've been wanting to read this for a long time because I love books about real-life issues. And also books like this always make me really happy that I didn't have to deal with social media when I was "growing up". I can only imagine all the stupid stuff that teenagers do to each other over the internet just because it's easy.
My heart breaks for all the kids out there going through online bullying and having to see the mean things that people write. If you're one of those people, just know that people suck, and Facebook makes it easier for sucky people to show off their suckage. They would never say it to your face, they're just cowards w/ a keyboard. (I know that doesn't make it any better, but I wish there were words that could!!).
As far as books go, I wouldn't put this up with my favorites. It had a good story: girl with a history of depression gets dumped publicly on social media, peers jump in and "like" the post, girl ends up in the hospital over it... and other spoilery stuff I can't mention. It was a book I read really fast and wanted to keep reading and reading, but there was a lot I didn't like about it also. The characters weren't my favorite. I like a flawed character, but all the characters in this book were mega-selfish and had MAJOR brat moments, even the adults. It's like each character was trying to yell louder than the other character to be able to be heard. And they all got super pissed if anyone else was getting the attention. I can take 1 or 2 people like that, but everyone? It was super difficult.
Beyond the brat-attack moments, the book also felt a little juvenile. I read almost exclusively YA, and most of them don't feel this young. I don't know if it was because the characters were less developed or what, but I definitely would recommend this to younger readers. Also, the cautionary, after-school specialness of it would be for the younger reader.
The ending frustrated me a little because I wanted people to feel bad, and not just for themselves. There are things that happen in this book that deserve many apologies and very few of those apologies went around. Yes, many (all) of the characters were self-centered, but I wanted them to GROW and they didn't. It was all about ME ME ME in the beginning and it was the same in the end. I did like that some things were left up in the air. Problems weren't just magically fixed, but more character growth would have been nice.
OVERALL: I liked it, not anywhere near loved. I'm glad I read it, and even enjoyed reading it, but it wasn't without it's flaws. The characters got on my nerves, and there was a frustrating lack of character growth, but it was an issue that I'm glad a book was written about. I'd say it's worth a try, but get it from the library.
My Blog: