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A review by minorasimulator
Nothing Happened by Molly Horton Booth
3.0
I kinda have a thing for young adult books set at summer camp, because there are nowhere near enough of them in my life. And at the very start of this book, it was exactly what I wanted it to be - a fun story taking place at camp.
And then the Shakespeare plot started happening, the one that I'd completely forgotten was going to happen. Now, I've never read Much Ado About Nothing, but I did see it performed in 2009 for drama class. The reason the play works is because it's the kind of ridiculous plotline and staging you can only pull off in a play. It didn't really work here.
Apart from the complete ridiculousness of the plot transplant, the writing style was okay, but the constant POV changes were hard to adjust to. Like some other books I've read with multiple POVs, it's difficult to tell the difference between who's talking. Also, there was some diversity but it was just there, like... Bee was adopted from Ethiopia when she was 5, Claudia is gay and Hana is bi, but it doesn't really have an impact on the story. I was looking forward to a bit more exploration of that, but was disappointed.
I dunno. I guess if you needed an easily accessible version of MAAN, this would be a good choice, but otherwise I can't really sing praises. 2 stars, plus 1 star for summer camp nostalgia. I'm summer camp trash.
And then the Shakespeare plot started happening, the one that I'd completely forgotten was going to happen. Now, I've never read Much Ado About Nothing, but I did see it performed in 2009 for drama class. The reason the play works is because it's the kind of ridiculous plotline and staging you can only pull off in a play. It didn't really work here.
Apart from the complete ridiculousness of the plot transplant, the writing style was okay, but the constant POV changes were hard to adjust to. Like some other books I've read with multiple POVs, it's difficult to tell the difference between who's talking. Also, there was some diversity but it was just there, like... Bee was adopted from Ethiopia when she was 5, Claudia is gay and Hana is bi, but it doesn't really have an impact on the story. I was looking forward to a bit more exploration of that, but was disappointed.
I dunno. I guess if you needed an easily accessible version of MAAN, this would be a good choice, but otherwise I can't really sing praises. 2 stars, plus 1 star for summer camp nostalgia. I'm summer camp trash.