Reviews with content warning for Classism - Śliczni

Reviews tagging 'Classism'

Śliczni by Scott Westerfeld

4 reviews

a_wren_that_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

applesaucecreachur's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

2.75

Ugh. UGH. Ugh. This book. I love how angry it made me and hate to admit that some of the juicier parts made me physically giddy. (Literally everything that came out of

Tally's mouth to David in that breakup scene toward the end? Delicious. I wasn't even invested in either of her little relationships before that point but oh boy. Did that rope me in.

). While I appreciated the story's setting in

New Pretty Town as I've been curious to know more about it since book one

, I became bored quickly. <Spoiler> Like her relationship with David in the first book, Tally's romance with Zane felt forced for much of the book. Now, I'll be honest: I was kind of rooting for them at the end. Teamwork is one of my favorite ways to show intimacy in any form, and sprinkling in a little bit of sacrifice is just chef's kiss.

That said, I can't go without mentioning this book's problems. I'll start with a more neutral one:

The "primative" villagers, at least at this point, feel like an unnecessary addition that gum up the plot's gears. The role that they serve, at least in the timeline of this book, is to reveal to Tally both the drastic measures that the scientists and Specials will take to learn about "human nature", and that this nature is inherently violent. Groundbreaking (/s). But couldn't we have learned this by, I don't know, having Tally stumble upon confidential files or an old newspaper article or something? Did we need an entire new civilization and cast of characters thrown into the last few chapters of a book already crowded with new terms for classes of people?

The more harmful ones have to do with the endorsement of disordered eating and the demonization of self-harm. Though

Tally and Zane

do not seek weight loss for cosmetic reason, restriction and starvation are presented as just another measure of their grit. Which, considering that this is a series geared toward young people, an likely fem-identifying ones... This is problematic. Plus making

Shay's new, creepy clique

a group of people who cut themselves

to heal their brain lesions

, and even calling them the cutters, and making them

the bad guys of sorts

, is ugly. And I don't mean in the bubbly/bogus way. Then there's also the fact that skin color factors into how attractive someone is? Some uglies in the book are described as pale, and some descriptors of pretties include "tan". So if "too light" exists, so too must "too dark". Maybe this was unintentional on Westerfeld's part. Even so, we are not at all into that shit.

Would I read it again? Absolutely not. But boy howdy, did I enjoy every minute. All I have to say about this ridiculous and perfect book is: Get it, Tally Youngblood. Eat your pretty little face and your big ugly heart out.

Content Warnings

alicelalicon's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

goldsbuc's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

More...