Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - The New Girl

Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The New Girl by Jesse Q. Sutanto

5 reviews

msbarnesela's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.75

I’m probably the wrong audience for this, but I like the author’s other books, so I gave it a shot. It’s a fast-paced, tense story, perfect for YA readers who like thrillers. I found nearly every character to be unlikable; I started out rooting for the MC but hated her by the end. I also found myself internally screaming, “FOR THE LOVE OF GOD STOP TRYING TO ESPIONAGE YOUR WAY OUT OF THIS AND TELL A $@*%#@% GROWN UP.” Not that the adults were much better, although the MC could’ve called her mom.

Content Warnings

bookishmillennial's review

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challenging dark funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

disclaimer if you’ve read other reviews by me and are noticing a pattern: You’re correct that I don’t really give starred reviews, I feel like a peasant and don’t like leaving them and most often, I will only leave them if I vehemently despised a book. I enjoy most books for what they are, & I extract lessons from them all. Everyone’s reading experiences are subjective, so I hope my reviews provide enough information to let you know if a book is for you or not, regardless if I add stars or not. Find me on Instagram: @bookish.millennial or tiktok: @bookishmillennial

Premise:

contemporary teenage fictional thriller
second book in the Obsession series (though it feels more like a companion book, since this takes place before the events of The Obsession)
Lia, the titular new girl of an elite private, dormitory-based high school Draycott Academy, starts school on a track scholarship during her sophomore year, and sees Sophie (mentioned in book one) being dragged out of the campus on her first day
Lia makes friends with Beth, another Indonesian American student, and Danny, a Chinese-Indonesian student who has complicated relationships with his family back in Jakarta
She quickly makes enemies with the girls on her track team, especially Mandy, and seemingly Stacey, a computer/hacking genius
Lia's English professor Mr. Werner tries to convince her to drop his class and take an "easier" class, as he does not think she will succeed
Lia learns the inner workings of this elitist microcosm of society -- she downloads Draycott Dirt, reminiscent of Gossip Girl, FML, Reddit, or Twitter (but anonymous), and begins to see the constant gossip that is spread about every one of her classmates, including her!
Though the odds and 99% of everyone at Draycott Academy seem to be against her, Lia is determined to make it work so she can have a real shot at getting into college
check content warnings below because sheeeeeeeesh!

Thoughts:
It's giving Gossip Girl x Pretty Little Liars x Crazy Rich Asians x AGGGTM x dark academia !!!!

I actually really enjoyed this book so much more than the first book, and I devoured the first one!

I appreciated the commentary on the racism within the Asian diaspora against each other, especially the Chinese racism towards native Indonesians. I think most people don't know that this type of discrimination exists within the Asian communities (unless you are immersed in the community), so I was glad this was highlighted!

Lia was such a fierce, strong-willed, and brave main character to root for. Of course she was not perfect (what 15- or 16-year old is? SHOW ME, I'LL WAIT!), but I felt she did what she needed to in order to survive. This academy and almost everyone in it continued to throw obstacles in her way, and Lia refused to let them win. She used their hatred and opposition as fuel to work harder. I was infuriated, disgusted, and disappointed along with Lia, and Jesse wrote those feelings so well!

Also, even though this is mostly tense, dark, angry, and devastating, Lia still made me laugh sometimes too! Her self-deprecating humor was a quick moment of light, which was much needed because I spent most of this book grinding my teeth and holding my breath !!!

I thoroughly enjoyed the way this mystery and thriller unraveled, and I will continue to read anything Jesse writes!

Quotations that stood out to me (may be some spoilers so read at your own risk!):

“Bet she shops at Target,” her friend replies, to which they all laugh.
“Actually, it’s Walmart, so all of you can suck it.”

What he doesn’t know is that I live off moments like this. Every time someone tells me I can’t do something, all it does is fuel me. I’d take their nay-saying and pound it into a hot, angry kernel, and whenever I’m tempted to give up, I’d hold that kernel in my mind’s eye and let the rage push me forward. Pure fuel.

“Did I just step into a K-drama? What’s going on?”

My entire future is about to be destroyed because I’m the wrong color.

Why? Because racism. That’s fucking why. Non-Asians wouldn’t understand the hierarchy that exists between different Asian cultures. To them, we’re all just one big giant category.

“Shut up! I’m trying to sleep!”
Yes, well, Anya, some of us are trying to shake off the trauma of their first homicide.

She’ll think I’m showing off, and I’m not doing that at all, I just need to outrun this cursed voice in my head.
Dirty, lying, murdering bitch.
Did I mention that the voice is mean AF?
But the thing is, it also has a point.

Can I hate myself any more than this? Not possible. Every atom in my body is seething, picking up a tiny spear and jabbing it into my being. I am officially the worst person in the history of worst people.

The mention of it poisons the moment, chilling me all the way to my core. The race thing. What an innocuous way of referring to something insidious that nearly got me killed. Despite myself, despite all the guilt I’m still grappling with for
lying continuously to Danny, I feel a sudden stab of icy hatred toward his family.

Drug dealers are known to often kill people, so it would be easy to believe that the dealer probably
killed Mr. Werner as well. Right?
Right. That way, the cops will stop sniffing around the school; plus, they’ll see me as a good, helpful kid. Maybe. Only problem is: How? If the cops aren’t able to find out who’s involved in the drug ring, how am I supposed to do it? Okay, think. Think. Thiiiink. Hmm. This Shakespeare-worthy inner monologue goes on for a while.

And I realize, again, how disappointing it is to realize that the adults who are supposed to be looking out for you are only looking out for themselves.