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aidorei's review
emotional
inspiring
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I was so excited for this one. The Playlist contained some of my most loved songs and I was intrigued by the premise - go retro! - but ultimately underwhelmed by odd pacing and shaky, hurried characterization.
The pace has a way of feeling agonizing and slow at the points you wish for haste and then harried and frantic when you want more time and development.
The writing style in general feels middle grade but addresses adult topics and double entendres as if it's endearing to an older audience. I can't speak to how genuine the dialog plays for that age as I'm decidedly older, but somehow it feels both pandering and misconstrued. For example: at one point the main character says her "vagina is making her go pee" which is... just bizarre, impossible, and unnecessary.
There are sex scenes between teenagers that no one asked for or needed that tackled the subject in a vague misting of "teenage passion" that read like a fever dream. It's fine to approach these subjects but the whiplash you get from point a to point b is startling.
Add to that its later alluded to that all of these things were recorded without them knowing (even if they signed a contract legally that doesn't negate it or protect the company). It's a wild ride but not in the way you necessarily want.
A lot of issues for each of the characters is vaguely hinted at but never truly developed; having rage issues without point or execution; eating disorders used as sympathy points to endear you to people who had been awful (and only that, never addressed further); criminal acts, such as cutting someone's breaks poohpoohed away as if it isn't a crime; anxiety mentioned as a problem but never really shown as one; the list goes on and on.
Every character is given a complex issue that is then treated as an afterthought and rushed through with the air of someone who wants to be praised for their character's depth and diversity without actually having to devote time to giving it meaning. The characters who should be focused on end up getting sidelined in lieu of a typical romance trope and we're rushed to the conclusion of a plot that makes zero sense in the grand scheme and implied that adults, this company, that both endangered (and kidnapped) children and ruined lives are somehow still puttering along and only on "hold" until a resolution gets legally doled out.
It ultimately felt like half a book. I feel like I got a draft rather than a finished story and the parts that were "finished" weren't finished well. Chapters were missing where character's got explained and developed and you aren't rushed through an entire story's conclusion in ten pages.
High hopes for what amounted to a lackluster delivery.
The pace has a way of feeling agonizing and slow at the points you wish for haste and then harried and frantic when you want more time and development.
The writing style in general feels middle grade but addresses adult topics and double entendres as if it's endearing to an older audience. I can't speak to how genuine the dialog plays for that age as I'm decidedly older, but somehow it feels both pandering and misconstrued. For example: at one point the main character says her "vagina is making her go pee" which is... just bizarre, impossible, and unnecessary.
There are sex scenes between teenagers that no one asked for or needed that tackled the subject in a vague misting of "teenage passion" that read like a fever dream. It's fine to approach these subjects but the whiplash you get from point a to point b is startling.
Add to that its later alluded to that all of these things were recorded without them knowing (even if they signed a contract legally that doesn't negate it or protect the company). It's a wild ride but not in the way you necessarily want.
A lot of issues for each of the characters is vaguely hinted at but never truly developed; having rage issues without point or execution; eating disorders used as sympathy points to endear you to people who had been awful (and only that, never addressed further); criminal acts, such as cutting someone's breaks poohpoohed away as if it isn't a crime; anxiety mentioned as a problem but never really shown as one; the list goes on and on.
Every character is given a complex issue that is then treated as an afterthought and rushed through with the air of someone who wants to be praised for their character's depth and diversity without actually having to devote time to giving it meaning. The characters who should be focused on end up getting sidelined in lieu of a typical romance trope and we're rushed to the conclusion of a plot that makes zero sense in the grand scheme and implied that adults, this company, that both endangered (and kidnapped) children and ruined lives are somehow still puttering along and only on "hold" until a resolution gets legally doled out.
It ultimately felt like half a book. I feel like I got a draft rather than a finished story and the parts that were "finished" weren't finished well. Chapters were missing where character's got explained and developed and you aren't rushed through an entire story's conclusion in ten pages.
High hopes for what amounted to a lackluster delivery.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Violence, and Suicide
Minor: Dysphoria, Homophobia, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, Racism, Grief, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Vomit, Misogyny, Kidnapping, Confinement, Classism, Sexual content, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Death of parent, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Car accident, and Drug use
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