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barefootcoven's review
5.0
Revenge of the Sluts - The first book getting published by author Natalie Walton, and boy does she know how to make a debut! Revenge of the Sluts is one of those stories that stays by you, one that you need a while to recover from because it makes such an impact. This story is incredibly relevant in today's climate. Seven female high school students who's nudes get leaked and a school paper editor who covers the story but becomes an alley and gives the girls a platform.
I love how empowering this story is. I especially love Eden and Sloan. Two characters who don't seem to fully trust in their own potential, but become the advocates and support for so many more than just the Slut Squad. It's definitely a 5-star read for me!
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an ARC copy.
I love how empowering this story is. I especially love Eden and Sloan. Two characters who don't seem to fully trust in their own potential, but become the advocates and support for so many more than just the Slut Squad. It's definitely a 5-star read for me!
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with an ARC copy.
rafacolog's review
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Body shaming, and Bullying
100pagesaday's review
4.0
A shocking email has just been sent to the entire student body at St. Joseph's, a small prestigious high school in Massachusetts. As lead reporter for the Warrior Weekly, Eden is placed as lead reporter for the ground breaking story. The email showed the nude pictures of seven senior girls who attend St. Joe's. Mysteriously, the email was signed by Eros leaving everyone guessing at the identity of the perpetrator. The school administration jumps immediately to condemn the actions of the email sender, but also does not want word getting outside of the school community. Since all of the students exposed were over 18 years old, there is no crime committed under state law. Eden jumps on the story and begins to document how it has affected the girls that are involved. However, once the first part of her story comes out in the Warrior Weekly, the principle shuts down any further stories about what has been dubbed Nudegate. Eden, however, can not drop such an important story, especially when it is helping the girls express their views.
Revenge of the Sluts is a powerful and timely young adult contemporary novel about the unfortunate realities of growing up in the digital age. The story jumps right into the action with the students receiving the email. As Eden opens the email we are given insight into her character as she chooses not to scroll through all the pictures and go comfort one of the girls instead. I should have been surprised about the way the school reacted, with its priorities protecting the school and not the victims; however, this accurately mirrors how young women are treated in many situations. As Nudegate unfolds, I appreciated that the affected group of girls banded together to form their own support group, The Slut Squad, and reclaim their identities any way they could. As Eden dives deeper into their group and the mystery of the email sender, she discovers the importance of girls supporting one another. Furthermore, Eden learns how to be brave and connect with other students as she covers the story. The mystery of the email sender, Eros, was present throughout the story but didn't really take prevalence until the end as Eden and the Slut Squad stop focusing on who they want the perpetrator to be and are able to think about who really had a motive for such a personalized attack. While I'm glad that all of the girls in the story were able to rise above the attack, revenge porn is still an issue that haunts many today.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
Revenge of the Sluts is a powerful and timely young adult contemporary novel about the unfortunate realities of growing up in the digital age. The story jumps right into the action with the students receiving the email. As Eden opens the email we are given insight into her character as she chooses not to scroll through all the pictures and go comfort one of the girls instead. I should have been surprised about the way the school reacted, with its priorities protecting the school and not the victims; however, this accurately mirrors how young women are treated in many situations. As Nudegate unfolds, I appreciated that the affected group of girls banded together to form their own support group, The Slut Squad, and reclaim their identities any way they could. As Eden dives deeper into their group and the mystery of the email sender, she discovers the importance of girls supporting one another. Furthermore, Eden learns how to be brave and connect with other students as she covers the story. The mystery of the email sender, Eros, was present throughout the story but didn't really take prevalence until the end as Eden and the Slut Squad stop focusing on who they want the perpetrator to be and are able to think about who really had a motive for such a personalized attack. While I'm glad that all of the girls in the story were able to rise above the attack, revenge porn is still an issue that haunts many today.
This book was received for free in return for an honest review.
onepageatatime's review
5.0
I really enjoyed this novel. Books like these are very eye opening because in some cases perception is everything. There are so many of these types of cases popping up because of social media and how easy it is to access someone's personal pictures. This story shows how quickly everything can be turned around and how quick people are to judge and attack you. In a time were privacy is almost nonexistent, I think every young person should read this book because it just goes to show that anything you sent isn't just going to be seen by that one person. I both loved this book for how realistic it was and disliked it because of how realistic it was.
fscottfishgerald's review
3.0
I think revenge porn is highly important topic to bring up with teens and young adults. It's not about telling people not to send nudes, but teaching people how to be responsible when receiving them. Girls especially get blamed for a transaction that goes both ways. Natalie Walton captured this very well.
Story wise this book did have me wondering who leaked these photos tot he entire student body. In a way this book captures all the do's of suspense and thrillers without needing a killer or dead body. It was a well built mystery that bought up some important topics. The only note of the writing that I do have was that there was a lot of repetition that these students are super wealthy. Like after the first few mentions I understood these were all super wealthy students with high powered parents, but it got repetitive when it got mentioned so many times even in the middle and towards the end when this fact was already established.
I do have issues with the ending. Without giving away anything, all I can say I wasn't pleased how it ended. It felt like it betrayed a little bit of the message of the book.
Story wise this book did have me wondering who leaked these photos tot he entire student body. In a way this book captures all the do's of suspense and thrillers without needing a killer or dead body. It was a well built mystery that bought up some important topics. The only note of the writing that I do have was that there was a lot of repetition that these students are super wealthy. Like after the first few mentions I understood these were all super wealthy students with high powered parents, but it got repetitive when it got mentioned so many times even in the middle and towards the end when this fact was already established.
I do have issues with the ending. Without giving away anything, all I can say I wasn't pleased how it ended. It felt like it betrayed a little bit of the message of the book.
sasha_in_a_box's review
4.0
Sex positivity - YAY!
Journalistic integrity and fighting the system - WOO!
Discussion about criminalizing revenge porn and other forms of mysoginy - HUZZAH!
I appreciate this book. It's a little slow going in the middle and you really have to be patient at times, but it's worth it. The main characters are well-developed, and I cared so much for what these girls were going through. It's an excellent story to show the power of allyship and advocacy, even when you're in high school and you're "just" writing for the school paper.
I'm serious about the sloggy middle, but it's worth a read.
Journalistic integrity and fighting the system - WOO!
Discussion about criminalizing revenge porn and other forms of mysoginy - HUZZAH!
I appreciate this book. It's a little slow going in the middle and you really have to be patient at times, but it's worth it. The main characters are well-developed, and I cared so much for what these girls were going through. It's an excellent story to show the power of allyship and advocacy, even when you're in high school and you're "just" writing for the school paper.
I'm serious about the sloggy middle, but it's worth a read.
bookish_kayy's review
4.0
This is a book for the victims, blamed for simply being victims. For those without a voice, or those that get swept under the rug and their voices overpowered.
I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a hit with me, and I’m still not completely sure how I feel about it, honestly.
What I do know is that this author came to show that teen girls, alone or in a group, could get things done. There’s no leaning on the support of a faulty administration, because the administration wants it all to go away. These girls refused. Adamantly. And when they weren’t heard, they took matters into their own hands.
The biggest negative for me was all the focus on the aspects of the newspaper. I could have done without a very large portion of it. But other than that, I’m pleased with this debut.
I wasn’t sure if this was going to be a hit with me, and I’m still not completely sure how I feel about it, honestly.
What I do know is that this author came to show that teen girls, alone or in a group, could get things done. There’s no leaning on the support of a faulty administration, because the administration wants it all to go away. These girls refused. Adamantly. And when they weren’t heard, they took matters into their own hands.
The biggest negative for me was all the focus on the aspects of the newspaper. I could have done without a very large portion of it. But other than that, I’m pleased with this debut.
mrsgalvan23's review
5.0
I got this book for free to review on Netgalley. I see this is the authors debut, and I never would have guessed it was her first book. It was very engaging and an extremely relevant topic in our world today. I think the author did a great job with character development and the story line. I had no idea who sent the email and really enjoyed the reveal when you found out who did. I highly recommend this read!!
_basicbookworm's review
4.0
First of all, thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.
Eden is the lead reporter for her high school newspaper, but she never expected to cover a story this big. When nude photos of 7 students are emailed out the the entire student body, Eden finds herself not just covering the story, but doing her part to get to the bottom of it. Even if that means going against administrations wishes and risking the student newspaper.
Before you read this book, please note there is talk of cyber bullying and revenge porn.
This story is unfortunately one that happens all too often. However, despite the delicate topic I felt the author handled it well and made an important point about revenge porn and slut shaming: it is never okay and the victims should not be blamed. The victims in this story showed incredible strength and the way they bonded together and formed almost a sisterhood was one of the highlights of this book for me. The ending happened a bit quickly and I would have liked a little more detail of how things went down, but overall I thought this was a powerful book.
Eden is the lead reporter for her high school newspaper, but she never expected to cover a story this big. When nude photos of 7 students are emailed out the the entire student body, Eden finds herself not just covering the story, but doing her part to get to the bottom of it. Even if that means going against administrations wishes and risking the student newspaper.
Before you read this book, please note there is talk of cyber bullying and revenge porn.
This story is unfortunately one that happens all too often. However, despite the delicate topic I felt the author handled it well and made an important point about revenge porn and slut shaming: it is never okay and the victims should not be blamed. The victims in this story showed incredible strength and the way they bonded together and formed almost a sisterhood was one of the highlights of this book for me. The ending happened a bit quickly and I would have liked a little more detail of how things went down, but overall I thought this was a powerful book.
trisha_thomas's review
4.0
"There's nothing wrong with sending photos," Sloane said. "You sent the picture to someone who consented to receiving it and you're an adult, so you didn't do anything bad or wrong. And that applies to all of you equally. The only person to blame here is the person who sent the email."
What a powerful, relevant story. Revenge Porn. It seems to be the dirty words no one wants to talk about, adults and high school students alike. And too often, we wrong and get mad at the person who is "sending" the photo and don't think about the words like consent and adults and the agreement made when you send them. This book shines a light on this and makes the reader weigh it, like the MC does. You have to grapple with the pain and frustration of the girls who have been betrayed and yet, feel guilty. The adults in their worlds also have to struggle with the appropriate response and what, legally, anyone can do. It was such an eye opening story, one with so much insight into the students and the ever-changing digital world we live in. So well done, I'm really glad I read it.
An e-ARC was provided to me by [a:Natalie Walton|14137591|Natalie Walton|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and Wattpad Books via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.
What a powerful, relevant story. Revenge Porn. It seems to be the dirty words no one wants to talk about, adults and high school students alike. And too often, we wrong and get mad at the person who is "sending" the photo and don't think about the words like consent and adults and the agreement made when you send them. This book shines a light on this and makes the reader weigh it, like the MC does. You have to grapple with the pain and frustration of the girls who have been betrayed and yet, feel guilty. The adults in their worlds also have to struggle with the appropriate response and what, legally, anyone can do. It was such an eye opening story, one with so much insight into the students and the ever-changing digital world we live in. So well done, I'm really glad I read it.
An e-ARC was provided to me by [a:Natalie Walton|14137591|Natalie Walton|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] and Wattpad Books via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.