Scan barcode
astral_nay's review against another edition
3.0
This book is objectively terrible, and yet is so entertaining.
We enter the mind of a self centered, piece of shit teenage white boy named Tom. Tom is a self proclaimed “Intellectual Jock” and is NOT like the “Dumb Jocks.”
And yet, Tom is not just a jock, and he does have a soft spot. You see, his mother slowly ran her car into a tree and died one day. He also later has a girlfriend, a shy girl that we mostly only know for how much she turns Tom on.
I got this book after the yearly highschool library clean out, and for the fifty cents I paid for it, it was worth it.
This book glamorizes and twists Columbine into the seventh dimension. After a shooting at a school named Pleasant Valley, WHERE ALL THE JOCKS ARE KILLED, a freaky shrink takes over the surrounding schools.
The rules imposed are meant to be jarring, but as someone who went to a very sketchy school, this was just everyday life. Strict dresscode and strip searches were the norm. But Tommy Boy gets his man panties in a wad and is apt to tell anyone who will listen, using a plethora of slurs.
This book has it all- in edition to being incredibly (yet hilariously) tone deaf to school shootings, the cast of characters is so stereotypical it makes you want to eat your eyeballs.
We have the Jock and his annoying but well meaning step mother, the stoner and conspiracy theorist, and the Black kid (more like sacrifice to the shrink).
Tom and his friends are so abhorrently racist to the Black character that I’m surprised they didn’t get chucked out the nearest window. Whenever he mentions anything to do with race, his white friends pull an uno reverse and play victim. After a strange and glamorized scene of police brutality, we are lead to believe that the Black character is either killed or put into an internment camp.
Yes, this book has internment camps. Run by shrinks.
There was also a rather disjointed plot of the kids listening to “brainwashing tv” on school buses, when it really just sounded like the history channel. Don’t get me wrong, to much Pawn Stars will make everyone go mad, but at least they weren’t subject to Pawn Stars: Shrink Edition.
There’s no ending to this book. Literally we are left off in the middle of a plot climax. Don’t read this book if you want an ending. Endings are for dumb jocks.
We enter the mind of a self centered, piece of shit teenage white boy named Tom. Tom is a self proclaimed “Intellectual Jock” and is NOT like the “Dumb Jocks.”
And yet, Tom is not just a jock, and he does have a soft spot. You see, his mother slowly ran her car into a tree and died one day. He also later has a girlfriend, a shy girl that we mostly only know for how much she turns Tom on.
I got this book after the yearly highschool library clean out, and for the fifty cents I paid for it, it was worth it.
This book glamorizes and twists Columbine into the seventh dimension. After a shooting at a school named Pleasant Valley, WHERE ALL THE JOCKS ARE KILLED, a freaky shrink takes over the surrounding schools.
The rules imposed are meant to be jarring, but as someone who went to a very sketchy school, this was just everyday life. Strict dresscode and strip searches were the norm. But Tommy Boy gets his man panties in a wad and is apt to tell anyone who will listen, using a plethora of slurs.
This book has it all- in edition to being incredibly (yet hilariously) tone deaf to school shootings, the cast of characters is so stereotypical it makes you want to eat your eyeballs.
We have the Jock and his annoying but well meaning step mother, the stoner and conspiracy theorist, and the Black kid (more like sacrifice to the shrink).
Tom and his friends are so abhorrently racist to the Black character that I’m surprised they didn’t get chucked out the nearest window. Whenever he mentions anything to do with race, his white friends pull an uno reverse and play victim. After a strange and glamorized scene of police brutality, we are lead to believe that the Black character is either killed or put into an internment camp.
Yes, this book has internment camps. Run by shrinks.
There was also a rather disjointed plot of the kids listening to “brainwashing tv” on school buses, when it really just sounded like the history channel. Don’t get me wrong, to much Pawn Stars will make everyone go mad, but at least they weren’t subject to Pawn Stars: Shrink Edition.
There’s no ending to this book. Literally we are left off in the middle of a plot climax. Don’t read this book if you want an ending. Endings are for dumb jocks.
fuzzyhebrew's review against another edition
3.0
This book was a little unbelieveable, but it was gripping and it definitely scared me.
Ok, this book was a lot unbelieveable. So much that I don't even think I can go all the way into it right now.
The main character really annoyed me with the way he didn't tell his parents anything that was going on. And I find it hard to believe that no one else would either.
Ok, this book was a lot unbelieveable. So much that I don't even think I can go all the way into it right now.
The main character really annoyed me with the way he didn't tell his parents anything that was going on. And I find it hard to believe that no one else would either.
holtfan's review against another edition
2.0
I didn't see much point in the bad guy's evilness. Is there supposed to be a sequel?
The random making out also was a turn off. I mostly liked the ending, though it was confusing. Not at all what I was expecting.
The random making out also was a turn off. I mostly liked the ending, though it was confusing. Not at all what I was expecting.
just_fighting_censorship's review
1.0
This was actually painful to read.
The first and biggest problem is the writing. Our main character is supposed to be a 15-year-old boy but he sounds like he is in 6th grade and so do his friends. At first I thought that the characterization was off because Ms Prose simply could not write from the perspective of a boy and make it believable, but then there's the problem of the other students, and the teachers, and the parents. Either the author has never come into contact with another human being or she is a terrible writer. All of the dialogue is stiff and unnatural and the actions of the characters make them seem helpless and stupid. At one point our main character, a teenage boy uses the expression, they'll be on you like peanut butter on jelly, ah shucks.
Which leads me to the next issue, the plot. Forget about suspended disbelief, almost nothing in this story is believable or makes any sense.
For example,
Then there's little things like that the school goes through the trouble of putting several cameras on a bus, tapping everyone's phone, and hacking their email, but they don't have any cameras on campus to catch the person writing graffiti.
Also, how does an entire school full of children that made national headlines go missing without anyone noticing? I'm pretty sure that if 6 months after Columbine or Sandy Hook all the students went missing someone would notice.
Overall, the idea behind this story seemed interesting and relevant but the execution was atrocious. Nothing is really explained, basically a bunch of unbelievable things happen for no apparent reason. Also, the ending is a joke, it's like even the author didn't know where the plot was going and finally took pity on the reader by putting this sad book out of its misery. This book is on so many to-read lists and I have no idea why. Not suitable for any age, too juvenile to be YA, too many adult themes to be juvenile (school shootings, references to sex, and drug use) and too stupid to be read by adults.
Just awful.
The first and biggest problem is the writing. Our main character is supposed to be a 15-year-old boy but he sounds like he is in 6th grade and so do his friends. At first I thought that the characterization was off because Ms Prose simply could not write from the perspective of a boy and make it believable, but then there's the problem of the other students, and the teachers, and the parents. Either the author has never come into contact with another human being or she is a terrible writer. All of the dialogue is stiff and unnatural and the actions of the characters make them seem helpless and stupid. At one point our main character, a teenage boy uses the expression, they'll be on you like peanut butter on jelly, ah shucks.
Which leads me to the next issue, the plot. Forget about suspended disbelief, almost nothing in this story is believable or makes any sense.
For example,
Spoiler
Our main character Tom never tells his father what is going on, like hey the school took my very expensive cell phone and threw it out or guess what my best friend got sent away to a concentration camp for doing absolutely nothing wrong.Then there's little things like that the school goes through the trouble of putting several cameras on a bus, tapping everyone's phone, and hacking their email, but they don't have any cameras on campus to catch the person writing graffiti.
Also, how does an entire school full of children that made national headlines go missing without anyone noticing? I'm pretty sure that if 6 months after Columbine or Sandy Hook all the students went missing someone would notice.
Overall, the idea behind this story seemed interesting and relevant but the execution was atrocious. Nothing is really explained, basically a bunch of unbelievable things happen for no apparent reason. Also, the ending is a joke, it's like even the author didn't know where the plot was going and finally took pity on the reader by putting this sad book out of its misery. This book is on so many to-read lists and I have no idea why. Not suitable for any age, too juvenile to be YA, too many adult themes to be juvenile (school shootings, references to sex, and drug use) and too stupid to be read by adults.
Just awful.
jessicaaaaaaa's review against another edition
2.0
I'm going to chalk up the bad writing and problematic elements of this book to it's being dated (it was originally published in 2003). I can only recommend it as an interesting premise and for those readers/researchers who want to read every dystopian book ever.
Note to self: Do more research before buying random things on Book Outlet.
Note to self: Do more research before buying random things on Book Outlet.
zelma's review
3.0
I'd give this another half star if I could. I was really, really good, but just didn't gel in the end as much as I'd hoped. The story was creepy in a 1984/Brave New World kind of way. There is even a reference to Big Brother, so there was no mistaking Prose's goals with this novel. She's a good writer, built the tension in a believable way and created mostly realistic characters (some were a bit too stock). Very enjoyable story, and one I'd recommend. I just didn't love the ending, though I realize it could have been a lot more annoying or less effective.
Course evaluation: Prose has written a dystopian novel that feels quite realistic. Rather than employ science fiction, she uses school violence and its effect on social liberties in order to explore controlling societies and abuse of power. Her setting feels like any high school and her protagonist appropriately reacts to the oppression around him – with annoyance, then resignation and fear. Prose effectively builds tension by introducing the changes in the school slowly, allowing the reader to see why widespread panic and protest didn’t occur in the first place. The debate between individual freedom versus community welfare is presented with a timely topic.
Course evaluation: Prose has written a dystopian novel that feels quite realistic. Rather than employ science fiction, she uses school violence and its effect on social liberties in order to explore controlling societies and abuse of power. Her setting feels like any high school and her protagonist appropriately reacts to the oppression around him – with annoyance, then resignation and fear. Prose effectively builds tension by introducing the changes in the school slowly, allowing the reader to see why widespread panic and protest didn’t occur in the first place. The debate between individual freedom versus community welfare is presented with a timely topic.
psalmcat's review
4.0
This is a YA book. I thought it was going to be a sort of realistic "problem novel" about kids dealing with a Columbine sort of event. That is, indeed, where it takes off.
But then we seem to lose all touch with reality. I finally had to stop and think myself back to being teenaged, when adults did lots of dumb, inexplicable things for no apparent reason, and I felt mildly paranoid most of the time: what if my parents find out! What if the teacher finds out! (This coming from someone who barely ever did anything for anyone to "find out"....sigh)
Once you get into this mindset, this book is actually good, a great study in paranoia and knee-jerk "safety-at-all-costs" reactions to tragedies. It's a pretty strong indictment of our security rampage in the country since 9/11 as well as since all the school shootings. How much freedom are we really prepared to sacrifice for the sort of fake 'safety' we buy with that sacrifice?
A very unexpected, and good, book. Which is surprising since I almost stopped reading this about halfway through it. The end really rocks along.
But then we seem to lose all touch with reality. I finally had to stop and think myself back to being teenaged, when adults did lots of dumb, inexplicable things for no apparent reason, and I felt mildly paranoid most of the time: what if my parents find out! What if the teacher finds out! (This coming from someone who barely ever did anything for anyone to "find out"....sigh)
Once you get into this mindset, this book is actually good, a great study in paranoia and knee-jerk "safety-at-all-costs" reactions to tragedies. It's a pretty strong indictment of our security rampage in the country since 9/11 as well as since all the school shootings. How much freedom are we really prepared to sacrifice for the sort of fake 'safety' we buy with that sacrifice?
A very unexpected, and good, book. Which is surprising since I almost stopped reading this about halfway through it. The end really rocks along.
krkrummy's review against another edition
3.0
I read this book back when I was in middle school and for some reason it always stuck with me. Instead of glorifying school shootings, Prose decided to discuss the aftermath of a school shooting in a nearby town. That alone is an interesting premise. If she had straight up written about that, then I would've been pleased. However, Prose took a different route and twisted it into a conspiracy theory, something I'm also a fan of. It was interesting to read about how a school was being taken over while no one really seemed to do anything about it or be able to rebel against the system. That made it more realistic, though slightly less entertaining. The main issue I had was with the writing - Prose is a good writer, so after re-reading this I was surprised by how dumbed down the writing style was. Perhaps it's because she was writing for a younger audience? If that is the case, then that's a shame, as I think that writing is something that shouldn't be dumbed down for younger people. I don't have as much of an issue with the ending as everyone else does; it's understated, yes, but I think it follows the tone and pace of the book accurately. My main issue is that it appears that Prose doesn't know how to write for a younger audience. Maybe this is something that happen over time. I hope so, as I think that YA could use more writers like Prose.