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izzys_internet_bookshelf's review
2.0
2.5/5
I found the book to be ok, there wasn't anything really that stood out to me that could have been a fun surprise.
I found the book to be ok, there wasn't anything really that stood out to me that could have been a fun surprise.
eileenrwerst's review
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ladytiara's review
4.0
Chaotic Good is a seemingly lightweight book that deals with some serious issues in a sensitive way. It takes on sexism, toxic masculinity, online harassment, and gender roles.
Cameron is having a rough summer. She's just moved to a smaller town from Portland. She hasn't made any friends yet, she's bored, and she's being harassed online. Cameron is a talented seamstress who makes her own cosplay costumes. She recently won a contest, and when she mentioned publicly that she doesn't actually play the game she made a costume from, the online abuse starts. She's called an attention whore, pathetic, and other far less printable things. She visits the local comic book store looking for some costume inspiration. Unfortunately, the guy who runs the place is a sexist jerk, who says her boyfriend won't like the comics she's picked out, points her to the "girl section," and belittles her taste. But it's the only comic book store in her town, so she decides to borrow some of her twin brother's clothes and return disguised as a boy, hoping to avoid the sexist scrutiny.
The whole thing goes perfectly. She's treated well at the store, and ends up being asked to join a Dungeons and Dragons group. She's happy to make friends, and it becomes harder and harder to come clean about her true identity.
This book is really great. It takes on serious issues, but also manages to be really funny and poignant. Cameron masquerading as a boy has a very Twelfth Night vibe. There's some romantic confusion: Her new friend Why falls for her in her boy guise, while she's interested in another guy, Lincoln, and her brother Cooper has a thing for Why. Being a boy gives her a sense of safety and security. As she says: "Two stoners nod at me as I leave the park. I nod back and keep walking. Normally, I'd be a little bit worried. Worried that they might follow me, or that they might have bad intentions. But I don't feel nervous walking alone in my boy clothes, and I realize this is why I kept it up so long. This feeling of inevitability, of unquestioned acceptance. It was addicting. Comfortable. Easy. At least I thought it was." She's under so much pressure in her female body, and her boy persona is a welcome relief. And even though things become very complicated, it's really hard for her to give up the masquerade when it makes her feel safe, something she's lacking because of the aggressive harassment.
The online harassment that Cameron endures is awful, and when she tries to defend herself online, it gets much worse. Her phone number is posted and she starts getting death threats. It's really hard to imagine how anyone can think that death threats are a appropriate way to express your annoyance with a young woman who made a costume from a game she didn't play, but given what happens when a woman dares to express an opinion online, this all feels unfortunately realistic. As Cameron says, "What did I expect? I expected to post some photo ops and get stupid reaction gifs from my friends. Not hundreds of pages of abuse, not death threats growled at me through my phone."
I wish I could say that the character of Brody, the comic store manager, is too over the top, but he's pretty realistic. He's a classic "nice guy" who thinks that women owe him something just because he's polite to them. The author does a good job of making Brody three-dimensional, and ultimately, we see that his behavior is rooted in fear.
My only complaint is that the ending wraps up perhaps a little too neatly, but this is a minor quibble and didn't affect my enjoyment overall.
I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.
Cameron is having a rough summer. She's just moved to a smaller town from Portland. She hasn't made any friends yet, she's bored, and she's being harassed online. Cameron is a talented seamstress who makes her own cosplay costumes. She recently won a contest, and when she mentioned publicly that she doesn't actually play the game she made a costume from, the online abuse starts. She's called an attention whore, pathetic, and other far less printable things. She visits the local comic book store looking for some costume inspiration. Unfortunately, the guy who runs the place is a sexist jerk, who says her boyfriend won't like the comics she's picked out, points her to the "girl section," and belittles her taste. But it's the only comic book store in her town, so she decides to borrow some of her twin brother's clothes and return disguised as a boy, hoping to avoid the sexist scrutiny.
The whole thing goes perfectly. She's treated well at the store, and ends up being asked to join a Dungeons and Dragons group. She's happy to make friends, and it becomes harder and harder to come clean about her true identity.
This book is really great. It takes on serious issues, but also manages to be really funny and poignant. Cameron masquerading as a boy has a very Twelfth Night vibe. There's some romantic confusion: Her new friend Why falls for her in her boy guise, while she's interested in another guy, Lincoln, and her brother Cooper has a thing for Why. Being a boy gives her a sense of safety and security. As she says: "Two stoners nod at me as I leave the park. I nod back and keep walking. Normally, I'd be a little bit worried. Worried that they might follow me, or that they might have bad intentions. But I don't feel nervous walking alone in my boy clothes, and I realize this is why I kept it up so long. This feeling of inevitability, of unquestioned acceptance. It was addicting. Comfortable. Easy. At least I thought it was." She's under so much pressure in her female body, and her boy persona is a welcome relief. And even though things become very complicated, it's really hard for her to give up the masquerade when it makes her feel safe, something she's lacking because of the aggressive harassment.
The online harassment that Cameron endures is awful, and when she tries to defend herself online, it gets much worse. Her phone number is posted and she starts getting death threats. It's really hard to imagine how anyone can think that death threats are a appropriate way to express your annoyance with a young woman who made a costume from a game she didn't play, but given what happens when a woman dares to express an opinion online, this all feels unfortunately realistic. As Cameron says, "What did I expect? I expected to post some photo ops and get stupid reaction gifs from my friends. Not hundreds of pages of abuse, not death threats growled at me through my phone."
I wish I could say that the character of Brody, the comic store manager, is too over the top, but he's pretty realistic. He's a classic "nice guy" who thinks that women owe him something just because he's polite to them. The author does a good job of making Brody three-dimensional, and ultimately, we see that his behavior is rooted in fear.
My only complaint is that the ending wraps up perhaps a little too neatly, but this is a minor quibble and didn't affect my enjoyment overall.
I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.
papertraildiary's review
5.0
I wish this book was so much longer - I'm already missing the characters! Full review to come soon.
taranicolewilson's review
4.0
Cameron Birch is a geeky girl struggling to find the balance between cosplay, college applications, and a bit of romance on the side, all the while trying to overcome the interent hate on her blog. How does she deal with it? Obviously dressing up as a boy to play Dungeon and Dragons with some guys.
Ok, the entire time I had this geeky grin on my face. Whenever I saw a reference, I was like a squealing mess. There are so many great things here!
Reading how Cameron works on her costumes was so interesting, since I feel its a topic not many authors take on. Her brother is also pretty great, he’s a writer himself. Its a little disappointing they didn’t dive into that as much. The artwork was also very cool. I also really wanted to play Dungeons and Dragons after reading this.
BUT. I had two problems.
SPOILERS
1. Insta-love. So Cam has this crush on Link, which is fine, but he literally shows no particular interest in her. UNTIL THE PLOT NEEDS IT. At one point they are playing scrabble, the next they are kissing. Its threw me so much for a loop I had to reread to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
2. Ending: its so fast. Her parents are like we support you here take this phone be good k thanx bye. ???
Then she goes to the comic store and her friends are wearing their outfits, then it ends. We never see how the campaign ends. This infuriated me, it became such a major part of the story, and i don’t get to see what happens.....another thing: we don’t get to know if cameron makes it into college. I know its done purposely, but I really don’t like loose threads in stories.
It really did just need like 10 more pages to wrap this up better.
I honestly did like this a lot, please read fellow nerds!!
Ok, the entire time I had this geeky grin on my face. Whenever I saw a reference, I was like a squealing mess. There are so many great things here!
Reading how Cameron works on her costumes was so interesting, since I feel its a topic not many authors take on. Her brother is also pretty great, he’s a writer himself. Its a little disappointing they didn’t dive into that as much. The artwork was also very cool. I also really wanted to play Dungeons and Dragons after reading this.
BUT. I had two problems.
SPOILERS
1. Insta-love. So Cam has this crush on Link, which is fine, but he literally shows no particular interest in her. UNTIL THE PLOT NEEDS IT. At one point they are playing scrabble, the next they are kissing. Its threw me so much for a loop I had to reread to make sure I wasn’t missing something.
2. Ending: its so fast. Her parents are like we support you here take this phone be good k thanx bye. ???
Then she goes to the comic store and her friends are wearing their outfits, then it ends. We never see how the campaign ends. This infuriated me, it became such a major part of the story, and i don’t get to see what happens.....another thing: we don’t get to know if cameron makes it into college. I know its done purposely, but I really don’t like loose threads in stories.
It really did just need like 10 more pages to wrap this up better.
I honestly did like this a lot, please read fellow nerds!!
yuniesan's review
4.0
I'm between a 3.5 and a 4 star rating on this book. There are a lot of things that I loved but there were a lot of things that I didn't but that mostly had to do with the handling of the bullying aspect of the story. I mean how hard would it have been for her to literally report all of them for the comments????? I mean if I can do it on Tumblr then so can she.
What I loved was the geek girl meets Shakespeare trope, because there isn't a lot of crossdressing stories out there (well outside of the manga I read) I also think that she needed to grab her lady balls and message the designer.
I think that the ending should have been more fleshed out because it felt a little rushed. It also makes you wonder if she ever got her portfolio finished? Also the jump from when she's talking to Link to them making out feels really awkward..... or is it just me?
What I loved was the geek girl meets Shakespeare trope, because there isn't a lot of crossdressing stories out there (well outside of the manga I read) I also think that she needed to grab her lady balls and message the designer.
I think that the ending should have been more fleshed out because it felt a little rushed. It also makes you wonder if she ever got her portfolio finished? Also the jump from when she's talking to Link to them making out feels really awkward..... or is it just me?
aea_hobbit's review against another edition
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1madchild's review against another edition
3.0
A fun little romp.
Good for the car, a little bit juvenile but some nice realistic parts
Good for the car, a little bit juvenile but some nice realistic parts