Scan barcode
artemishi's review
2.0
This is a difficult review to write. I wanted to love this book. The premise spoke to me, I like the fact that it's a YA set in current reality (instead of making everything a metaphor because it's supernatural), I like the fact that it involves a Catholic Parish school and the main characters are Asian (both very far from my experience), and I like that the author is young, new, and from Seattle.
But I didn't love the book.
Parts of it I did- there were a few witty turns of phrase, and some aspects of Sykosa's thoughts/obsessions/observations about her relation to her BFF and her mom struck me as very accurate to my own experience as a teen, and unique in the world of YA. The two main characters are nicely complex, as well. And clearly there's an all-too-often-occurring nod to the roles we play when something is implicitly "owed".
Most of it, though, I struggled with- jumping timelines, which got confusing; constant hints to a bad incident that happened in the past (which, spoiler alert, we never find out what it is....very frustrating); switching between third person and first person voice made every "she" a confusing one (reference to Sykosa? Niko?); absolute lack of male characters as anything but a function (where is Niko's dad during all of this??); conflicting character drives in a seemingly-contrived way (Niko pushes boundaries because she needs a mother to set them and love her, and lacks that, but Sykosa's desires seem to be muddled and mostly nonexistent); Sykosa having conflicted sexuality in truth but not in words, and this never getting pointed out (she's so coldly removed from joy or desire with a boy, but constantly obsessing over female body parts and using more masculine/removed/derogatory terms for them); the language (which was shockingly foul when used in private- I cussed a lot as a kid, but mainly when trying to impress others and sound older, never in my everyday train of thought, especially with regard to the body parts of someone I love, and I went to public school and am not Christian).
In summary, I think it's a good concept and a good start, and maybe needs some refinement and tweaks to make into the kind of book I would prefer that it was.
But I didn't love the book.
Parts of it I did- there were a few witty turns of phrase, and some aspects of Sykosa's thoughts/obsessions/observations about her relation to her BFF and her mom struck me as very accurate to my own experience as a teen, and unique in the world of YA. The two main characters are nicely complex, as well. And clearly there's an all-too-often-occurring nod to the roles we play when something is implicitly "owed".
Most of it, though, I struggled with- jumping timelines, which got confusing; constant hints to a bad incident that happened in the past (which, spoiler alert, we never find out what it is....very frustrating); switching between third person and first person voice made every "she" a confusing one (reference to Sykosa? Niko?); absolute lack of male characters as anything but a function (where is Niko's dad during all of this??); conflicting character drives in a seemingly-contrived way (Niko pushes boundaries because she needs a mother to set them and love her, and lacks that, but Sykosa's desires seem to be muddled and mostly nonexistent); Sykosa having conflicted sexuality in truth but not in words, and this never getting pointed out (she's so coldly removed from joy or desire with a boy, but constantly obsessing over female body parts and using more masculine/removed/derogatory terms for them); the language (which was shockingly foul when used in private- I cussed a lot as a kid, but mainly when trying to impress others and sound older, never in my everyday train of thought, especially with regard to the body parts of someone I love, and I went to public school and am not Christian).
In summary, I think it's a good concept and a good start, and maybe needs some refinement and tweaks to make into the kind of book I would prefer that it was.
More...