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cruel's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.75
mel boucher i'm sorry i was not your author
that ending sucked so bad that it took what would've been a 3 all the way done to a 1 - my biggest problem with it beingthe weird justification of mel's relationship with coach mullins . it seemed like it was going to tackle a lot of issues but instead just brushed over them and went with a very shallow, liberal feminist message.
that ending sucked so bad that it took what would've been a 3 all the way done to a 1 - my biggest problem with it being
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Lesbophobia and Homophobia
3mmers's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I enjoyed 92% of We Ride Upon Sticks and that’s mostly because I approached it with the right attitude: it ain’t that deep.
This novel is best appreciated as a lighthearted and goofy romp down memory lane. The marketing blurb compares it to Stranger Things and that’s an absolutely delusional comparison; both works trade in 80s nostalgia, but that’s where the similarity ends. It’s better to think of We Ride Upon Sticks as a teen comedy with a faintly supernatural flavour, like Ouran High School Host Club, Derry Girls, or in my mind especially, British comedy St. Trinian’s. Everything, from the supernatural to the interpersonal, is to be jeered and mocked with 2 kool 4 skool teen swagger. And that’s a lot of fun.
I enjoyed the book on its own terms — it’s a genuinely heartwarming picture of teenage friendship and rebellion, and I did indeed laugh at the jokes — but I also liked it on a meta-level. It’s nice to have an unapologetically queer and feminist high school comedy without it being bogged down by mawkish emotional problems. I know I was once a teen constantly beleaguered by mawkish emotional problems (twas the era of Fall Out Boy and 21 Pilots), but as an adult that isn’t the part I look back on fondly. In other words, the art style of Heartstopper is very cute, but manzo do they have problems. We Ride Upon Sticks nails how irony-poisoned and allergic to sincerity we were as teens, and for some reason that meant a lot more to me than teenagers working through their emotions using healthy coping mechanisms and clear communication.
The only thing that really bugged me in the majority of the novel was the unceasing reoccurring jokes. Quan Barry loves a running gag. They come back so constantly and with such absurd regularity that it came back around to being funny for me (through I think a less easily entertained reader might find it simply unendurable instead). But that’s the majority of the book, and I want to move on to the 8% of We Ride Upon Sticks that I didn’t enjoy: the ending.
An unavoidably huge part of this novel is that it is socially conscious. It wants to do right by the feminist, queer, and BIPOC struggles of 80s teens and it wants you to know in the clearest most thoroughly explained language possible. Some readers might find this sanctimonious, but I thought it was fine. One weakness of this approach, however, is that it is always very obvious when the author fumbles the bag.
In this case the bag is the character Corey Young, formerly ‘boy’ Corey.
Spoilers for the ending of We Ride Upon Sticks.
The novel ends with a flash forward to our characters reuniting as middle-aged women so we can see what happened to the Danvers Falcons in adult life. I liked the idea and I liked the fact that for more of the characters their formative years continued well after high school graduation. The one I didn’t like was boy Corey. In the intervening years she has come out and fully transitioned. Now, I know a lot of trans people in real life and also I understand obvious foreshadowing, so I saw this coming a mile away. It was not a Reveal. Problem is the book so desperately wanted to treat it as one. We get this super long fake out scene before the book reveals that Corey is a woman now! Surprise! Were you expecting a man! I found that kinda tasteless.
What bothered me more is that while we hear a lot about the team’s anxiety about reuniting with Corey — will they say the wrong thing? Did they made transition harder for her? — we never hear anything from Corey herself. I’d put this down to a lack of authorial confidence. It feels like Barry is a lot more familiar with how it feels to be friends with a trans woman than how it feels to be a trans woman. That’s not a problem in and of itself, but I felt we needed to hear Corey’s side of things too. Is she excited to reunite with all her friends as her authentic gender? Is she apprehensive about spending time with people who only knew her pre-transition? This book is all about centring marginalized perspectives, that’s why it spends so much time explicitly calling out the ways the characters themselves fails at this — that it was disappointing for it to end by cantering a bunch of cis women’s anxiety about being accepting enough over a trans woman’s thoughts. Since this is what the book is All About, the comparatively small detail has an out-sized impact.
I already didn’t like the specifics of the reveal, and its general effect didn’t work either. It is one of a whole bunch of fake outs and twists in the flash forward section. There are so many that it fucks up the pacing, since the story is now being told essentially in reverse to accommodate the dramatic reveals. It ends on the note that the Danvers Falcons’ success was never the work of the devil, the idea of supernatural intervention just gave a bunch of teenagers the excuse they needed to work hard and band together. I thought that was really sweet, but it takes so long to get there that I was just ready for it to be over.
On balance, this is a recommend from me. I like that it’s fun and lighthearted, but it is also a queer novel that isn’t afraid to be ironic and crass. I enjoyed the absurd 80s references and the overplayed jokes. I liked that sports fiction can be for girls sometimes!
Let the hairspray wash over you and don’t worry about what the long term effects of all those CFCs will end up being.
This novel is best appreciated as a lighthearted and goofy romp down memory lane. The marketing blurb compares it to Stranger Things and that’s an absolutely delusional comparison; both works trade in 80s nostalgia, but that’s where the similarity ends. It’s better to think of We Ride Upon Sticks as a teen comedy with a faintly supernatural flavour, like Ouran High School Host Club, Derry Girls, or in my mind especially, British comedy St. Trinian’s. Everything, from the supernatural to the interpersonal, is to be jeered and mocked with 2 kool 4 skool teen swagger. And that’s a lot of fun.
I enjoyed the book on its own terms — it’s a genuinely heartwarming picture of teenage friendship and rebellion, and I did indeed laugh at the jokes — but I also liked it on a meta-level. It’s nice to have an unapologetically queer and feminist high school comedy without it being bogged down by mawkish emotional problems. I know I was once a teen constantly beleaguered by mawkish emotional problems (twas the era of Fall Out Boy and 21 Pilots), but as an adult that isn’t the part I look back on fondly. In other words, the art style of Heartstopper is very cute, but manzo do they have problems. We Ride Upon Sticks nails how irony-poisoned and allergic to sincerity we were as teens, and for some reason that meant a lot more to me than teenagers working through their emotions using healthy coping mechanisms and clear communication.
The only thing that really bugged me in the majority of the novel was the unceasing reoccurring jokes. Quan Barry loves a running gag. They come back so constantly and with such absurd regularity that it came back around to being funny for me (through I think a less easily entertained reader might find it simply unendurable instead). But that’s the majority of the book, and I want to move on to the 8% of We Ride Upon Sticks that I didn’t enjoy: the ending.
An unavoidably huge part of this novel is that it is socially conscious. It wants to do right by the feminist, queer, and BIPOC struggles of 80s teens and it wants you to know in the clearest most thoroughly explained language possible. Some readers might find this sanctimonious, but I thought it was fine. One weakness of this approach, however, is that it is always very obvious when the author fumbles the bag.
In this case the bag is the character Corey Young, formerly ‘boy’ Corey.
Spoilers for the ending of We Ride Upon Sticks.
The novel ends with a flash forward to our characters reuniting as middle-aged women so we can see what happened to the Danvers Falcons in adult life. I liked the idea and I liked the fact that for more of the characters their formative years continued well after high school graduation. The one I didn’t like was boy Corey. In the intervening years she has come out and fully transitioned. Now, I know a lot of trans people in real life and also I understand obvious foreshadowing, so I saw this coming a mile away. It was not a Reveal. Problem is the book so desperately wanted to treat it as one. We get this super long fake out scene before the book reveals that Corey is a woman now! Surprise! Were you expecting a man! I found that kinda tasteless.
What bothered me more is that while we hear a lot about the team’s anxiety about reuniting with Corey — will they say the wrong thing? Did they made transition harder for her? — we never hear anything from Corey herself. I’d put this down to a lack of authorial confidence. It feels like Barry is a lot more familiar with how it feels to be friends with a trans woman than how it feels to be a trans woman. That’s not a problem in and of itself, but I felt we needed to hear Corey’s side of things too. Is she excited to reunite with all her friends as her authentic gender? Is she apprehensive about spending time with people who only knew her pre-transition? This book is all about centring marginalized perspectives, that’s why it spends so much time explicitly calling out the ways the characters themselves fails at this — that it was disappointing for it to end by cantering a bunch of cis women’s anxiety about being accepting enough over a trans woman’s thoughts. Since this is what the book is All About, the comparatively small detail has an out-sized impact.
I already didn’t like the specifics of the reveal, and its general effect didn’t work either. It is one of a whole bunch of fake outs and twists in the flash forward section. There are so many that it fucks up the pacing, since the story is now being told essentially in reverse to accommodate the dramatic reveals. It ends on the note that the Danvers Falcons’ success was never the work of the devil, the idea of supernatural intervention just gave a bunch of teenagers the excuse they needed to work hard and band together. I thought that was really sweet, but it takes so long to get there that I was just ready for it to be over.
On balance, this is a recommend from me. I like that it’s fun and lighthearted, but it is also a queer novel that isn’t afraid to be ironic and crass. I enjoyed the absurd 80s references and the overplayed jokes. I liked that sports fiction can be for girls sometimes!
Let the hairspray wash over you and don’t worry about what the long term effects of all those CFCs will end up being.
Content Warnings
Minor: Alcohol, Homophobia, Racism, Lesbophobia, Religious bigotry, Mass/school shootings, Sexism, and Transphobia
scifi_rat's review against another edition
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Lesbophobia, Stalking, Vomit, Alcohol, and Blood
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol
Moderate: Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Body shaming, Misogyny, Animal death, Bullying, Drug use, Racism, Stalking, Homophobia, Sexism, Medical content, Injury/Injury detail, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Fatphobia, Racial slurs, War, Gun violence, Sexual assault, Excrement, Terminal illness, Pregnancy, Death, Cancer, Infidelity, Rape, Lesbophobia, Vomit, Child death, and Suicide
lovelymisanthrope's review
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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
3.5
I picked this up because it is one of Kayla's favorite books, and I felt it was the most appropriate book to read during Lalathon.
"We Ride Upon Sticks" follows 1989 Danvers high school's field hockey team. The group seems to be on a winning streak, and they are determined to continue winning. Through research they learn some witchy tricks that will help them to find victory, but they quickly learn that all magic comes at a cost.
This book was strange, fun, and heart-warming all in one. One of my favorite aspects of this book was all of the historical homage to 1692 Salem, Massachusetts. I think the time of witches and especially in Salem, though dark, is really intriguing to learn about. Having all of the historical elements made the magic in the story feel all the more real.
This type of writing really reminded me of Grady Hendrix's style. There is such extreme horror, but it is so comical you want to laugh out loud instead of hiding under your covers.
The characters were a little crass for my personal liking. I think they were written well and are perfect for the intended tone of the story, but they were just a little much for my own enjoyment.
I have had this book on my radar for a long time, and I am excited I finally picked it up. I will definitely keep Quan Barry on my radar and perhaps pick up something new in the future.
"We Ride Upon Sticks" follows 1989 Danvers high school's field hockey team. The group seems to be on a winning streak, and they are determined to continue winning. Through research they learn some witchy tricks that will help them to find victory, but they quickly learn that all magic comes at a cost.
This book was strange, fun, and heart-warming all in one. One of my favorite aspects of this book was all of the historical homage to 1692 Salem, Massachusetts. I think the time of witches and especially in Salem, though dark, is really intriguing to learn about. Having all of the historical elements made the magic in the story feel all the more real.
This type of writing really reminded me of Grady Hendrix's style. There is such extreme horror, but it is so comical you want to laugh out loud instead of hiding under your covers.
The characters were a little crass for my personal liking. I think they were written well and are perfect for the intended tone of the story, but they were just a little much for my own enjoyment.
I have had this book on my radar for a long time, and I am excited I finally picked it up. I will definitely keep Quan Barry on my radar and perhaps pick up something new in the future.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Lesbophobia and Homophobia
leahb88's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was funny and campy! Cool concept where the occult elements emphasize themes of teamwork and how far people will go to achieve what they want. Love the teen girl camaraderie, acceptance, and figuring out identity! The writing style and perspective of the narrator just wasn’t for me and coming back to present day and reading the climax as a flashback just took me out and I wish I read the final game in 1989 time
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Misogyny, Homophobia, and Lesbophobia
Moderate: Infidelity and Adult/minor relationship
saintyeehaw's review
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Had to really force myself to finish this one as the writing style confused me a lot of the time. Despite only being 360 pages, this book feels really long for some reason (30+ page chapters?). The witchcraft was cool and cute in equal measure, but the sports talk was very boring for me personally. I liked several of the characters but since the focus kept changing between the whole team, I never felt like I got to really know any of them. Unfortunately, by the end I was also completely done with the romanticization of high school girls in sexual relationships with adult men and was ready to put the book down and never pick it up again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual content, Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Infidelity, Stalking, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Death, Drug use, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Toxic relationship, and Gun violence
lindseythelibrarian's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This Rebel yell of a book follows 11 field hockey players in their 1989 season. It's such a fun, feminist romp and written in the collectivist "we". It's so weird, but it's my kind of weird!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Lesbophobia, Adult/minor relationship, and Homophobia
peachani's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Cultural appropriation, Cursing, Fire/Fire injury, Infidelity, and Stalking
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Homophobia, Lesbophobia, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Violence
Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, and Vomit
yavin_iv's review
adventurous
funny
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Homophobia, Infidelity, Racism, Sexual content, Drug use, Bullying, Blood, and Animal death
Minor: Rape, Pregnancy, Death of parent, and Lesbophobia
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