3.28 AVERAGE


I liked this a lot!! I thought this would be less entertaining than freshers as this is their debut but I found it to be written to the same high standard.

All of the characters were characterised so well, you really feel you know them. I found the girl hate storyline with Stella didn't really go anywhere and was shadowed by the love story but all in all I thought it was really good.

In het begin vond ik het maar een beetje een raar boek en ik had geen idee waar het verhaal nou eigenlijk naar toe ging. Toen ik eenmaal wat verder was toen las het lekker door en was het heel erg leuk om te lezen, ook al is het een vrij voorspelbaar boek.

(3.5)

Realistic Sex scene in a Young Adult book YEAH
funny lighthearted medium-paced
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: No
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I could not support the relationship in this book at all. They have a cute moment when they first meet, but everything after is terrible communication, misinterpreting things, jealousy and overreaction. And the friendships in this book aren't much better.
There's also some gross body image stuff in here. The main character is constantly insecure about her looks because she's not hot/model like beautiful. And people keep reassuring her that it's okay. Not because there are things more important and those are horrible standards to be held to, but because she's a different sort of beautiful, the sort that lasts, while the other will fade and be worthless.
There's some good getting into the mindset of the way awkward teenagers think and their insecurities, but the entire book was focused on the progression of a relationship I did not find healthy at all.

Review to come soon.

Lo leĆ­ hace un par de semanas.
Me gusto mucho, estaba siendo super entretenido pero me parece que no tuvo un buen final... fue como nada, pero el resto lo disfrute.

I can sum this book up with the following choice phrases: sex pests, drama queens, creepy obsessors, shitty best friends, casual sexism (to name but a few). Suffice to say, I seriously disliked this book.

Yes, the characters did talk very openly and frankly about sexual interactions which, in all fairness, we should be seeing more of (particularly in YA fiction). Hurrah. But that in no way meant that what they were saying or alluding to was in the slightest bit healthy. Because the majority of their screwed-up views of sex were exactly that: screwed-up. Take the following sentences, for example:

"I totally think it's good that you're getting it over with before Kavos."

Ah, peer pressure. You're more than entitled to 'get it over with' if that's how you feel about your own sexual identity. Girl, you do you. But do try not to comment on other people's choices surrounding sex. It really is not your place. This sentence came off to me as the authors saying it's okay for people to pass judgment and feel entitled to do so, too. Very unhealthy.

Or: "Losing your virginity isn't really about you - it's about everyone else. It's about telling everyone else that you've done it, so you can get on with doing it again."

Which, to be fair, is quite the insightful observation. But the authors never challenged or questioned this view; they wrote it as though it's just a well-known fact and nothing can be done about it anyway, so it's totally fine to carry on with this unhealthy opinion. Erm, nope!

And especially this horrific one when Hannah was talking about her lack of sexual encounters: "[It] isn't exactly an impressive list for an eighteen-year-old who isn't a Christian or some sort of freak."

Guess I was 'some sort of freak' back when I was 18 then, Han. Cheers for that. Not a very good message to the readers. At all.

And this one, too: "If you haven't shagged her, or anyone, by the time you go to uni, you might have to start telling people you're religious, or something. That's the only feasible explanation for still being a virgin at this age."

Or, you know, maybe sex doesn't interest you, or you're asexual (or demisexual like me) or maybe you just aren't ready yet and that is A OKAY.

Lobsters really solidified for me how difficult it can be, maneuvering in a presumably sex-obsessed world as a demisexual. I felt completely disconnected from all the characters as a result. It's just the assumption that everyone is interested in sex (or should be) is what gets to me and maybe I am taking it all out on this novel but it's really started to grate on me lately. Where's the representation at?

There was a heavy emphasis on social pressure to have intercourse but I feel as though the authors never really commented on that. They acknowledged it existed but it was as if, by staying silent on the subject, they ultimately can be seen to have condoned that pressure and, on some level, even encouraged it. You know that saying that goes: seeing evil and doing nothing about it is just as bad as committing the evil itself? Well, I sort of felt this way about how the authors handled the issue of peer pressure.

There was a real missed opportunity here. I'm not saying it wasn't realistic - I've witnessed many friends feel that same pressure (and contribute towards it) when I was younger - but I am saying that there should have perhaps been more of a sex-positive message here. The authors could have explored the whole concept of 'virginity' and healthy sexual interactions but instead decided to focus on the mindless drivel that was the 'romantic' relationship of the novel.

Other than the general uneasiness I felt throughout Lobsters, there were other elements that made it a 1-star read for me.

The main protagonists were boring, had no distinct personalities and were so whiney. Literally every single thing that happened was made out to be this huge, disastrous drama. Too much angst (that was written poorly) for my liking. Also, the dialogue was completely unfunny (or, perhaps, just not my kind of humour).

That brings me onto the plot. Predictable. Cliched. And it didn't really flow very well either. It felt like I was reading about separate occurrences that were just strung together blindly. It didn't feel like one smooth, cohesive story with a structured beginning, middle and end. The beginning didn't start off too bad, actually. But, somewhere after that, the book seemed to forget its purpose and felt increasingly unnecessary and pointless the more I read on.

I did enjoy, however, the fact that this was a UKYA (which was why I decided to pick it up in the first place). Although I found certain elements automatically more relatable because it was set in the UK, I still felt a massive disconnect between myself and the MC's and the UK-ness of the novel definitely wasn't enough to make me like it.

The only other thing I liked was Robin's character. Although I found him to be quite problematic, he did remind me a bit of Jay from The Inbetweeners and that's exactly how I imagined Robin's lines being delivered throughout the novel. But, again, this wasn't nearly enough to make me like it.

All in all, a huge disappointment. I read this with the expectation of having a bit of light-hearted fun. Lobsters was anything but fun. It was annoying, boring, angsty, unnecessary and just made me feel completely uncomfortable throughout.

Wat een heerlijk verhaal! Ik vloog echt door het boek heen. Het einde viel me een klein beetje tegen, daarom 4 sterren in plaats van 5. Maar dit boek is zeker wel een aanrader!