Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

32 reviews

benediction's review

Go to review page

challenging dark tense 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? It's complicated

3.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

wet_towlette's review

Go to review page

dark mysterious fast-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? Yes

3.0

I don’t know how else to describe except it felt kinda flat. The jumps from one chapter to next felt abrupt. Actually most everything felt abrupt but it wasn’t bad. It just wasn’t particularly good either. I really like the art though. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

frantic_vampire's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I’m having a hard time trying to put my thoughts for Squad into words. Mostly because I’ve got mixed feelings about it. Yes, it’s a fun read and it gave me the same vibes that The Scapegracers did! It’s a perfect read for spooky season and Halloween. But it also had its issues.

I loved the sapphic werewolves mixed with the horror plot. But I really didn’t like the minor homophobic comments or the toxic mean girl clique. However I really did love the contradiction of the bright colors with the darkness of the story line in this graphic novel. The only other thing I wasn’t really a fan of was the way these girls used each other as bait for their kills. Sure, they were going after guys that were taking advantage of girls but the way they went about it felt a little…gross.

So. While I really enjoyed reading this one, I don’t think I can give this one above four stars. I’m stuck somewhere between 3.75 and 4 stars for this one. But maybe a little closer to 3.75.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

saltylane's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark fast-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? Yes

4.0

Without thinking too critically about it, I can say I rather liked this book! I enjoyed the different characters, though I wish they’d gotten a bit more of actual development and growth. Either way, femme lovers and supernatural beasties are totally up my alley. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

mermaidsherbet's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

booksthatburn's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

zombiezami's review

Go to review page

dark emotional funny tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.0

I describe this book as Mean Girls meets Jennifer's Body. I thought the art was great, and I enjoyed the characters. I didn't like that
the protagonist's love interest ended up being someone who kept making racist microaggressions towards her.
Still, the narrative was fun, and I liked the designs and the story.

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

jerusha's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark funny fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75


Expand filter menu Content Warnings

stormywolf's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

 When this one popped up for me on my Facebook newsfeed, I immediately knew I had to grab it. Between the enticing cover, the premise of hunting skeevy guys, and the fact that it featured werewolves—my absolute favorite of all supernatural creatures—it seemed the perfect fit to fill a slot in my spooky month! You know what they say about too much hype, though...

Read my full review at The Wolf's Den

Overall, this was a good story with interesting artwork, it just lacked the time and space to fully tackle all the points it raised. I'd still recommend it as a quick and interesting read, especially for those interested in werewolves, YA, vigilantism, or exploring societal issues, but it probably won't be all that memorable in the long run. So if you find the premise interesting and are looking for a bite-sized horror read, then give Squad a try. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

beforeviolets's review

Go to review page

adventurous dark tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated

4.0

Think Heathers or Mean Girls but make it sapphic and make the mean girls werewolves! Delightfully cheesy and monstrous in the way every werewolf story should be. It wonderfully embodied the hunger for justice we all crave in this shitty patriarchal society in a fantastically literal way. The illustrative style - done by the wonderful artist Lisa Sterle - reminded me of Archie comics, leaning into classic and familiar high school vibes and tropes that this book established just to break them down. It allowed the darker moments of this story to stand out even further, contrasting against a world we think we understand. It also made the story feel somewhat timeless, mixing retro styles with a modern setting.

I felt that it lacked depth in approaching some of the more important real-world topics the book brought up (fatphobia, diet culture, misogyny, r*pe culture, etc.) by just kind of dropping the themes in there without really exploring them or providing much commentary on them. (Especially with the fatphobia, there were lines from "you could stand to go on a diet" to a skinny character calling themselves "overweight" that were implied to be bad but otherwise went unchecked.) 

But for the purpose of an exciting, fun read for all the "weird girls" out there, it most definitely delivered. I would highly recommend if you like monster girls (a trope that i REALLY love), morally grey characters, cheesy horror/fantasy, and revenge plots. 

Expand filter menu Content Warnings