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3.67 AVERAGE
3.67 AVERAGE
I was pretty disappointed with Backlash. I get that YA books aren’t written for adults, but this is the first YA book I’ve read that I just can’t get behind. It’s not BAD necessarily, but it’s just so juvenile. You can also tell that the author is trying to write the way she thinks teens talk, & that’s how it comes off too. The slang & references feel dated. “Haters gonna hate,” teens on Facebook ... this story is 10 years behind the times.
On the other hand, Backlash is obviously trying to teach a moral and social lesson, and devoid of anything risqué, could easily be used and discussed in a classroom.
NOVELIST APPEALS:
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Tone: Suspenseful
Character: Authentic
Storyline: Issue-Oriented
Writing Style: Thoughtful; Compelling
On the other hand, Backlash is obviously trying to teach a moral and social lesson, and devoid of anything risqué, could easily be used and discussed in a classroom.
NOVELIST APPEALS:
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Tone: Suspenseful
Character: Authentic
Storyline: Issue-Oriented
Writing Style: Thoughtful; Compelling
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Grief, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Fatphobia, Self harm
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sesame Street ain’t got nothing on the amount of life lessons this book tried to teach
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
While reading this book I had to stop and look up the author. I was sure I was reading a book written by a teenager. She is not. But I'm telling you, she plops the reader down into the heads of four teenagers and it's a scary place.
Lara, the oldest daughter of a political mom who wants that perfect family. Lara was overweight in middle school and bullied for it. Called Lardo and Lardosaurus she went to counseling and was doing somewhat better. She made the cheerleading squad and was talking on Facebook to a new guy. Christian.
Until Christian openly bashes her on that Facebook wall. Telling her that the world would be a better place without her. Lara tries to take her own life.
Bree is the girl next door, who was Lara's best friend. Until she got tired of hearing Lara complain about how bad her life is. Yes, she posted that pic of Lara being hauled off by the ambulance...never mind that everyone is commenting RIP Lardo, Corpse Girl...someone had to post it.
How does it make me a loser when that post already has fifty likes?.
Sydney..Lara's younger sister. She knows the family has to tiptoe around Lara's feelings. But sometimes she would just like to matter.
Me? I'm their beef jerky kid. As far as Mom and Dad are concerned, I'm a nonperishable item, tough as old boot leather.
I don't want to give away too much of this book. Just go and read it.
These characters are real. These characters will make you feel disgusted. Don't think you are immune..this could be that girl sitting right next to you...and I'm not just talking about one side of the story.
Or that frigging mom wanting to be cool with her GD teenage kids.
Ugh. My mother isn't just a Tiger Mom. She's a freaking Great White Shark Mom. She should have her own week on the Discovery Channel.
I had not heard of this book until my friend Paige the bookdragon read it. I'm looking up more of this author's works right now.
Lara, the oldest daughter of a political mom who wants that perfect family. Lara was overweight in middle school and bullied for it. Called Lardo and Lardosaurus she went to counseling and was doing somewhat better. She made the cheerleading squad and was talking on Facebook to a new guy. Christian.
Until Christian openly bashes her on that Facebook wall. Telling her that the world would be a better place without her. Lara tries to take her own life.
Bree is the girl next door, who was Lara's best friend. Until she got tired of hearing Lara complain about how bad her life is. Yes, she posted that pic of Lara being hauled off by the ambulance...never mind that everyone is commenting RIP Lardo, Corpse Girl...someone had to post it.
How does it make me a loser when that post already has fifty likes?.
Sydney..Lara's younger sister. She knows the family has to tiptoe around Lara's feelings. But sometimes she would just like to matter.
Me? I'm their beef jerky kid. As far as Mom and Dad are concerned, I'm a nonperishable item, tough as old boot leather.
I don't want to give away too much of this book. Just go and read it.
These characters are real. These characters will make you feel disgusted. Don't think you are immune..this could be that girl sitting right next to you...and I'm not just talking about one side of the story.
Or that frigging mom wanting to be cool with her GD teenage kids.
Ugh. My mother isn't just a Tiger Mom. She's a freaking Great White Shark Mom. She should have her own week on the Discovery Channel.
I had not heard of this book until my friend Paige the bookdragon read it. I'm looking up more of this author's works right now.
This is your standard cyber bullying story with a greater focus on the consequences/ "backlash" of cyber bullying.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I really like Sarah Darer Littman's writing style which is why I found myself enjoying this book as much as I did. I'm not one for the cyberbullying books because they all feel very much the same, but this one just felt different. The only thing I didn't quite like was the multiple points of view, I'm very much a two person max on the point of views in books.
A tad juvenile feeling, but a quick read.
I've been wanting to read this for a long time because I love books about real-life issues. And also books like this always make me really happy that I didn't have to deal with social media when I was "growing up". I can only imagine all the stupid stuff that teenagers do to each other over the internet just because it's easy.
My heart breaks for all the kids out there going through online bullying and having to see the mean things that people write. If you're one of those people, just know that people suck, and Facebook makes it easier for sucky people to show off their suckage. They would never say it to your face, they're just cowards w/ a keyboard. (I know that doesn't make it any better, but I wish there were words that could!!).
As far as books go, I wouldn't put this up with my favorites. It had a good story: girl with a history of depression gets dumped publicly on social media, peers jump in and "like" the post, girl ends up in the hospital over it... and other spoilery stuff I can't mention. It was a book I read really fast and wanted to keep reading and reading, but there was a lot I didn't like about it also. The characters weren't my favorite. I like a flawed character, but all the characters in this book were mega-selfish and had MAJOR brat moments, even the adults. It's like each character was trying to yell louder than the other character to be able to be heard. And they all got super pissed if anyone else was getting the attention. I can take 1 or 2 people like that, but everyone? It was super difficult.
Beyond the brat-attack moments, the book also felt a little juvenile. I read almost exclusively YA, and most of them don't feel this young. I don't know if it was because the characters were less developed or what, but I definitely would recommend this to younger readers. Also, the cautionary, after-school specialness of it would be for the younger reader.
The ending frustrated me a little because I wanted people to feel bad, and not just for themselves. There are things that happen in this book that deserve many apologies and very few of those apologies went around. Yes, many (all) of the characters were self-centered, but I wanted them to GROW and they didn't. It was all about ME ME ME in the beginning and it was the same in the end. I did like that some things were left up in the air. Problems weren't just magically fixed, but more character growth would have been nice.
OVERALL: I liked it, not anywhere near loved. I'm glad I read it, and even enjoyed reading it, but it wasn't without it's flaws. The characters got on my nerves, and there was a frustrating lack of character growth, but it was an issue that I'm glad a book was written about. I'd say it's worth a try, but get it from the library.
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I've been wanting to read this for a long time because I love books about real-life issues. And also books like this always make me really happy that I didn't have to deal with social media when I was "growing up". I can only imagine all the stupid stuff that teenagers do to each other over the internet just because it's easy.
My heart breaks for all the kids out there going through online bullying and having to see the mean things that people write. If you're one of those people, just know that people suck, and Facebook makes it easier for sucky people to show off their suckage. They would never say it to your face, they're just cowards w/ a keyboard. (I know that doesn't make it any better, but I wish there were words that could!!).
As far as books go, I wouldn't put this up with my favorites. It had a good story: girl with a history of depression gets dumped publicly on social media, peers jump in and "like" the post, girl ends up in the hospital over it... and other spoilery stuff I can't mention. It was a book I read really fast and wanted to keep reading and reading, but there was a lot I didn't like about it also. The characters weren't my favorite. I like a flawed character, but all the characters in this book were mega-selfish and had MAJOR brat moments, even the adults. It's like each character was trying to yell louder than the other character to be able to be heard. And they all got super pissed if anyone else was getting the attention. I can take 1 or 2 people like that, but everyone? It was super difficult.
Beyond the brat-attack moments, the book also felt a little juvenile. I read almost exclusively YA, and most of them don't feel this young. I don't know if it was because the characters were less developed or what, but I definitely would recommend this to younger readers. Also, the cautionary, after-school specialness of it would be for the younger reader.
The ending frustrated me a little because I wanted people to feel bad, and not just for themselves. There are things that happen in this book that deserve many apologies and very few of those apologies went around. Yes, many (all) of the characters were self-centered, but I wanted them to GROW and they didn't. It was all about ME ME ME in the beginning and it was the same in the end. I did like that some things were left up in the air. Problems weren't just magically fixed, but more character growth would have been nice.
OVERALL: I liked it, not anywhere near loved. I'm glad I read it, and even enjoyed reading it, but it wasn't without it's flaws. The characters got on my nerves, and there was a frustrating lack of character growth, but it was an issue that I'm glad a book was written about. I'd say it's worth a try, but get it from the library.
My Blog: