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chaneoosthuizen's review
emotional
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
** spoiler alert ** I loved this book, It tells a much needed story about OCD, a highly stigmatized mental disorder. The main character, Evie, is a teenage girl with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). She is about to go on a date to a house party, with a guy she met in her psychology class, but she is unpleasantly surprised when he shows up absolutely pissed. Jane, her best friend and the only person who was there for her through a time when her OCD was really bad, is so obsessed with her boyfriend, Joel, that she ultimately becomes unreliable. Evie is about ready to give up hope when she meats Amber and Lottie. They soon grow very close and all become best friends. However, Evie deciedes not to tell them about her OCD as she fears they'll judge her. Together, the three of them form the spinster club, a feminist organization that discusses all the acts of sexism in their school and society in general. That is until she gets a little too closer to this guy called... Guy (that had to have been on purpose) who creeps into her life and becomes her worst nightmare. She ends up almost having sex with him before she realizes that he was just using her. After that, she has a meltdown. She wants to cleanse her entire body and sees only one way to do that. She pours an entire bottle of bleach onto her body and ends up in the hospital. When Amber and Lottie come to visit, she finally tells them about her diagnosis, and where she expects judgment, she finds compassion and understanding instead.
This book is an excellent, easy to follow story, although it gets dark at times. It is really fast-paced, and thoughts blend into each other seamlessly. In a lot of books recently, there is this gap near the end right before the climax. Where, it just feels like there is nothing going on, just pointless words on a page. This book, however, doesn't seem to have that. Overall, it is excellently written like all Holly Bourne books are!
The main character feels well rounded, and realistic. She's not exactly likable and can come off as too much sometimes. However, I think this can be seen as a good thing as that's how real people are! No one is perfect, and I think Holly Bourne is really good at creating imperfect characters.
This honestly would've been a 5 star book if we saw more of Oli's character. He's supposed to be the main love interest, but he's in a total of 5 pages. I know this is a feminist book that's supposed to be focused on Evie and her story, outside of love, but the book does heavily imply that Evie and Olly do end up dating. The problem is, we don't know if Oli is any better than Guy.
Regardless, this is still an amazing book, and I definitely think you should read it if:
- You are a feminist
- You are interested in modern-day feminism
- You want a raw story about mental health
- You want to read a story about the importance of female friendships
- You like "I knew you were trouble" by Taylor Swift
!!CHEACK TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING!!
This book is an excellent, easy to follow story, although it gets dark at times. It is really fast-paced, and thoughts blend into each other seamlessly. In a lot of books recently, there is this gap near the end right before the climax. Where, it just feels like there is nothing going on, just pointless words on a page. This book, however, doesn't seem to have that. Overall, it is excellently written like all Holly Bourne books are!
The main character feels well rounded, and realistic. She's not exactly likable and can come off as too much sometimes. However, I think this can be seen as a good thing as that's how real people are! No one is perfect, and I think Holly Bourne is really good at creating imperfect characters.
This honestly would've been a 5 star book if we saw more of Oli's character. He's supposed to be the main love interest, but he's in a total of 5 pages. I know this is a feminist book that's supposed to be focused on Evie and her story, outside of love, but the book does heavily imply that Evie and Olly do end up dating. The problem is, we don't know if Oli is any better than Guy.
Regardless, this is still an amazing book, and I definitely think you should read it if:
- You are a feminist
- You are interested in modern-day feminism
- You want a raw story about mental health
- You want to read a story about the importance of female friendships
- You like "I knew you were trouble" by Taylor Swift
!!CHEACK TRIGGER WARNINGS BEFORE READING!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Sexism, and Ableism
Minor: Alcoholism
atlasisreading's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Sexism, and Self harm
jesse_5's review
dark
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, and Self harm
Moderate: Bullying, Sexism, and Vomit
maryam_i264's review
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This book covered mental issues very well and the struggles people with them face. It helps people understand them more. The main character (Evie) also had a journey of learning to just be herself. Evie and her friends also had a 'spinster club' where they discuss women's rights etc. I really enjoyed it!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying and Sexism
Minor: Sexual assault
jenndonald's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.75
i have so many things to say about this book (all spoilers)
- so cliched
- the feminism plotline is done so weirdly and sorry but it just didn’t work at all, they talk about feminism constantly yet still all of them revolve their lives around the guys they’re interested in? i know they talk about this flaw in the book but agh it’s just so annoying.
- i hate how hypocritical the main characters are towards jane - how are they so focused on being feminists yet consistently bringing a girl down at any possible opportunity ?
- some bits with ocd are shown well but i feel like it’s written as if someone’s watched one video on ocd and now thinks they know everything
- very much “ adult woman trying to write about how teenagers are but being wrong for the most part ”
- amber and lottie are underdeveloped characters, you really learn practically nothing about either
- amber is absolutely a lesbian or aromantic and i think actually focusing on that would be interesting for the plotline of feminism however she isn’t canonically a lesbian and or aromantic?
- does a good job of showing how awkward the conversation of being in therapy is because you’re scared it’ll make a difference in the friendship, “the conversation hasn’t come up”
- basically a handbook of telling you new ideas with your ocd
overall it was a bad book, not the worst thing ever but overall it was more harm then good. maybe it would be good for someone reading who knows absolutely nothing about ocd to understand it to some extent but it just wasn’t good i’m sorry
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Alcohol, Sexual violence, Gore, Medical content, and Body horror
Minor: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault
fairy_internet's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Alcohol, Medical content, Vomit, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Toxic relationship, and Mental illness
Moderate: Ableism, Bullying, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Cursing, and Sexism
Minor: Lesbophobia and Self harm
annabella's review against another edition
emotional
informative
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Sexual assault, Vomit, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Sexual content, Sexism, Self harm, Misogyny, Bullying, and Body shaming
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