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thenextgenlibrarian's review against another edition
3.0
Tradition by Brendan Kiely reminded me of a cross between Gossip Girl, Looking for Alaska and every Lifetime movie I've ever seen about sexual assault. I feel like it sat on the precipice of going even further in the story to push the boundaries, but played it a bit safe at each turn. The ending leaves it open to interpretation as well and I wished for a bit more closure so I knew what happened to Bax and Jules in the future. I feel like we didn't get to know the characters as well as I wanted to either, even though we had the same two character chapters back and forth between Bax and Jules throughout the entire novel. In some ways I feel like I got surface, stereotypical portrayals of the two of them, who didn't get as close as I thought they would throughout the book. I did really enjoy diving into the twisted world of prep schools and how sexist and masochistic they can be, especially in regards to assault and rape. I hope books like this continue to push the envelope so equality can be achieved at all academic institutions. Overall I struggled a bit to get through the dialogue and some storyline choices, but I did like Tradition. It's too mature for my middle school library, but would work well in a high school library.
3.5 stars.
*Thank you Netgalley and Margaret K. McElderry Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own
3.5 stars.
*Thank you Netgalley and Margaret K. McElderry Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own
kthornette's review against another edition
DNF @ 48%
Yeah, not gonna make myself suffer. I have final assignments due in four days to handle that for me.
This doesn’t have anything to do with the book but this is probably the third time I’ve tried to start it … at least I actually did it this time.Didn’t finish it though. I honestly didn’t have high expectations for this book nor was I really interested in reading it, but I wanted it out of the way by the end of the year. Such great attitude towards reading.. Look, I love boarding school books and going after the patriarchy, but the plot felt non-existent and the characters were so flat and boring.
Yeah, not gonna make myself suffer. I have final assignments due in four days to handle that for me.
This doesn’t have anything to do with the book but this is probably the third time I’ve tried to start it … at least I actually did it this time.
kmsaunders's review against another edition
4.0
This is a book teen girls and boys should read. Takes on the “boys will be boys” culture in a realistic and timely way.
franny_mae's review against another edition
2.0
I really tried to like this, I’m a sucker for boarding school stories, but it missed the mark for me.
neff__'s review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
thenextgenlib's review against another edition
3.0
Tradition by Brendan Kiely reminded me of a cross between Gossip Girl, Looking for Alaska and every Lifetime movie I've ever seen about sexual assault. I feel like it sat on the precipice of going even further in the story to push the boundaries, but played it a bit safe at each turn. The ending leaves it open to interpretation as well and I wished for a bit more closure so I knew what happened to Bax and Jules in the future. I feel like we didn't get to know the characters as well as I wanted to either, even though we had the same two character chapters back and forth between Bax and Jules throughout the entire novel. In some ways I feel like I got surface, stereotypical portrayals of the two of them, who didn't get as close as I thought they would throughout the book. I did really enjoy diving into the twisted world of prep schools and how sexist and masochistic they can be, especially in regards to assault and rape. I hope books like this continue to push the envelope so equality can be achieved at all academic institutions. Overall I struggled a bit to get through the dialogue and some storyline choices, but I did like Tradition. It's too mature for my middle school library, but would work well in a high school library.
3.5 stars.
*Thank you Netgalley and Margaret K. McElderry Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own
3.5 stars.
*Thank you Netgalley and Margaret K. McElderry Books for this ARC. All opinions are my own
readermeetsbook's review against another edition
2.0
This book has good intentions of tackling rape culture and toxic masculinity, but falls flat in its goal. Storytelling was boring and sort of heavy handed. Characters are flat - Jules is your stock feminist who seems to exist for her stances and not as a nuanced person. I would like to see more motivation behind her character - what makes her champion all these causes? Who is she beyond the activist? Bax - your typical woke male ally. The reader does get glimpse of the mis-step prior to Fullbrook, but for the majority of the book, he is your stock white ally. Very stereotypical characters. If you are interested in a book tackling rape culture, try All the Rage by Courtney Summers instead.
deservingporcupine's review against another edition
3.0
This is a very important book to have available to teenagers. It does a good job making issues of consent, rape culture, privilege and toxic masculinity visible. As a woman, former high school student, former college student, teacher, and someone who knows a bit about rape culture, nothing in this novel was groundbreaking. Which is pretty sad to think about. Solid YA with perhaps too many characters and not a ton of depth.
jordandotcom's review against another edition
5.0
This book is so very important - so important that I stayed up until 2 am during finals week to finish reading it.
The reason this book IS so important is because it attacks the rape culture that is in society and institutions that we sometimes refuse to believe and acknowledge, and it actually written by someone whose demographic (cis white male) is the most prevalent perpetrator of these beliefs.
For a specific example as to why this is important? Let's focus on the institutional response. Most don't even need to read this to assume that it was subpar. For anyone who has doubts about this, let me tell you a story. About my own university.
So there was this girl named Brenda*, right? And a fellow student named David. David consistently harassed Brenda to the point of her blocking him on Facebook. But he didn't stop then, and actually began to harass her mother as well - asking about Brenda's father and the divorce her mother just experienced. These two are not the only victims - multiple other women on campus reached out after this occurred to share their similar experiences.
Now the natural response is: you have to report it. So she did. But before she reported it, the incidents escalated. David would corner her and force his way into her dorm room when she was only in a towel.
So after this, she reported it to her RA. The Title IX policy on this campus requires that any faculty member who receives any details regarding an event of sexual assault/harassment has to report it. Then Title IX is required to follow up. In this case, they did not.
Brenda was going to leave this behind, until David began to run for student body president. So she went public. Finally, it was ensured that the Title IX office has heard about this incident. She then filed a grievance with the Elections Committee through Student Government. David had broken five election codes, which one would think would prevent him from running. It did not, and her complaints were once again sent back to the Title IX office. She was then told it didn't matter what he did, because it was before he ran for president. So my university let a known perpetrator of sexual assault become the lead student representative.
Brenda kept pushing the investigation forward. The Title IX office did not give her any information or updates for over 4 months. Even the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights reached out to the university because of the failure to act promptly and respond.
So the tl;dr? Brenda was assaulted by David. She reported it in 2016. When David ran for student body president he got it, because the Title IX investigation DID NOT EXIST when he ran for office in 2017. Instead of promptly responding, as an institution should, it decided to favor its shining students and diversity over the traumatic experiences of one of their students. They were entirely willing to shove all of that under the rug and move forward.
This is entirely unconscionable. But almost no one at this university would have even known about it if it was as strict of an environment as in the book. We got lucky this time. But this cannot happen again. THIS is why this book matters. This is why this book is absolutely necessary. Because unfortunately, I know of more stories like this. I know of a university that accepted a transfer student while he had an ongoing Title IX investigation, not caring about this active investigation or the fact that it grinned it to a halt.
This book was amazing in being able to touch on HOW this can happen. It goes deep into the way we act and the way we think when it's not just sexual assault or rape, but merely women standing up for themselves. This book is a major fuck you to tradition, and that is what is needed now.
And if any of you want to read further for the case I discussed in length, here is the link: http://gmufourthestate.com/2018/04/29/how-a-title-ix-report-in-student-government-dragged-on-for-over-a-year/#sthash.8SGfTHXs.dpbs.
*name changed to hide identity of the student
The reason this book IS so important is because it attacks the rape culture that is in society and institutions that we sometimes refuse to believe and acknowledge, and it actually written by someone whose demographic (cis white male) is the most prevalent perpetrator of these beliefs.
For a specific example as to why this is important? Let's focus on the institutional response. Most don't even need to read this to assume that it was subpar. For anyone who has doubts about this, let me tell you a story. About my own university.
So there was this girl named Brenda*, right? And a fellow student named David. David consistently harassed Brenda to the point of her blocking him on Facebook. But he didn't stop then, and actually began to harass her mother as well - asking about Brenda's father and the divorce her mother just experienced. These two are not the only victims - multiple other women on campus reached out after this occurred to share their similar experiences.
Now the natural response is: you have to report it. So she did. But before she reported it, the incidents escalated. David would corner her and force his way into her dorm room when she was only in a towel.
So after this, she reported it to her RA. The Title IX policy on this campus requires that any faculty member who receives any details regarding an event of sexual assault/harassment has to report it. Then Title IX is required to follow up. In this case, they did not.
Brenda was going to leave this behind, until David began to run for student body president. So she went public. Finally, it was ensured that the Title IX office has heard about this incident. She then filed a grievance with the Elections Committee through Student Government. David had broken five election codes, which one would think would prevent him from running. It did not, and her complaints were once again sent back to the Title IX office. She was then told it didn't matter what he did, because it was before he ran for president. So my university let a known perpetrator of sexual assault become the lead student representative.
Brenda kept pushing the investigation forward. The Title IX office did not give her any information or updates for over 4 months. Even the US Department of Education Office for Civil Rights reached out to the university because of the failure to act promptly and respond.
So the tl;dr? Brenda was assaulted by David. She reported it in 2016. When David ran for student body president he got it, because the Title IX investigation DID NOT EXIST when he ran for office in 2017. Instead of promptly responding, as an institution should, it decided to favor its shining students and diversity over the traumatic experiences of one of their students. They were entirely willing to shove all of that under the rug and move forward.
This is entirely unconscionable. But almost no one at this university would have even known about it if it was as strict of an environment as in the book. We got lucky this time. But this cannot happen again. THIS is why this book matters. This is why this book is absolutely necessary. Because unfortunately, I know of more stories like this. I know of a university that accepted a transfer student while he had an ongoing Title IX investigation, not caring about this active investigation or the fact that it grinned it to a halt.
This book was amazing in being able to touch on HOW this can happen. It goes deep into the way we act and the way we think when it's not just sexual assault or rape, but merely women standing up for themselves. This book is a major fuck you to tradition, and that is what is needed now.
And if any of you want to read further for the case I discussed in length, here is the link: http://gmufourthestate.com/2018/04/29/how-a-title-ix-report-in-student-government-dragged-on-for-over-a-year/#sthash.8SGfTHXs.dpbs.
*name changed to hide identity of the student