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joannalouise's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Transphobia, and Suicide attempt
claudine_h's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
fiifarts's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
s_evan's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I like this author's content on IG and the premise sounded good, but I was disappointed by this novel. When I told myself it was YA, I could accept the writing and approach to telling/showing us about activist circles. Overall it felt very surface and young, which the narrator is, but I feel like needed depth could have be added through more insight, better writing and/or more robust character development.
*TW/SPOILER/LEARNING LESSON: don't shame people who use drugs so that they use alone and OD w/o possibility for reversal. Making someone carry naloxone does NOTHING if that person is alone. For such a "woke" book when it comes to race and class class consciousness, as well as other forms of oppression, it really was not progressive when it came to substance use or people who live with addiction!
https://neverusealone.com/
*TW/SPOILER/LEARNING LESSON: don't shame people who use drugs so that they use alone and OD w/o possibility for reversal. Making someone carry naloxone does NOTHING if that person is alone. For such a "woke" book when it comes to race and class class consciousness, as well as other forms of oppression, it really was not progressive when it came to substance use or people who live with addiction!
https://neverusealone.com/
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction
Moderate: Suicide attempt and Rape
name_user's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
beckhansman's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
4.25
As a lover of alternative-future literature, this blew me away. The story strikes a deep emotional chord in countless ways; it’s crazy how timely the plot is. If this book came out when I was a teen, I fully believe it would have created a longggg lasting impact on my life.
I do think the story and characters are sometimes a little too on the nose, especially the main character. More nuance would have been greatly appreciated, but that feels like a nit-picky complaint! Overall, I really loved it.
I do think the story and characters are sometimes a little too on the nose, especially the main character. More nuance would have been greatly appreciated, but that feels like a nit-picky complaint! Overall, I really loved it.
lxeleigh's review
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
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? Yes
4.5
Maddie annoyed me a lot but like fuck if I’m not crying rn
laurarmz's review against another edition
4.0
Loved how various topics were discussed. Like, between the “war” on climate change, the conflict between different ideological groups, and the links between political ideologies, race and sex were ufff. Lots of food for thought (although, sometimes, discourse gets so ideological and conceptual, it’s not even practical anymore). The ending made me choke up, not gonna lie. Plus, the character arc was awesomely planted.
I wish I could befriend Gestas just for the sake of having any conversation with him.
Notes on the text (more as a way to keep my thoughts than criticism):
I don’t mean to diminish any of the social theories they have going on in the book, but it does feel like people use their vulnerability to attack others (“you’re not black /queer so you whatever your struggles are they’re not as valid or hard as ours”). Of course there’s privilege, but there are also many ways to go about it; good intentions, however misleading as they might end up being, should count for something. It’s about people truly working together, not repeating patterns with different players in power… maybe it’s because I’m not from the US, but the way racial issues were utilized as a tool to justify certain actions just seemed over-reaching for me (Maddie having to “make-up” for being a colonizer and having white privilege… of course with great power and access, comes great accountability but blaming her like that seemed like too much; she couldn’t help being white yk).
Halfway through the book, in the conversation about indigenous people, I just thought that re-contextualizing history to fit current paradigms seemed super reductive. Like the whole ancestors’ power thing is a bit much considering the time passed, and the whole appropriation concept… at this point, their discussion sounded like people trying to connect to something now that they stopped believing in the dominant religion (and to reinforce their current moral / societal beliefs). I think Red sounded disrespectful but did have a point… who decides when it’s hypocritical? Sure, it’s about the dominant system, but is that really the line we’re gonna draw? Whatever’s mainstream is oppressive?
White people being the most radicalized… makes sense. People doing radical things for non-movement related motives sounds just about right too.
Not doing illegal things doesn’t make you a coward. And of course there are consequences to not fighting back, but the consequences to fighting back can also affect you; at the end of the day, it’s about how much power the dominant party lets you have… movements within the “accepted” level of resistance are great, but people uncomfortable positions will not be belong to listen to something that might jeopardize that’s position — and why should violence only be valid when it happens at the hands of the state?
It’s very tragic that when movements go huge, their cause dyes gets dissolved among many others.
But, whether I agreed or disagreed with the characters and their messages, they really made me think, and I loved that. And also Shayna and her everybody-makes-their-own-decisions-within-inescapable-circumstances speech <3
I wish I could befriend Gestas just for the sake of having any conversation with him.
Notes on the text (more as a way to keep my thoughts than criticism):
I don’t mean to diminish any of the social theories they have going on in the book, but it does feel like people use their vulnerability to attack others (“you’re not black /queer so you whatever your struggles are they’re not as valid or hard as ours”). Of course there’s privilege, but there are also many ways to go about it; good intentions, however misleading as they might end up being, should count for something. It’s about people truly working together, not repeating patterns with different players in power… maybe it’s because I’m not from the US, but the way racial issues were utilized as a tool to justify certain actions just seemed over-reaching for me (Maddie having to “make-up” for being a colonizer and having white privilege… of course with great power and access, comes great accountability but blaming her like that seemed like too much; she couldn’t help being white yk).
Halfway through the book, in the conversation about indigenous people, I just thought that re-contextualizing history to fit current paradigms seemed super reductive. Like the whole ancestors’ power thing is a bit much considering the time passed, and the whole appropriation concept… at this point, their discussion sounded like people trying to connect to something now that they stopped believing in the dominant religion (and to reinforce their current moral / societal beliefs). I think Red sounded disrespectful but did have a point… who decides when it’s hypocritical? Sure, it’s about the dominant system, but is that really the line we’re gonna draw? Whatever’s mainstream is oppressive?
White people being the most radicalized… makes sense. People doing radical things for non-movement related motives sounds just about right too.
Not doing illegal things doesn’t make you a coward. And of course there are consequences to not fighting back, but the consequences to fighting back can also affect you; at the end of the day, it’s about how much power the dominant party lets you have… movements within the “accepted” level of resistance are great, but people uncomfortable positions will not be belong to listen to something that might jeopardize that’s position — and why should violence only be valid when it happens at the hands of the state?
It’s very tragic that when movements go huge, their cause dyes gets dissolved among many others.
But, whether I agreed or disagreed with the characters and their messages, they really made me think, and I loved that. And also Shayna and her everybody-makes-their-own-decisions-within-inescapable-circumstances speech <3
cdace8's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
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? Yes
3.5
This is not normally something I would read but I am glad I did. I enjoyed this book. It was fast paced and interesting. I felt like the author could have developed Maddie a l little better as it kind of felt like not enough explanation was given to some of the things she does or that happen to her. Also, ignorance is part of her character, however, it sometimes comes off as stupidity which really isn't part of her character.