Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Cool - und was ist mit Liebe?

this book was really interesting! i love the concept, and the storyline is pretty good. i feel like a lot of stuff is oversexualized, though, and i wish there was some warning before the more intense sexual scenes. while this might be an accurate picture of some high school life, the constant drug and alcohol picture in this book isn't all that realistic, from what i've seen. sure, there'll be the occasional druggie, and maybe there'll be drinks at parties, but not everybody's drowning in ecstasy. it's not all that common to smoke behind the school anymore. that's just my opinion, maybe your high school pictures were different, but i dunno. seems much more classic 'people've been writing about this type of high school picture for years, so i guess that's how it's gotta be'. if i read this alongside several other books about high school during middle school, i'd be honestly worried for my safety as a freshman.

edit: upon rereading a few chapters, i don't know how i didn't notice how much this book objectifies women. it kind of portrays them without much character and like toys for the men to pick-and-choose from. the only real headstrong and sensible female character i remember seeing was christine (or christina idk), and all the others were very emotionally sensitive and submissive (just from reading one scene). the only other headstrong female character was perhaps jeremy's mom and that one girl who skinned her knees on the steps (who is portrayed as frivolous, silly, and uncool).

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badmom's review against another edition

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emotional funny reflective fast-paced

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

3.5

Authentic early 2000s American cis/straight teen voices with universally recognized teen concerns, narrated by a nerdy, angsty outsider. The low-key sci-fi element gives a boost to the narration by humorously pointing out the typical misconceptions & misunderstandings of humans in general, and teenagers in particular.
Some microaggressions + barely acknowledged misogyny interrupt the redemption arc but overall this is a thoughtful & interesting story.

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the_true_monroe's review against another edition

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adventurous funny relaxing fast-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

5.0

I did not expect this to be a 5 star for me as I had not liked It’s Kind Of A Funny Story as much as I thought it was (I loved the movie which I had seen years prior to reading the book) but I was so impressed by this book- specifically the 2019 audiobook recording. I was shocked this was written in 2004 although it made sense with much of the references. I agreed completely with the afterword by David Levithan and how this book and Feed both got so much right about what we needed to be worried about in the future of technology years before smart phones even became a thing. Also, as a complete showtune lover, I now am going to listen to the cast recording in full- instead of just randomly hearing some of the songs when shuffling through a playlist of so many different musicals… that also made me expect this book to be completely different as the songs I heard suggest the musical is very different. But I digress! Be More Chill is a very enjoyable read.

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