Reviews with content warning for Bullying - The Counselors

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

The Counselors by Jessica Goodman

21 reviews

cady_sass's review against another edition

4.0

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This is so fun! Very reminiscent of “The Last Time I Lied” by Riley Sager but written for a younger audience. I have some minor qualms with the glorification of an obviously unhealthy relationship, and it’s clear based on other reviews that lots of other readers feel this way too, but let’s remind ourselves that this is YA and we are talking these are circumstances where the kids are just doing whatever their parents say because they’re scared. I can’t say much more about that without spoilers. I think this is very well crafted, the conflicts feel realistic for the characters and their social settings and/or class differences. The villain monologuing at the end to fill in story holes is always a pain point for me, so that’s my only real gripe. I prefer better storytelling and an MC who digs in and figures it out without having to have it spelled out for them in the final pages. That being said, every actual adult in the book behaves as if they don’t have a single brain cell. The parents, the staff, the townspeople. Collectively not a single intelligent thought. So obviously teens will love it.

(side note- there are a LOT of reviews here that should be hidden due to spoilers, tread carefully if you’re reading reviews prior to finishing)

Content Warnings

havenraven23's review against another edition

2.0

emotional medium-paced

Loveable characters: No

So emotional. Imo, it isn't tense or dark at all. It's very *teen show,* just so many times when you want to yell, dude, be smart about this, why are you doing that, etc etc.

Content Warnings

bellaguiliano's review against another edition

4.0

emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

Content Warnings

emily_mh's review against another edition

3.25

mysterious reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

I think this is the book where I give up on Jessica Goodman thrillers. With her first being my worst book of 2021 and her second only getting a 3.75 from me, I was hoping this book would be the one to convince me she could follow through on her enticing premises. But with a 3.25 rating, I think I can safely say that this author consistently fails to deliver, at least to the level that I want.

My main issue is with the MC. This is a make or break point for any book, but especially one using first-person narration. Unfortunately Goldie is such a non-character. I truly cannot describe her personality, interests (beyond camp), motivations, or desires. She just seemed very… blank. This was truly fatal flaw in the book for me because it made the whole thing seem very two-dimensional, and left me with the question: why was this story written? What did it seek to achieve?

Another thing I didn’t like was that the toxicity of Heller wasn’t properly addressed. At the end of the book you’re left with the impression that he truly loved Goldie and given time they would have gotten back together. In reality,

he drove under the influence, paralysed his best friend, lied about his involvement and sacrificed Goldie’s future for his own, then ghosted Goldie and encouraged people to bully her, even participating in the bullying himself

. I wouldn’t call that love.

Furthermore, the writing style was contrived at times and made me cringe a little. It was too dramatic when it didn’t need to be and so undermined moments that were supposed to be meaningful.

The mystery was fine for YA, although the motive wasn’t that compelling;

I never find financial motives to be so

. I think that multiple avenues of suspicion and investigation needed to be built up from the beginning. Also, the book doesn’t deliver on its promise of a thriller.

I can pay this book some compliments, though, seeing as I gave it 3.25 stars! The setting was a shining star. American summer camp settings are one of my all-time favourites so that was already a win; on top of this it was written excellently by Goodman. You could tell she was drawing on her own personal experiences. Nearly everything happens at the camp and I had a vivid picture of what it looked like. Also, the nostalgia Goldie had for her own experiences was potent and only served to deepen the sense of place.

Additionally, I think the friendship aspect was dealt with quite well.

I appreciated that it didn’t go down the black-and-white toxicity route but showed the complexity of maintaining childhood friendships when you’re growing and changing so much as a teen.

Content Warnings

missmichalalynn's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Good suspenseful book
Feel like it could’ve had more suspense though

Content Warnings

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

3.0

emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

It was a reasonably good story, but HIGHLY predictable, I knew who the killer was and why by 25-35% of the book! I liked the journey, though, so it got 3 stars and not 1.

Content Warnings

betweentheshelves's review against another edition

3.0

dark mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Not my favorite Jessica Goodman thus far. Where [book:They'll Never Catch Us|55648616] had that thriller feeling, this one lacks the tension from her previous novels. Maybe because I didn't feel like the stakes were as high? I also figured out the mystery/twist a little early in the novel, which might be a side effect of reading a lot of YA mystery/thriller books. I'm generally good at guessing them now.

Outside of the plot, I also didn't find the characters to be all that likeable. I mean, they were fine. Just getting along. But I wasn't super invested in their stories or the circumstances that they found themselves in. I was pretty disappointed by the ending because I also felt like there was something missing? It just didn't feel satisfying overall as a book.

That being said, if you love summer camp vibes with a bit of murder mystery, this might be up your alley! It just wan't necessarily my cup of tea.

Content Warnings

audyobooks's review against another edition

4.0

mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

gumiho0712's review against another edition

3.0

adventurous dark mysterious sad slow-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

Content Warnings

imstephtacular's review against another edition

2.75

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Compelling enough for me to read quickly to find out what would happen, but the character motivations were silly, the details in the reveal were convoluted, and I didn’t like a single character

Content Warnings

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