Reviews

Say No to the Bro by Kat Helgeson

sarahanne8382's review against another edition

4.0

The Prom Bowl has been a time-honored tradition at Patterson High, but new girl Ava wants nothing to do with it. When she decides to go along with it for the sake of fitting in, life gets messy and that honest depiction of tricky situations is what I loved best about this book. Ava and Mark find themselves in a place where "doing the right thing" comes with lots of negative consequences making it hard to know if doing the right thing is really the thing to do. There may be a happy ending of sorts but there are consequences for bad choices, even for the heroine and hero, and I appreciated that.

bailo2's review against another edition

2.0

It was okay. I really enjoyed the beginning, but I felt like the agenda and message of the story, while not a bad one, sort of took over the story, leaving the characters underdeveloped. I appreciated that the book celebrated girls that don't fit the mainstream mold, me being a short, curvy woman myself. But I felt it did at the expense of girls who do and some passages were heavy with skinny shaming without characters changing their attitude. Meaning those characters who fat shamed were reprimanded and portrayed as villains but those who skinny shamed were not. I don't enjoy body shaming of any type.

apotts's review against another edition

4.0

Say No to the Bro shines a light on a myriad of high school issues; some new, some old. I'll be honest, I was not expecting this book to be as intense as it was or to pose so many questions. It is much more than a cute tale about a girl and a boy putting the brakes on a contest. The author did not make any one character perfect, either, lending a refreshing truth to the story that kept me whipping through the pages to finish in two sittings. It's one that will stick with me for quite a while.

This book is definitely more of a high school book. There is mature content and I believe a reader needs to be mature enough to have a basic knowledge of the pressures of peers/society and be able to make some inferences about the characters based on their words versus their thoughts. Of course, the right reader might be able to handle it in middle school (late 7th early 8th grade). I guess it's one of those that you should read before you recommend.

julietem08's review against another edition

2.0

ugh I wanted to like this book, I really did, but just... no

The romance was cute but it lacked any communication whatsoever. There was also a few chapters where some stiff happened that was just too much. I just couldn't get in to it :(

kathleenreads4898's review against another edition

3.0

Such a good book but the main character was lowkey a pick me and the ending did nothing to resolve the conflict

auburnedge's review against another edition

2.0

This is not what I expected. I wanted a romcom hilarious book but this is not that. Instead we got some deep shiz happening and nobody gets a HEA. Instead we get everything smashed to pieces, like the cover.

catladyreba's review against another edition

2.0

There is a lot to unpack here. I think that I get what the author was trying to do, but intent and impact are two different things. Maybe this needed to be a little longer, a little more in-depth. Overall, it left me a little unsatisfied.

kelsiecrews's review against another edition

3.0

I feel like three stars was even a stretch for this book. It was good but I didn’t like the addition of the sexual assault. The story about trying to get get rid of a school tradition of auctioning girls for how “fun” they are is a touchy subject for some. Not a book I’d recommend.

alisonjane's review against another edition

1.0

No. Just, no.

missafink714's review against another edition

5.0

More like 4.5/5, but I believe in rounding up. :) A fun book that's easy to binge read! Will be perfect for summer vacation.