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3.63 AVERAGE
3.63 AVERAGE
The characters are compelling. I will definitely recommend this one to my students.
I really wanted to like this but I couldn't really root for the main character. I got less invested as the story continued
***DNF about 60% in***
t.w.: self-harm, parental death, misogyny, emotional abuse.
This was a book that I really wanted to like. Whip It has been one of my favorite movies since it came out and I've always wished that it had an outwardly sapphic romance, so this book seemed to have it all. Overall, though, it really felt flat for me. The story was fast moving and there was a lot of representation, which was nice to see, but Daya's attitude towards others was absolutely terrible. She always thought of other women as weak if they weren't willing to take a hit, which is honestly kind of messed up. Her misogynistic attitude throughout the book was off-putting, especially since we're supposed to be reading the story through her perspective. The author also makes sure to let you know that this has been her attitude since before her parents died, so it's not a reflection of that trauma, but just her regular character. The self-harm was also surprising as the overview gave no real indication of that sort of content.
Aside from the aforementioned misogyny and self-harm, I also really hated how much the word "s*vage" was used by Daya throughout the book. Time and time again, we've been asked by indigenous people to not use that word, and yet this author has a non-indigenous character use it almost every chapter, which put me off. The author states that she is "living on unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations (Vancouver, Canada)" but I can't seem to find any indication that Boteju is indigenous herself and, regardless, the main character isn't indigenous so she shouldn't be using that term.
During my reading, unfortunately the bad outweighed the good. I probably wouldn't recommend this one out to others, but I do wish we had more books about roller derby out there, because it's a really interesting, generally female-led sport and it deserves recognition.
pros: LGBTQIA+ representation, disability representation, Sri Lankan representation, women in sports, alternative family styles
cons: reinforcement of stereotypes, use of anti-indigenous slurs, misogyny, self-harm
t.w.: self-harm, parental death, misogyny, emotional abuse.
This was a book that I really wanted to like. Whip It has been one of my favorite movies since it came out and I've always wished that it had an outwardly sapphic romance, so this book seemed to have it all. Overall, though, it really felt flat for me. The story was fast moving and there was a lot of representation, which was nice to see, but Daya's attitude towards others was absolutely terrible. She always thought of other women as weak if they weren't willing to take a hit, which is honestly kind of messed up. Her misogynistic attitude throughout the book was off-putting, especially since we're supposed to be reading the story through her perspective. The author also makes sure to let you know that this has been her attitude since before her parents died, so it's not a reflection of that trauma, but just her regular character. The self-harm was also surprising as the overview gave no real indication of that sort of content.
Spoiler
Daya is using roller derby as a means of self harm, to let other people hurt her so she doesn't have to experience emotional pain.Aside from the aforementioned misogyny and self-harm, I also really hated how much the word "s*vage" was used by Daya throughout the book. Time and time again, we've been asked by indigenous people to not use that word, and yet this author has a non-indigenous character use it almost every chapter, which put me off. The author states that she is "living on unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations (Vancouver, Canada)" but I can't seem to find any indication that Boteju is indigenous herself and, regardless, the main character isn't indigenous so she shouldn't be using that term.
During my reading, unfortunately the bad outweighed the good. I probably wouldn't recommend this one out to others, but I do wish we had more books about roller derby out there, because it's a really interesting, generally female-led sport and it deserves recognition.
pros: LGBTQIA+ representation, disability representation, Sri Lankan representation, women in sports, alternative family styles
cons: reinforcement of stereotypes, use of anti-indigenous slurs, misogyny, self-harm
Made me tear up, so this gets five stars even if it's not perfect. There's a few scenes that are SO similar to stuff I experienced with self-harm and struggling to open up about stuff that it hurt to read.
Outside of the heavier aspects, I'm also super starved for queer sports books, and this one is really cool on that point, the sport and team are central to the book, and even though I don't actually know much about roller derby I had fun.
The queer rep is great and EVERYWHERE, and I loved Daya and Shanti's romance in this. I loved how all the main characters represented different ideas of what makes a person strong or weak. The theme of "softness is strength too" often gets me and it's pretty much the main point of the book, and especially of Shanti's character.
It definitely has its flaws still (there's a lot going on and I'm not sure everything gets resolved enough but you know what that's life too) and I was like "yeah this is okay" for the first third but in the end I really loved it
Outside of the heavier aspects, I'm also super starved for queer sports books, and this one is really cool on that point, the sport and team are central to the book, and even though I don't actually know much about roller derby I had fun.
The queer rep is great and EVERYWHERE, and I loved Daya and Shanti's romance in this. I loved how all the main characters represented different ideas of what makes a person strong or weak. The theme of "softness is strength too" often gets me and it's pretty much the main point of the book, and especially of Shanti's character.
It definitely has its flaws still (there's a lot going on and I'm not sure everything gets resolved enough but you know what that's life too) and I was like "yeah this is okay" for the first third but in the end I really loved it
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster Children's Publishing for providing me an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review
I loved Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens so when I saw that Tanya Boteju had a new novel out, I had to read it. Bruised did not disappoint. I enjoyed the diversity in this book and appreciated that it felt natural, like a real community, not like the author was ticking boxes trying to include every character. I also really liked the roller derby scenes. I didn’t know much about the sport but I felt like I understood it after Boteju’s descriptions and I loved the sense of community I got from it.
I liked how realistic much of Diya’s internal dialogue seemed, how the reader could see her trying to change even when she was apprehensive about it. The possible downside of this is that many of the descriptions of the emotional states leading to self-harm also seemed realistic. I did not notice if this book had a trigger warning at the beginning but it really ought to. Self-harm was more prevalent in the story than I had initially expected.
My one critique was that I didn’t really like the romance or feel that it was necessary. Daya kept pushing Shanti away but she kept eagerly coming back saying she recognized many of Daya’s behaviors from her sister. But just because Shanti is used to abusive behavior doesn’t mean she should so readily forgive it in a potential romantic partner. I wish they had just become good friends, that Daya had found her place on the team and with her family and the will to work on her mental health without also finding a girlfriend.
I loved Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens so when I saw that Tanya Boteju had a new novel out, I had to read it. Bruised did not disappoint. I enjoyed the diversity in this book and appreciated that it felt natural, like a real community, not like the author was ticking boxes trying to include every character. I also really liked the roller derby scenes. I didn’t know much about the sport but I felt like I understood it after Boteju’s descriptions and I loved the sense of community I got from it.
I liked how realistic much of Diya’s internal dialogue seemed, how the reader could see her trying to change even when she was apprehensive about it. The possible downside of this is that many of the descriptions of the emotional states leading to self-harm also seemed realistic. I did not notice if this book had a trigger warning at the beginning but it really ought to. Self-harm was more prevalent in the story than I had initially expected.
My one critique was that I didn’t really like the romance or feel that it was necessary. Daya kept pushing Shanti away but she kept eagerly coming back saying she recognized many of Daya’s behaviors from her sister. But just because Shanti is used to abusive behavior doesn’t mean she should so readily forgive it in a potential romantic partner. I wish they had just become good friends, that Daya had found her place on the team and with her family and the will to work on her mental health without also finding a girlfriend.
I have mixed feelings on this book. I loved the concept and have been meaning to read a book about roller derby for a while now. But I'm not sure how I felt about the narrator. I get that her story is very heavily about growth and healing and that her being rough around the edges and imperfect was the point. But I found it hard to like her at all in the beginning despite feeling sympathetic towards her. Tbh I feel like this one would have best been told from the POV from one of the other characters? No less I enjoyed the book well enough.
Ms. B has gone and done it again. This was a very well written and wonderful book.
The characters were colourful, and thoughtfully handled, the growth was lovely to witness, and the setting (ie. in the roller derby world) was fantastic.
The self discovery Daya goes through in all of her relationships was also something I thought was handled with such care and such grace and was truly wonderful to read -- I feel like the teens of today have so many great options now - to read about different people, different experiences etc that they may find themselves in, or be able to understand others better due to -- and Ms. B's work is such a lovely addition to the YA literary world. (Her acknowledgments were fantastic as well.)
It lost a star for me, only because of the self-harm stuff; it's been such a dark year, and reading about both extreme grief and self-harm was as the teens would say 'a lot', (even though it was carefully and expertly curated so it was palatable to the reader while also staying true to what I am sure it is like), the idea of reading about a young person hurting themselves was really hard for me to get past at first. But I came back to it while going through my own grief cycle recently, and it was, in a way, more cathartic and less jarring to read about. I also feel like as the book gets going and Daya learns to explore other avenues to 'release' it became much easier to read about -- not that this type of thing should be 'easy' but for me when escaping away to a good book, especially in this sh*t storm of a year and a half, it was hard to get through at first. (Not due to the writing, but to the nature of the content) But I am so glad I came back to it when I did, a great read. Not quite the escape I had been craving when I started it (having expected an escape like in her debut Kings) but definitely a really great read (which is in its own category to her other work, which I do think bodes extremely well for future novels too).
The characters were colourful, and thoughtfully handled, the growth was lovely to witness, and the setting (ie. in the roller derby world) was fantastic.
The self discovery Daya goes through in all of her relationships was also something I thought was handled with such care and such grace and was truly wonderful to read -- I feel like the teens of today have so many great options now - to read about different people, different experiences etc that they may find themselves in, or be able to understand others better due to -- and Ms. B's work is such a lovely addition to the YA literary world. (Her acknowledgments were fantastic as well.)
It lost a star for me, only because of the self-harm stuff; it's been such a dark year, and reading about both extreme grief and self-harm was as the teens would say 'a lot', (even though it was carefully and expertly curated so it was palatable to the reader while also staying true to what I am sure it is like), the idea of reading about a young person hurting themselves was really hard for me to get past at first. But I came back to it while going through my own grief cycle recently, and it was, in a way, more cathartic and less jarring to read about. I also feel like as the book gets going and Daya learns to explore other avenues to 'release' it became much easier to read about -- not that this type of thing should be 'easy' but for me when escaping away to a good book, especially in this sh*t storm of a year and a half, it was hard to get through at first. (Not due to the writing, but to the nature of the content) But I am so glad I came back to it when I did, a great read. Not quite the escape I had been craving when I started it (having expected an escape like in her debut Kings) but definitely a really great read (which is in its own category to her other work, which I do think bodes extremely well for future novels too).
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“Following the death of her parents, Daya Wijesinghe turns to bruising for both comfort and control - each bruise keeping her pain on the surface of her skin so she doesn’t need to deal with what lies beneath. But when chance and circumstances bring her to a roller derby bout, Daya is hooked, and her immersion into this rough-and-tumble world leads her through love, loss, strength, and eventual healing.”
Bruised is a game changer when it comes to young adult fiction. Tanya Boteju continues to write novels that demonstrate how attuned she is to the young adults of today. She sees them, hears them, loves them and respects them. In Bruised, Boteju explores topics that are often shied away from, including self-harm, parental loss, grief, gender non-conformity and sexuality.
With her seamless use of they/them pronouns, she gently encourages her readers to work through their discomfort. While unfamiliar pronouns may cause some of us to stumble our way through Daya’s story, Boteju’s writing is so compassionate and driven by current and relatable characters, that one can’t help but keep reading through to the end.
Not only does Boteju weave in gender inclusive pronouns with skill, but she also gives voice to women who have never felt “womanly” or “feminine”. Fierce women who choose sports such as rugby, skateboarding, roller derby or boxing over sports that are apparently meant “for girls'' (read: ballet, synchronized swimming, rhythmic gymnastics, etc.). Evolved as we are, books that force us to rethink what society deems “normal” are still sorely lacking, but Boteju is clearly intent on changing that, one book at a time.
As with Kings, Queens and In-Betweens, I really enjoyed reading Bruised. Tanya, thank you once again for sharing your talent with the world. I’ll be counting down the days until the publication of your next book, and have no doubt that it will not disappoint.
Bruised is a game changer when it comes to young adult fiction. Tanya Boteju continues to write novels that demonstrate how attuned she is to the young adults of today. She sees them, hears them, loves them and respects them. In Bruised, Boteju explores topics that are often shied away from, including self-harm, parental loss, grief, gender non-conformity and sexuality.
With her seamless use of they/them pronouns, she gently encourages her readers to work through their discomfort. While unfamiliar pronouns may cause some of us to stumble our way through Daya’s story, Boteju’s writing is so compassionate and driven by current and relatable characters, that one can’t help but keep reading through to the end.
Not only does Boteju weave in gender inclusive pronouns with skill, but she also gives voice to women who have never felt “womanly” or “feminine”. Fierce women who choose sports such as rugby, skateboarding, roller derby or boxing over sports that are apparently meant “for girls'' (read: ballet, synchronized swimming, rhythmic gymnastics, etc.). Evolved as we are, books that force us to rethink what society deems “normal” are still sorely lacking, but Boteju is clearly intent on changing that, one book at a time.
As with Kings, Queens and In-Betweens, I really enjoyed reading Bruised. Tanya, thank you once again for sharing your talent with the world. I’ll be counting down the days until the publication of your next book, and have no doubt that it will not disappoint.