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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
4.5! This book was a emotional book. It’s just so much more than what the Sinopsis says. Grace deserves the best the world could give her, and I think sometimes many women go through this, and is more complex that we think it is, like Grace so many women go into a relationship wanting so much more because they lack love in their life’s. I love this book and the message it gives, how Grace had amazing friends, how she lost so much thinking it was worth it, I hate the situation in her house, and Gavin little fucker I know the world is full of them!
Bad Romance is a raw and realistic look at an abusive relationship. Told from Grace's PoV, after the relationship has ended, the story is told with an honesty and clarity that only comes from hindsight. This is an incredibly important book as it provides an extraordinary look at how love can turn toxic and how unbelievably difficult it can be to escape even if you want to.
Bad Romance was an incredible book that I absolutely recommend, especially for teens and young adults. I hope it helps someone somewhere know their worth and that they deserve love and respect.
Trigger warnings: clear depictions of abuse, suicide. This could be a painful book for some people, so please use caution.
* This book was received from Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. *
Spoiler
The ending to this was absolute perfection. I love love love that Grace leaned on her friends, Nat and Lys. The fact that she ended the story with them instead of in another relationship with Gideon (even though he was a great guy) was so incredibly important to me. I believe it's paramount for someone leaving an abusive relationship to surround themselves with support and heal before entering another relationship. The fact that the author took this route filled me with such joy and relief.Bad Romance was an incredible book that I absolutely recommend, especially for teens and young adults. I hope it helps someone somewhere know their worth and that they deserve love and respect.
Trigger warnings: clear depictions of abuse, suicide. This could be a painful book for some people, so please use caution.
* This book was received from Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. *
This book is UPSETTING. Take your classic YA romance and then turn it into an abusive relationship. This actually gave me nightmares. It’s a very good book but be warned. It’s tough to read.
*kind of spoilery* This book had an excellent message, but it somehow just wasn’t what I needed it to be. It put forward what I think is an accurate portrayal of an abusive relationship, and it was great to see that the friends played such a massive part in helping the problem. What bothered me was the part with Gideon. I understand that many people suffering under the abuse of their romantic partner may only be pulled out of this when they realise there are other people who could potentially be romantic interests, but it was kind of frustrating that Gideon was the only thing that really made Grace realise how trapped she was. On top of that, I felt as though the author changed the personalities of Grace’s Mum and the Giant in ways that were inconsistent just to suit what she wanted to write. Sometimes Grace was forbidden from leaving the house, sometimes she was able to hang out with her friends, no questions asked.
The fact that Grace was so intolerant of her mother’s OCD was also a part of the story I couldn’t enjoy. I understand that living with someone with OCD could be difficult, but Grace doesn’t even try to think about anyone but herself. The way the book was written was also something I couldn’t get on board with. It was sort of ‘addressed’ to Gavin and immediately gave away that their relationship was not a good one. I liked the reflective elements and how it showed Grace’s development past the main events of the novel, but I think the message of the novel may have been more effective if we, as the audience, were left to find out just how abusive Gavin was along with Grace. The references to pop culture (songs and musicals) was also a bit annoying to me, but that’s a personal thing.
Also, and this is entirely trivial, this book was written in 2017, but Grace goes on and on and on about Gavin’s fedora as if it’s the hottest thing a man could ever wear. Fedoras haven’t been cool or attractive for at LEAST 7 years, and every time it was brought up it just invalidated the whole ‘Gavin is so attractive so who can resist?’ element to the story.
But yeah anyway, I wouldn’t say this was a bad read, it just wasn’t right for me.
The fact that Grace was so intolerant of her mother’s OCD was also a part of the story I couldn’t enjoy. I understand that living with someone with OCD could be difficult, but Grace doesn’t even try to think about anyone but herself. The way the book was written was also something I couldn’t get on board with. It was sort of ‘addressed’ to Gavin and immediately gave away that their relationship was not a good one. I liked the reflective elements and how it showed Grace’s development past the main events of the novel, but I think the message of the novel may have been more effective if we, as the audience, were left to find out just how abusive Gavin was along with Grace. The references to pop culture (songs and musicals) was also a bit annoying to me, but that’s a personal thing.
Also, and this is entirely trivial, this book was written in 2017, but Grace goes on and on and on about Gavin’s fedora as if it’s the hottest thing a man could ever wear. Fedoras haven’t been cool or attractive for at LEAST 7 years, and every time it was brought up it just invalidated the whole ‘Gavin is so attractive so who can resist?’ element to the story.
But yeah anyway, I wouldn’t say this was a bad read, it just wasn’t right for me.
Domestic abuse is insidious, difficult to recognise, and even harder to escape. While we have many books featuring domestic abuse (and the inevitable escape or demise from it), there is very little in the YA sphere - well at least that I have read. I thought that Bad Romance did an excellent job of highlighting its presence amongst young adults and teenagers, while not being overly graphic.
It's an important book, while also an un-put-downable read. Yes, the second person aspects were awful, and yes the foreshadowing was a bit intense, leading to my 4 star rating, but it is definitely still a must read.
It's an important book, while also an un-put-downable read. Yes, the second person aspects were awful, and yes the foreshadowing was a bit intense, leading to my 4 star rating, but it is definitely still a must read.
“I gave you my heart on a silver fucking platter and you ate it, piece by bloody piece.”
WARNING: This book can be triggering for those who have experienced abuse, mentally and physically. It is about an unhealthy relationship. It does contain topics of abuse, mental illness, suicide, and rape.
I absolutely loved this book. This was my first book from Heather Demetrios and I loved her writing. It made me want to pick up her other books. As an adolescent social worker, I devoured this book. The message in this book is so incredibility important. I fully plan to give this book to my future clients to read. Sometimes we can not be taught lessons through talk but through reading someone else story.
Heather takes you on an emotional roller coaster throughout this book. I felt myself wanting to yell at the main character. I just wanted to jump in and help her. This is a book that resonates and stays with you for a very long time. It shows you how abuse can disguise itself in soft kisses and sweet nothings. It is a necessary read. It will help teach those who know nothing about abuse and help those who are in the middle of it all.
Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: June 13, 2017
Rating: 5 stars
WARNING: This book can be triggering for those who have experienced abuse, mentally and physically. It is about an unhealthy relationship. It does contain topics of abuse, mental illness, suicide, and rape.
I absolutely loved this book. This was my first book from Heather Demetrios and I loved her writing. It made me want to pick up her other books. As an adolescent social worker, I devoured this book. The message in this book is so incredibility important. I fully plan to give this book to my future clients to read. Sometimes we can not be taught lessons through talk but through reading someone else story.
Heather takes you on an emotional roller coaster throughout this book. I felt myself wanting to yell at the main character. I just wanted to jump in and help her. This is a book that resonates and stays with you for a very long time. It shows you how abuse can disguise itself in soft kisses and sweet nothings. It is a necessary read. It will help teach those who know nothing about abuse and help those who are in the middle of it all.
Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
Publication Date: June 13, 2017
Rating: 5 stars
Sometimes your first love withers on the vine. Sometimes it is hard to break up. This was a truthful novel about intimate partner violence. I am glad she got out. I think this should be a book all young women read. Know the signs and don’t be fooled by the words I love you.
I had such high hopes for this book. However, I felt very disconnected from these characters and that made it difficult to like this story. This topic is so important at and I was hoping for a more visceral story.
“You will never be able to escape from your heart. So it’s better to listen to what it has to say.”
Grace never thought that the tortured-artist, right-out-of-a-Broadway-musical Gavin would ever look her way. She has big city dreams of being a director in New York, not taking the stage for herself, but directing from behind the curtain--just as she does in her own life. Between her OCD-strict mother and unrelenting stepfather, she needs every escape she can get. When Gavin turns the spotlight of his attention and affection on Grace, though, she soon discovers that star-crossed lover status isn’t all that romantic as Shakespeare makes it seem.
“Here, we wear other people’s skins and it helps us forget our own, lets us pretend, for a little while, that we’re okay.”
The real draw to this story is Grace’s perception of the world as a director, drama student, and appreciator of the arts. She takes the words, “We are the music-makers and we are the dreamers of dreams,” and spins them into her life until we see them embodied in every scene. Grace’s unique, dramatic voice gives the prose an exciting appeal, drawing readers in through familiar references and a vision that adds color to the world. That voice pulls back the curtains of her mind, amps up the story’s momentum, and keeps scenes running page after page. It also speaks to her character; she is a drama student, a hardcore, old-fashioned romantic, and it shows in her view of the world.
Character investment, however, wavers. Remember the beginning of (500) Days of Summer? “You should know upfront, this is not a love story.” After all, the title is called Bad Romance for a reason. However, having to watch Grace repeat the same vicious mental cycle over and over again becomes just as exhausting for readers as it is for her. This is a story about psychological abuse, not only from a dating perspective, but from a family perspective as well. It’s natural that we see a cycle of abuse repeat over and over, with little to no change. However, it shouldn’t take 400 pages in a novel for readers to see that change, especially when character development is so important to the plot. Grace doesn’t achieve that development until the Epilogue, forcing readers into a time jump just to feel any form of resolution. While Grace’s voice amps up the momentum, her slow-going development totally forces it to drag.
“I want to be like Viola—weather the storm, then start over, using nothing but my wits and charm to see me through to my happy ending."
From the very beginning of this story, Grace makes it clear that her relationship with Gavin doesn’t end well. She tells the history of her relationship with Gavin from the outside looking in, providing a rare after-the-fact view into the relationship. Knowing the ending doesn’t include a happily ever after amplifies the suspense, encouraging readers to wonder what goes wrong. And so we keep reading, watching the relationship go from giddy, heart-eyes, and darling to disastrous, exit stage left. Except the exit takes far too long, short-term break-ups not lasting long enough. Though the reasoning is sound, all that build up should have brought us to a more satisfying ending that focused on Grace’s healing. Her self-realization takes way too long, and after all the exhausting relationship woes, the real focus should have been Grace’s inner, independent strength alone. If her relationship with Gavin was a rollercoaster ride, the uphill climb keeps our necks bent back in excruciating anticipation, and the downhill drop doesn’t provide that stomach-flipping satisfaction--at all.
Grace never thought that the tortured-artist, right-out-of-a-Broadway-musical Gavin would ever look her way. She has big city dreams of being a director in New York, not taking the stage for herself, but directing from behind the curtain--just as she does in her own life. Between her OCD-strict mother and unrelenting stepfather, she needs every escape she can get. When Gavin turns the spotlight of his attention and affection on Grace, though, she soon discovers that star-crossed lover status isn’t all that romantic as Shakespeare makes it seem.
“Here, we wear other people’s skins and it helps us forget our own, lets us pretend, for a little while, that we’re okay.”
The real draw to this story is Grace’s perception of the world as a director, drama student, and appreciator of the arts. She takes the words, “We are the music-makers and we are the dreamers of dreams,” and spins them into her life until we see them embodied in every scene. Grace’s unique, dramatic voice gives the prose an exciting appeal, drawing readers in through familiar references and a vision that adds color to the world. That voice pulls back the curtains of her mind, amps up the story’s momentum, and keeps scenes running page after page. It also speaks to her character; she is a drama student, a hardcore, old-fashioned romantic, and it shows in her view of the world.
Character investment, however, wavers. Remember the beginning of (500) Days of Summer? “You should know upfront, this is not a love story.” After all, the title is called Bad Romance for a reason. However, having to watch Grace repeat the same vicious mental cycle over and over again becomes just as exhausting for readers as it is for her. This is a story about psychological abuse, not only from a dating perspective, but from a family perspective as well. It’s natural that we see a cycle of abuse repeat over and over, with little to no change. However, it shouldn’t take 400 pages in a novel for readers to see that change, especially when character development is so important to the plot. Grace doesn’t achieve that development until the Epilogue, forcing readers into a time jump just to feel any form of resolution. While Grace’s voice amps up the momentum, her slow-going development totally forces it to drag.
“I want to be like Viola—weather the storm, then start over, using nothing but my wits and charm to see me through to my happy ending."
From the very beginning of this story, Grace makes it clear that her relationship with Gavin doesn’t end well. She tells the history of her relationship with Gavin from the outside looking in, providing a rare after-the-fact view into the relationship. Knowing the ending doesn’t include a happily ever after amplifies the suspense, encouraging readers to wonder what goes wrong. And so we keep reading, watching the relationship go from giddy, heart-eyes, and darling to disastrous, exit stage left. Except the exit takes far too long, short-term break-ups not lasting long enough. Though the reasoning is sound, all that build up should have brought us to a more satisfying ending that focused on Grace’s healing. Her self-realization takes way too long, and after all the exhausting relationship woes, the real focus should have been Grace’s inner, independent strength alone. If her relationship with Gavin was a rollercoaster ride, the uphill climb keeps our necks bent back in excruciating anticipation, and the downhill drop doesn’t provide that stomach-flipping satisfaction--at all.