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gcrkl's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Body shaming, and Misogyny
Moderate: Car accident, Outing, Death of parent, and Classism
Minor: Alcohol, Slavery, Toxic friendship, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, Lesbophobia, Fatphobia, and Racism
moonlightreads007's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-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
5.0
I went into this book expecting it to be quite comedic and humorous, and it absolutely did not disappoint in that respect. Most of the characters are very loveable, and I enjoyed the pop culture references and relevancy of the jokes. On the other hand, this book delves much deeper than expected into issues of slut shaming, feminism and women's rights and I also really appreciated that. It really demonstrates the extent to which rumours, gossip and judgement can hurt people on an emotional level (especially when it gets out of hand at the scale of the book's plot). The author also explores the issue of using comedy as a coping mechanism to deal with difficult situations, which is also an interesting topic all on its own. The ending was kind of an expected trope of friendship betrayal, but nevertheless an important one since it demonstrates how women often face harassment in situations where they shouldn't have to worry about that (in this case, a male-female friendship situation which was supposed to be unconditional and yet her guy friend came on way too strong and lashed out when the feelings weren't reciprocated). At the same time, I like how the author left room for hope at the end by showcasing the power of female friendships and women supporting each other. Overall, this was a very enjoyable read and I would recommend this book to anyone who has a funny bone and also likes to think deeply about societal issues at large.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, and Misogyny
Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Homophobia
Minor: Body shaming and Fatphobia
kimseokjinschild's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
The books discusses important topics like bullying, death, mental health and the dangers of social media.
💫I enjoyed all the references like Harry Potter and Kim K, I thought it added personality to the story.
💫There were times when the book had me shook it do a double take.
💫 Resonated with female lead..as often I am deemed as a strong, brave person because I stay incredibly strong even in dark times. I feel I can relate to her strong mentality.
📈 I lost interest sometimes, I wanted more from the book..sometimes it just seemed like rambling.
💫I enjoyed all the references like Harry Potter and Kim K, I thought it added personality to the story.
💫There were times when the book had me shook it do a double take.
💫 Resonated with female lead..as often I am deemed as a strong, brave person because I stay incredibly strong even in dark times. I feel I can relate to her strong mentality.
📈 I lost interest sometimes, I wanted more from the book..sometimes it just seemed like rambling.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, and Misogyny
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, and Sexual content
Minor: Body shaming, Death of parent, and Fatphobia
rosiecake666's review against another edition
emotional
funny
medium-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
3.0
This book was okay all teen drama and everything like that mostly slut shaming and I wasn't really here for that but kind of interesting
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Bullying
Minor: Death of parent
caughtbetweenpages's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
2023 Reread --
I had a lot of fun with this book on revisiting it/rereading in preparation for the sequel. Izzy O'Neil is a great character to follow; I'm a fan of a "keep it chill", funny character slowly having their humor coping mechanism torn from them as their situation gets more dire, and that's very much the direction Izzy goes as the slut-shaming she's facing gets bigger, more public, and more damaging of her interpersonal relationships. I'm also thrilled that she's not a "perfect victim" and that she makes her fair share of very human/teenage fuck-ups (which she must atone for to the best of her ability), because being perfect shouldn't be a requirement for not having your bodily and sexual autonomy stripped from you and having your ability to control the narrative around you absolutely shat on by the cishetero-patriarchy.
At times, the humor got in the way of itself a little too much, to the point where less (fewer jokes) would've been more (a funnier reading experience) for my tastes. However, I have to give Steven points for keeping Izzy's narration and voice consistent throughout. You feel for her in TEOOO, you feel with her. Some of that is probably attributable to my being An AFAB Person Socialized as a Girl and thus being intimately familiar with all the ways we try to shame women for simply existing with bodies that men covet, but I think the empathy and compassion one feels for Izzy comes more from the fact that her situation really is just absolutely not okay.
The side characters never really reached a level of fleshed out that I like in my stories, with the possible exception of Ajita (the best friend) and maybe Danny (the other friend with the uncomfy crush). Carson is woefully underdeveloped, and I'm not sure his storyline with Izzy added much of value to the overall narrative. I found the painting he did of the Statue of Liberty being carried on the backs of Black slaves to have come out of nowhere and so on the nose that it was jarring, but I'm glad that there was at least A nod to the fact of intersectional marginalization and that Izzy's situation would've been compounded exponentially if she'd been a WOC. I think Ajita might have been a better character through which to address that idea, given her established relationship with Izzy and her more fleshed out character, but a story needs a romance, I guess? And since it's set in the US, where anti-Blackness poses an especially high threat even more so than anti-South Asian sentiments, perhaps that was the vision. Plus, Ajita being a lesbian and outed by Izzy plays a big role in the story, so perhaps Steven didn't want the two of them to have had existing tension between each other, so that their reconciliation could happen faster and more smoothly when it needed to? Much to think about.
A final gripe: this ought to have been set in the UK. I know it couldn't have, because the UK outclasses the US in terms of making revenge porn illegal, so the plot would've gone criminal very quickly, but Steven is a British writer and it shows. The slang, the sentence structure, the syntax... Izzy O'Neil is not a midwestern gal no matter how much she tries to be and it never stopped being jarring.
Overall though, I still flew through this book!
I had a lot of fun with this book on revisiting it/rereading in preparation for the sequel. Izzy O'Neil is a great character to follow; I'm a fan of a "keep it chill", funny character slowly having their humor coping mechanism torn from them as their situation gets more dire, and that's very much the direction Izzy goes as the slut-shaming she's facing gets bigger, more public, and more damaging of her interpersonal relationships. I'm also thrilled that she's not a "perfect victim" and that she makes her fair share of very human/teenage fuck-ups (which she must atone for to the best of her ability), because being perfect shouldn't be a requirement for not having your bodily and sexual autonomy stripped from you and having your ability to control the narrative around you absolutely shat on by the cishetero-patriarchy.
At times, the humor got in the way of itself a little too much, to the point where less (fewer jokes) would've been more (a funnier reading experience) for my tastes. However, I have to give Steven points for keeping Izzy's narration and voice consistent throughout. You feel for her in TEOOO, you feel with her. Some of that is probably attributable to my being An AFAB Person Socialized as a Girl and thus being intimately familiar with all the ways we try to shame women for simply existing with bodies that men covet, but I think the empathy and compassion one feels for Izzy comes more from the fact that her situation really is just absolutely not okay.
The side characters never really reached a level of fleshed out that I like in my stories, with the possible exception of Ajita (the best friend) and maybe Danny (the other friend with the uncomfy crush). Carson is woefully underdeveloped, and I'm not sure his storyline with Izzy added much of value to the overall narrative. I found the painting he did of the Statue of Liberty being carried on the backs of Black slaves to have come out of nowhere and so on the nose that it was jarring, but I'm glad that there was at least A nod to the fact of intersectional marginalization and that Izzy's situation would've been compounded exponentially if she'd been a WOC. I think Ajita might have been a better character through which to address that idea, given her established relationship with Izzy and her more fleshed out character, but
A final gripe: this ought to have been set in the UK. I know it couldn't have, because the UK outclasses the US in terms of making revenge porn illegal, so the plot would've gone criminal very quickly, but Steven is a British writer and it shows. The slang, the sentence structure, the syntax... Izzy O'Neil is not a midwestern gal no matter how much she tries to be and it never stopped being jarring.
Overall though, I still flew through this book!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Outing, Body shaming, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, and Sexism
Moderate: Bullying
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
blackismajestic's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
wretchedtheo's review against another edition
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Cursing, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Grief, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Body shaming, Excrement, Mental illness, Racism, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, and Fatphobia
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