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4.12 AVERAGE
4.12 AVERAGE
Great book!
I’m not sure if this book was written in a diary format or not, but it kind of feels like it is, in a good way. It’s informal, Evie has a strong voice, and it reads really quickly. It reminded me of the Georgia Nicholson diary books by Louise Rennison (Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging, etc.) when I was reading it, partly because those are also British and partly because of the voice.
I adored Evie’s new friends, but here’s where I think the book lost a star for me: the three of them end up forming a feminist club together, and all of those scenes just read like infodumps in a weird way. Each scene would basically be one of the girls going on for a page or more about a feminist topic (not quite a rant, but sort of a diatribe) and even when the other girls would join in on the conversation, the dialogue still felt...preachy? I think these scenes would be a great introduction for a teenager who has never thought much about feminism, but for me, it was very basic stuff, and it didn’t flow naturally with the rest of the book. It was brought together in the end in a nice way, though.
In general, the book was funny, it had great characters, it was a light read (but not because it treated any serious topics lightly), and I really enjoyed reading it. As someone who’s struggled with mental illness, I appreciated how the author dealt with Evie’s OCD, and it was really easy to empathize with her. I also learned a lot about OCD, although I don’t know how the book holds up in that regard--I’d be curious to see reviews for the book from people with OCD.
I definitely recommend this book, especially if you like diary-format-type books and/or books about mental illness.
(Cross-posted on Youth Book Review)
I very much wanted to give this 5 stars, but there are three things that bothered me too much to be ignored, so it's 4 stars in the end.
Spoiler
The first thing is that, as awesome as all the talk about feminism was, at times I felt like I was being lectured. There's obviously been a lot of research done in the topics debated by The Spinster Club, and much as I agree with those thoughts, I hate being told what I have to think, and that's exactly what I felt while reading those bits.The second thing it's how they treat Jane. These three girls spend the whole book asking for acceptance without being judged, but that's exactly what they do to Jane. Yes, she turned into 'one of those girls'. We've all had that friend that forgets about us the moment they get a boyfriend, and probably at some point we even have been that friend, but how much of that 'conversion' was Joel's brain-sucking and how much was Jane just being 16?? I remember at some point Evie was moaning about Jane changing her clarinet for metal bands, but you know what? that happens when you're a teenager and you're trying to figure out what's going on with you. I'm not saying that the way Jane uses them is ok (the scene when they're getting ready for Joel's band concert comes to mind), and I liked that they were sort-of-friends at the end, but all the judgment in her direction felt a bit double-standardish for my taste.
The third thing (and truly what bothered me the most) is Rose's bullying. Seriously, you have written an amazing book about teenagers and mental illness, and you feel the need to throw a bit of bullying in the mix just to spice things up? WHY?? I would have been ok with it if there had been more background and development to Rose's story (although it probably would have been an overkill), but through the book Rose is just Evie's precocious little sister, there to provide some cute moments of sisterly bonding. And suddenly in the last 10 pages we learn that she's being bullied, and that it is so bad that they're looking into changing schools. To me it was absolutely unnecessary, and maybe it's because I am very sensitive to the topic of bulling, but it felt cheap. And I really don't understand the need to give Rose her own story at the end when she's been ignored for most of the book.
So that's what I thought... I know I have focused on the things that bothered me instead of the things I loved (see Emer's review for that!), but this definitely a book worth reading if you're thinking about it. I'll definitely read the rest of the series :)
It was so real. What OCD actually feels like and here we are calling our “tidiness” and “organised” behaviours OCD!!!
I am strong advocate that mental illness is not something that should not be ignored. In a world where today I find that mental illness is something that is being used to gain sympathy while the real ones suffering are left in the dark alone, this book is something that speaks so much!
I love this book and would recommend it to everyone!!!
