Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Can't Take That Away

Carey Parker aspires to be a diva and rock the house with her singing. Every note of all the greatest pop and Broadway tunes can be struck by them. Despite their brilliance, Carey finds it more difficult to discover their voice because of emotional wounds from an encounter with a homophobic classmate and their grandmother's developing dementia.

Once Carey meets guitarist/singer Cris, for the first time in their life, they feel noticed. The excitement of a brand-new romance gives Carey the courage to audition for the part of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West, in the school musical, which sparks prejudice from her tormentor and other students. Carey, Cris, and their pals must stand up for their rights, and they won't be intimidated.

It was difficult for me to read this book since I didn't enjoy the writing style. The message is fantastic, and it's undoubtedly a touching read. I adore the plot, except for the last part. I believed that the resolution of all the problems was hastened. For my taste, there were also much too many pop references. If the pop culture references were toned down, I would have given this book a better rating.

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sopesock's review

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medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

ohhhhhhh good god.
i wanted to like this so bad, but. no.
i really wish i’d DNF’ed it but i was curious and stupid enough to keep reading.

this was a LOT.
if you like mariah carey (an unreasonable amount), or completely avoidable drama, congrats, i’ve got a book for you!

tbf: if this had been an ACTUAL musical, it could have worked.
the randomly-bursting-into-song (CRINGE), creating a whole movement because of one (1) queerphobic teacher (i wish!) and insta love turned heartbreak were insufferable to read, but as a movie — maybe!

there was just so much ~there~ …

pop culture references AAAALL around (they CAN be done well but this is not how you do it!)
anonymous school gossip blog (SERIOUSLY! what is it with YA novels and this trope?? is that an american thing,?? what school actually HAS that)
“omg im shy 🥺” main character who is very much Not shy and actually a little embarrassing in their confidence.
dialogues that feel copy pasted from bad romance novels
a whole ass revolution in a high school? i am once again wondering if that is an american thing but it seemed incredibly unrealistic

let me give examples.

1. mariah carey and sam smith..? i mean oookay, but: these two are not ACTUALLY a thing with teens. so the fact that everyone understood carey’s references / info dumping was just not realistic. (also it was unnecessary and annoying to actually print all that wikipedia-type info. i get it they like mariah carey. please give me a break)

3.

…but i'm no drummer or guitarist or background bitch. I'm a fucking diva.

… what?

carey to me was just such a strange character, they weren’t exactly self centered and not exactly unlikeable either but just so .. melodramatic? (literally lol).
all of the relationship drama was so forced it didn’t even make any logical sense. just talkkkkkk to each other

4.

You're the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about at night, and when we're not together I want to be with you.

ITS JUST NOT GOOOOOD WHAT CAN I SAY

5. a walkout that is suddenly a huge protest and BAM suddenly there’s a lot of police (i saw another reviewer say that that the way cops are portrayed here is also lowkey problematic and, fair) now oops! suddenly the news are there and investigating IN FAVOR of you (unlikely?) and next thing you know (spoiler) mariah carey wants to meet you. (????)
what even went on.

i could keep going with all the things i didn’t like but it feels so mean, so i’ll just say SOMEthing positive:

mr kelly, we love you. a supportive teacher we love to see it!
carey’s mom, we love you too.
i liked the bracelet idea and that they still made room to criticize the fact that colors are gendered. i also liked that their gender identity was more casual than i expected, like at least there wasn’t big drama with coming out to friends and family, they were all quite sweet
salvatore CAN write !! their writing style isn’t bad at all i just did not like the tropes they were writing

—> two stars just for these reasons.

i was just happy to have finished this. good representation does not make a good book; and idk what the other reviewers liked so much about this, i was really disappointed. (but good for them !!! genuinely !!! i don’t wanna say don’t read this book just because i hated it, maybe it’s just me.)

🤠🤠🤠

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pm_corbett's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring medium-paced

Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.25

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cardanrry's review

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challenging hopeful informative fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

very very cringe i wanted to like this so bad

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lettuce_read's review

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4.0

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bennispizza's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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averyconfusedhomosapiensbooks's review

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emotional funny hopeful informative slow-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

2.25

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merlesstorys's review

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dark emotional hopeful inspiring tense slow-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? It's complicated

4.75

My first introduction to a genderqueer person outside of the Hollywood biz as I don’t know one irl (at least as I know of) and it was really good.

I liked the writing style of Steven Salvatore as their depiction of queer youth today resonates with stuff I’ve experienced so far and they take a deep look at the feelings of their main character, Carey as well as the ones of their friends.

Which brings me to the characters in this book and I honestly love them all so much, it’s indescribable. Carey with their love for music and musicals, Cris with his unbelievable Charme, Monroe with her amazing fashion taste, Joey just for being a good ally, and Phoebe with -again- her love for musicals. They all get their peaks throughout the book and that is just amazing - and the most important thing in “Can’t take that away” is the friendship, not the ‘boo-friend’… I love it.

Next to the starting situation: it’s such a good idea, to show the main character in their natural habitat aka music/als with their ambition to become Elphaba, and just as well as her, defy gravity. Pun very much intended.

The only critic I have is that the ending is a bit too much for me. (Not the actual ending, but what happens after Carey and Cris are reunited. I don’t want to spoil more)
This small section means unfortunately a quarter star down from five stars, but that’s literally the only thing I didn’t like.

Also, can we please talk about the hardcover artwork? It’s insanely gorgeous (please insert the Gaga meme here about being amazing etc. :D)

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