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A review by loveat1stwrite
Revenge of the Sluts by Natalie Walton
2.0
**An ARC of this book was provided to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.**
The book really had so much potential, but I’m sorry to say that it didn’t live up to the execution. Without going into spoilers, I’ll be discussing specific topics of pros and cons below:
The Title. I think it’s supposed to be tongue-in-cheek and edgy, but at the end of the book it felt disingenuous. The “sluts” did not get “revenge,” so why call it that? I think I would have been less let-down by this book if it was more honest with itself and the title. My expectations were that all of the victims would team up and take down Eros together and (without getting into spoilers) that was not the plot of the book. I was happy with the way things ended, but definitely not prepared, given the title of the book. I’ll have to say that this was a con.
Eden. Despite the main character being Korean-American, her culture and background is completely overlooked and unrepresented. The ‘diversity’ felt like an empty gesture since it was mentioned mentioned once, maybe twice, and didn't become incorporated into Eden's personhood. While this had me disappointed from the get-go, I still continued through the book optimistic about how it would all turn out. Despite the lack of diversity represented, the characters and their motivations felt very well developed. Eden's social circle, her ex boyfriend, and the people she interviews all felt so real and it was quite well done world-building wise. Eden and Ronnie were reporters on a mission, and the ‘who-dun-it?’ aspect of the plot was very engaging. Eden’s growth and her bonding moments with the victims as she tried to raise their voices were all very touching and definitely a pro.
Atticus. In a story about revenge porn and how horrible it is that male social currency depends on sex and nudes, we received a likable male character to balance that out. Our world isn’t black and white, and I think that Walton tried to express that with Atticus becoming a strong member of Eden’s team. That being said, even this “pro” has some caveats. It felt like Atticus was only helping because he liked Sloane, one of the victims, and not because it was simply the right thing to do. Additionally, I think Walton missed an opportunity to include more guys on the “good” side. Jeremy and Kolton were also important male side characters and while they were never part of the problem they also never denounced the scandal or supported the victims. By not doing more with these other male characters, it kind of made Atticus ‘the one exception to the norm.’ Atticus being an exception to the rule doesn’t sit right with me and I’m disappointed that something like this wasn’t caught and fixed by beta readers before publication. Again, Atticus was still a "pro" but I feel like the gender dynamics of the book could have been more nuanced.
The Prose. There were definitely hang-ups in the prose itself. At points it felt like I was reading a lecture on revenge porn and not a young adult fiction novel. In the art form of literature, especially literature for young adults, there’s an important balance between educating your readers and still creating a captivating arc for your characters. Instead of a balance, there was a lot of uncomfortable teeter-tottering between rambling about unnecessary details and diving into lectures. I don’t want to blame the book too hard on this point, as there were some special-gem scenes hidden in the rough too. I think the most important moment, outside of the Eros-reveal-climax, was Eden’s discussion with a counselor. She thinks she’s conducting an interview but it results in Eden confiding about her own confusion and hurt over the situation, even though she’s not one of the Nudegate victims. I thought this was such an important topic to touch on, as trust and betrayal are not exclusive to grand gestures like Nudegate. Eden is allowed to be just as emotional about her situation even if she wasn’t a victim of her nudes being emailed to her entire school, and those feelings are validated. So could the prose have been better? Yes, but centralizing the topic of revenge porn and addressing slut-shaming is absolutely a step in the right direction for young adult literature.
The book really had so much potential, but I’m sorry to say that it didn’t live up to the execution. Without going into spoilers, I’ll be discussing specific topics of pros and cons below:
The Title. I think it’s supposed to be tongue-in-cheek and edgy, but at the end of the book it felt disingenuous. The “sluts” did not get “revenge,” so why call it that? I think I would have been less let-down by this book if it was more honest with itself and the title. My expectations were that all of the victims would team up and take down Eros together and (without getting into spoilers) that was not the plot of the book. I was happy with the way things ended, but definitely not prepared, given the title of the book. I’ll have to say that this was a con.
Eden. Despite the main character being Korean-American, her culture and background is completely overlooked and unrepresented. The ‘diversity’ felt like an empty gesture since it was mentioned mentioned once, maybe twice, and didn't become incorporated into Eden's personhood. While this had me disappointed from the get-go, I still continued through the book optimistic about how it would all turn out. Despite the lack of diversity represented, the characters and their motivations felt very well developed. Eden's social circle, her ex boyfriend, and the people she interviews all felt so real and it was quite well done world-building wise. Eden and Ronnie were reporters on a mission, and the ‘who-dun-it?’ aspect of the plot was very engaging. Eden’s growth and her bonding moments with the victims as she tried to raise their voices were all very touching and definitely a pro.
Atticus. In a story about revenge porn and how horrible it is that male social currency depends on sex and nudes, we received a likable male character to balance that out. Our world isn’t black and white, and I think that Walton tried to express that with Atticus becoming a strong member of Eden’s team. That being said, even this “pro” has some caveats. It felt like Atticus was only helping because he liked Sloane, one of the victims, and not because it was simply the right thing to do. Additionally, I think Walton missed an opportunity to include more guys on the “good” side. Jeremy and Kolton were also important male side characters and while they were never part of the problem they also never denounced the scandal or supported the victims. By not doing more with these other male characters, it kind of made Atticus ‘the one exception to the norm.’ Atticus being an exception to the rule doesn’t sit right with me and I’m disappointed that something like this wasn’t caught and fixed by beta readers before publication. Again, Atticus was still a "pro" but I feel like the gender dynamics of the book could have been more nuanced.
The Prose. There were definitely hang-ups in the prose itself. At points it felt like I was reading a lecture on revenge porn and not a young adult fiction novel. In the art form of literature, especially literature for young adults, there’s an important balance between educating your readers and still creating a captivating arc for your characters. Instead of a balance, there was a lot of uncomfortable teeter-tottering between rambling about unnecessary details and diving into lectures. I don’t want to blame the book too hard on this point, as there were some special-gem scenes hidden in the rough too. I think the most important moment, outside of the Eros-reveal-climax, was Eden’s discussion with a counselor. She thinks she’s conducting an interview but it results in Eden confiding about her own confusion and hurt over the situation, even though she’s not one of the Nudegate victims. I thought this was such an important topic to touch on, as trust and betrayal are not exclusive to grand gestures like Nudegate. Eden is allowed to be just as emotional about her situation even if she wasn’t a victim of her nudes being emailed to her entire school, and those feelings are validated. So could the prose have been better? Yes, but centralizing the topic of revenge porn and addressing slut-shaming is absolutely a step in the right direction for young adult literature.