A review by dottiewankenobi
Squad by Maggie Tokuda-Hall

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Not sure I'll read again but at the very least I don't think I wasted my time, it was very thought provoking. 

Compliments first: the art is amazing, gorgeous, gripping, etc. The girls were so pretty, the fashion was great, and even the gore was interesting to see (even if made my stomach turn a little bit)! For the writing,
the part I enjoyed the most was 100% Amanda--the hints of her not following along with Arianna's rules from the very beginning, the fact that she brought up Allyson way before she went to her, the way she was able to naturally kind of manipulate the other girls into going to the college party, it was all great. Loved her.


I feel pretty conflicted about this story in general, though. I know it was intentional that Becca was super bitter throughout most of it, but it put me off a bit right from the start. Her scenes with her mom annoyed me (to be fair, her mom wasn't always being great, but like god Becca is such a teenager, putting meaning behind her mom's words that I don't really think her mom meant). Generally, almost everyone in this story was an asshole -- and while that's not unrealistic & is the point of the story, that makes it harder for me to decide how I feel about everything.

While I think what happened to Arianna was deserved to an extent, a question this story doesn't really address is "who deserves the death penalty?" Thatcher was a creep but I don't think he deserved to die the way he did. Arianna was a murderer but her ending was brutal and so slow and agonizing. All of those boys who died (except for the one who was basically assaulted before his death) were annoying little shits, but did they deserve to die? 

Meanwhile on the topic of consequences, Amanda, the only one who was willing to speak up for what was right, ended the story alone. Marley and Becca got to shed the guilt of being murderers, of going along with killing (or almost killing) innocent people, the weight of being werewolves (which Marley at least didn't seem to really feel most of the time). The scene where Becca cried about feeling guilty was so good -- but having had it and knowing the end, it makes me wonder if she's still remorseful. And she doesn't have to be, it would be in character for these girls to not feel sorry anymore once the consequences aren't really something they need to worry about, but it does make me like her less.


Ultimately I'm not entirely sure what I was meant to take from this story, what the author was trying to tell me. I'd be really curious to hear what she thinks of their morality, not just at the end but through the whole arc. 
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