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slumbreon 's review for:
Heretics Anonymous
by Katie Henry
A majority of the YA contemporary books I read have some sort of tight-knit, found family trope, and when I saw this one at the library and saw that it was about a friend group at a Catholic school made up of non-Catholics, I thought that this book would be amazing. The specific lack of religion or derailment from the norms is not something that I normally read about in YA fiction, so I was excited to see how it was tackled in this book. However, I enjoy serious books 99 times over more humorous ones, so from the beginning when I learned that this book was taking more of a humorous approach to religion, I immediately became wary. However, I feel as if I should state that I did not find the humor offensive, but it did poke fun at some of the more ridiculous aspects of Catholic tradition, so be wary of that.
Unfortunately, in this novel, I think that the humor was a device used to try and disguise the lack of character development and surface level plot. There were parts that were funny and made me smile, but after looking at other reviews, I did not find it as laugh out loud funny as other people did. Different people have different tastes. In my opinion, religion is a heavy and serious topic that warrants more serious discussion to unpack the issues that are rampant, and the humorous approach did not allow these topics to be examined to their fullest extent in order to really make an impact.
I think that the characters were not quite fleshed out enough. Lucy and Michael, the protagonist, were definitely the most developed, but there were four other characters in the Heretics Anonymous friend group that I felt as though were only outlines of people, more traits and one liners than fully developed people with goals and passions and emotions. None of them were memorable, and although I liked it in the moment, looking back I don’t remember any defining facts about them apart from their staunch anti-Catholic views.
Overall, I thought that some of the family dynamics in Michael and Lucy’s families were more interesting than the friend group dynamic that initially drew me into the story. If you like quick, fast paced YA books that will make you smile and are lighthearted and don’t make you think, pick this up. But if you’re looking for something memorable with deep, stimulating conversations on religion, than I would pass on this book.
Unfortunately, in this novel, I think that the humor was a device used to try and disguise the lack of character development and surface level plot. There were parts that were funny and made me smile, but after looking at other reviews, I did not find it as laugh out loud funny as other people did. Different people have different tastes. In my opinion, religion is a heavy and serious topic that warrants more serious discussion to unpack the issues that are rampant, and the humorous approach did not allow these topics to be examined to their fullest extent in order to really make an impact.
I think that the characters were not quite fleshed out enough. Lucy and Michael, the protagonist, were definitely the most developed, but there were four other characters in the Heretics Anonymous friend group that I felt as though were only outlines of people, more traits and one liners than fully developed people with goals and passions and emotions. None of them were memorable, and although I liked it in the moment, looking back I don’t remember any defining facts about them apart from their staunch anti-Catholic views.
Overall, I thought that some of the family dynamics in Michael and Lucy’s families were more interesting than the friend group dynamic that initially drew me into the story. If you like quick, fast paced YA books that will make you smile and are lighthearted and don’t make you think, pick this up. But if you’re looking for something memorable with deep, stimulating conversations on religion, than I would pass on this book.