Scan barcode
A review by marielaiko99
#scandal by Sarah Ockler
3.0
#Scandal by Sarah Ockler tells the story of high school senior Lucy Vaccaro as she tries to survive her last few days of high school. Since freshman year, Lucy has been in love with her best friend's boyfriend. When she catches bird flu the day before prom, she asks Lucy to be his date. At the party, they get caught up in the spirit of prom and kiss. However, someone photographs the tender moment and posts it on her Facebook page, along with several other incriminating photos.
I had mixed feelings about this book, so I'm gonna list the pros and cons.
First of all, I was really happy with the overall message of the book. It addressed issues of feminism, covering topics on how misogyny is self-perpetuated by girls who bash and slut-shame each other. It talks about the poisonous atmosphere of social media and how anonymity empowers. Also, I liked the fact that Lucy's character compares her predicament to the zombie video game she constantly plays. I feel like this is a very realistic coping mechanism-type thing, and it added some humanity and authenticity to an otherwise dull character.
Now on to the cons! Although I agreed with the message the boom was trying to convey, I felt like the execution was quite forced. I feel like these subjects of the bashing should be underlying themes. This book would have been better as an allegory for feminism. Instead, the author writes her points into the dialogue. At one point, one of the characters directly talks about the patriarchy and overdrama, and I feel like that detracted from the theme. Also the plot seems forced. A pass code on Lucy's phone would have toppled the whole story. Just saying.... The perpetrator would not have been able to take pictures and upload them to the internet if the phone was password protected. I would have liked to see some extra detail that reenforced the story. I feel like the whole book hangs on a thread because of this.
Overall, this book was an amusing and quick read, although confusing at times. Lucy's character could be rather infuriating at times, but I feel like her story is relatable. I recommend this book only to people who don't have much on their TBR and are looking for a contemporary novel with some sort of underlying message.
My overall rating: B-
I had mixed feelings about this book, so I'm gonna list the pros and cons.
First of all, I was really happy with the overall message of the book. It addressed issues of feminism, covering topics on how misogyny is self-perpetuated by girls who bash and slut-shame each other. It talks about the poisonous atmosphere of social media and how anonymity empowers. Also, I liked the fact that Lucy's character compares her predicament to the zombie video game she constantly plays. I feel like this is a very realistic coping mechanism-type thing, and it added some humanity and authenticity to an otherwise dull character.
Now on to the cons! Although I agreed with the message the boom was trying to convey, I felt like the execution was quite forced. I feel like these subjects of the bashing should be underlying themes. This book would have been better as an allegory for feminism. Instead, the author writes her points into the dialogue. At one point, one of the characters directly talks about the patriarchy and overdrama, and I feel like that detracted from the theme. Also the plot seems forced. A pass code on Lucy's phone would have toppled the whole story. Just saying.... The perpetrator would not have been able to take pictures and upload them to the internet if the phone was password protected. I would have liked to see some extra detail that reenforced the story. I feel like the whole book hangs on a thread because of this.
Overall, this book was an amusing and quick read, although confusing at times. Lucy's character could be rather infuriating at times, but I feel like her story is relatable. I recommend this book only to people who don't have much on their TBR and are looking for a contemporary novel with some sort of underlying message.
My overall rating: B-