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A review by clearingthebookshelf
This May End Badly by Samantha Markum
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
4.0
A huge thank you to St. Martin's Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!
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I really really enjoyed this debut novel by Samantha Markum! This is a coming-of-age young adult novel, mixed with a prank war between two rival boarding schools, a fake-dating plot, and whispers of sexual harassment from a teacher at the all-girls school. Markum created a diverse group of teenagers on the cusp of adulthood, looking to life beyond high school, but struggling with the legacy that they will leave behind. Doe and her friends definitely do not want to merge their school with the all-boys school across the street, even if it's after their graduation, but there are bigger things at play that may change the goal line.
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The harassment storyline did not really come into play until the final third of the book, and while I don't necessarily agree with everything the characters did, I do think that it read true to what teenagers might do when faced with those circumstances. I would have liked to have spent more time with Wells and Three, or some of Doe's friends, along with a fuller picture of the Headmistress, but ultimately, this is Doe's story and the reader is limited to understanding the world through the lens that she views it from. I imagine for many young adults, they will see parts of themselves in this book.
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I really really enjoyed this debut novel by Samantha Markum! This is a coming-of-age young adult novel, mixed with a prank war between two rival boarding schools, a fake-dating plot, and whispers of sexual harassment from a teacher at the all-girls school. Markum created a diverse group of teenagers on the cusp of adulthood, looking to life beyond high school, but struggling with the legacy that they will leave behind. Doe and her friends definitely do not want to merge their school with the all-boys school across the street, even if it's after their graduation, but there are bigger things at play that may change the goal line.
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The harassment storyline did not really come into play until the final third of the book, and while I don't necessarily agree with everything the characters did, I do think that it read true to what teenagers might do when faced with those circumstances. I would have liked to have spent more time with Wells and Three, or some of Doe's friends, along with a fuller picture of the Headmistress, but ultimately, this is Doe's story and the reader is limited to understanding the world through the lens that she views it from. I imagine for many young adults, they will see parts of themselves in this book.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual harassment