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A review by justlily
Plague by Michael Grant
2.0
2.5 stars.
I have a lot of feelings about this book and I fear that I am not eloquent enough to make them understandable. There needs to be some sort of conversation here about characters being true to age and reality...while also being so unlikable that it ruins the reading experience. (Example: Sam has been set up to be the hero, the good guy, for the entire series. You know, except for here where he basically tells his girl to hit the fucking road because she won't sleep with him. Is that accurate for a 15 year old boy? Yeah. They suck. Does it make me feel like Sam is particularly good and heroic and can be the force for hope in the FAYZ? Fuck no.)
Then. Oh-ho then. Let's talk about Little Pete. I think it's great to have the most powerful, central person be autistic. Fantastic. You know what's not? The constant. Constant. CONSTANT. use of the R word. AGAIN-- is this accurate for preteen boys in 2011? Yeah. And I grasp that there's separation between character voice and author. Having your character use that word once is a choice. Having them use it CONSTANTLY through out the book is A. C H O I C E. And one I'm not good with in the slightest. Then on the very last page of the book (no real spoilers here) to refer to Petey's mind as diseased and broken and on and on. At this point it stops being about character author separation and becomes me thinking the author has a probablem with mentally disabled people and me not wanting to read any more of his work.
So that's where I'm at. I'm going to buy the last two books secondhand, unhaul them when it's over, and then wash my hands of Michael Grant. Maybe there's a reason behind all of it, I don't know, but I know I'm uncomfortable with it and that's what counts.
I have a lot of feelings about this book and I fear that I am not eloquent enough to make them understandable. There needs to be some sort of conversation here about characters being true to age and reality...while also being so unlikable that it ruins the reading experience. (Example: Sam has been set up to be the hero, the good guy, for the entire series. You know, except for here where he basically tells his girl to hit the fucking road because she won't sleep with him. Is that accurate for a 15 year old boy? Yeah. They suck. Does it make me feel like Sam is particularly good and heroic and can be the force for hope in the FAYZ? Fuck no.)
Then. Oh-ho then. Let's talk about Little Pete. I think it's great to have the most powerful, central person be autistic. Fantastic. You know what's not? The constant. Constant. CONSTANT. use of the R word. AGAIN-- is this accurate for preteen boys in 2011? Yeah. And I grasp that there's separation between character voice and author. Having your character use that word once is a choice. Having them use it CONSTANTLY through out the book is A. C H O I C E. And one I'm not good with in the slightest. Then on the very last page of the book (no real spoilers here) to refer to Petey's mind as diseased and broken and on and on. At this point it stops being about character author separation and becomes me thinking the author has a probablem with mentally disabled people and me not wanting to read any more of his work.
So that's where I'm at. I'm going to buy the last two books secondhand, unhaul them when it's over, and then wash my hands of Michael Grant. Maybe there's a reason behind all of it, I don't know, but I know I'm uncomfortable with it and that's what counts.