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yuliatta 's review for:
Can't Take That Away
by Steven Salvatore
DNF @ 50%
I usually don't rate DNFs but I do for the ones I get to 50% or over bc of the amount of suffering I've been through.
This book made me angry for all the wrong reasons.
The message it's trying to send about fighting injustice and the way minorities are treated is amazing and should be appreciated.
However, this book didn't click with me on a personal level at all. This books has all the tropes I despise in drama and I CANNOT TAKE IT.
I have lost braincells I will never recover and I've decided to stop for my own sanity.
I want to stress that this is NOT a bad book, just a bad choice for me.
The first 100 pages WERE AMAZING. I loved it so much, I connected to Carey even if they were getting close to Cris very quickly and my demiromantic asexual ass could never...
I was enjoying the book and even though I could low-key see the drama coming I was loving Carey and Cris's interactions and cuteness. Cris is also half-Greek and half-Filipino which I loved! He is also shorter than Carey but it read so many times like the author forgot that he was the shorter one but that doesn't matter.
What I didn't like is how STUPID the drama is. You see, I love drama, I watch BL dramas after all and they can be dumb and cringy and I also watch K-dramas and they tend to be melodramatic, so you could say I'm well-versed in drama.
So wtf is the first half of the book?
The stupid drama between Carey and Joey because Carey is too self-absorbed with themselves to pay attention to others even when they tell them what's wrong. It's always about Carey, Carey, Carey.
Like if they weren't so self-absorbed they would've noticed so many things but we need that for plot after all.
Their best friend tried to warn them that they got in a relationship too quickly but Carey took that as her saying that Cris couldn't be attracted to them bc they are gender-queer... Like if she wanted to say that, she would've.
Then they found out something else about Cris and there goes the drama which happened only because Carey refused to listen to what Cris had to say. They felt so betrayed like Cris didn't already hint at it earlier in the book but ofc Carey is too self-absorbed to notice that. But also it was vague enough so it wasn't entirely their fault. It just annoyed me.
The random gay boy tells Carey that Cris is worth it and Carey chases after him bc we need the affirmation of a stranger whether to pursue somebody or not and even then we can't forgive bc we are stupidly stubborn because we need to sing about our confessions and aggressively kiss on stage in order to trigger act 2 of the plot which is the homophobic reaction of a homophobic teacher. And you see how the actual plot is gonna take over.
But at this point I couldn't care less because my braincells were leaking out of my ears and dripping on the floor from all of the stupid drama.
As I said, this is my own personal taste and unfortunately this book wasn't it. I'm saddened because I love the cover, I love the premise, I want to read more books about different gender identities, I loved the first 100 pages and they are the only reason I didn't give 1 star.
I usually don't rate DNFs but I do for the ones I get to 50% or over bc of the amount of suffering I've been through.
This book made me angry for all the wrong reasons.
The message it's trying to send about fighting injustice and the way minorities are treated is amazing and should be appreciated.
However, this book didn't click with me on a personal level at all. This books has all the tropes I despise in drama and I CANNOT TAKE IT.
I have lost braincells I will never recover and I've decided to stop for my own sanity.
I want to stress that this is NOT a bad book, just a bad choice for me.
The first 100 pages WERE AMAZING. I loved it so much, I connected to Carey even if they were getting close to Cris very quickly and my demiromantic asexual ass could never...
I was enjoying the book and even though I could low-key see the drama coming I was loving Carey and Cris's interactions and cuteness. Cris is also half-Greek and half-Filipino which I loved! He is also shorter than Carey but it read so many times like the author forgot that he was the shorter one but that doesn't matter.
What I didn't like is how STUPID the drama is. You see, I love drama, I watch BL dramas after all and they can be dumb and cringy and I also watch K-dramas and they tend to be melodramatic, so you could say I'm well-versed in drama.
So wtf is the first half of the book?
The stupid drama between Carey and Joey because Carey is too self-absorbed with themselves to pay attention to others even when they tell them what's wrong. It's always about Carey, Carey, Carey.
Like if they weren't so self-absorbed they would've noticed so many things but we need that for plot after all.
Their best friend tried to warn them that they got in a relationship too quickly but Carey took that as her saying that Cris couldn't be attracted to them bc they are gender-queer... Like if she wanted to say that, she would've.
Then they found out something else about Cris and there goes the drama which happened only because Carey refused to listen to what Cris had to say. They felt so betrayed like Cris didn't already hint at it earlier in the book but ofc Carey is too self-absorbed to notice that. But also it was vague enough so it wasn't entirely their fault. It just annoyed me.
Spoiler
Then they go on to make out with a random gay boy they find cute and Cris walks in on them because why not.But at this point I couldn't care less because my braincells were leaking out of my ears and dripping on the floor from all of the stupid drama.
As I said, this is my own personal taste and unfortunately this book wasn't it. I'm saddened because I love the cover, I love the premise, I want to read more books about different gender identities, I loved the first 100 pages and they are the only reason I didn't give 1 star.