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A review by thebluelady
XVI by Julia Karr
1.0
Maybe it was because I had been looking forward to reading XVI that I came to dislike it so much; a case of my hopes and expectations not meeting the hype surrounding the book. Regardless, I struggled to make it through this take on a dystopian future where sixteen-year-old girls are marked with a tattoo and essentially seen as sex objects, willing and eager to please.
For starters, our main character, Nina, simply doesn't come across as a teenage girl - or even a real human, really. Her reactions to events aren't realistic but the bigger issue is the way I was left feeling like, despite the fact I'd read 325 pages about her, the only thing of substance I knew about Nina was that she didn't want to have sex. I know a few other readers have already said this, but I really feel like Nina was a mouthpiece for Karr's opinions about sex and relationships (ie. the typical don't have sex until you're older, don't change yourself to appeal to a guy spiel), and not even a particularly well-fleshed out mouthpiece at that.
Nina's character makes me question whether Julia Karr decided to set the book in this sort of world purely to make her point about sex, particularly by actively engaging in slut shaming;. I guess I was hoping for a version of [b:The Handmaid's Tale|38447|The Handmaid's Tale|Margaret Atwood|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1294702760s/38447.jpg|1119185] for younger readers, something which would look at an exaggerated version of today's world with a critical eye. Instead we get this rehashed, regressive morality tale. The lack of world building frustrated me; we're never given any hint as to why the sixteen system - or even the tier social system - has been put into place or even really why tattoos are used.
What really puts the mouldy cherry on this festering sundae is the writing in general; it's so BAD! I feel like someone should have told Karr to be a bit more liberal in her editing as we're left with so many irrelevant parts of this novel which seem to serve no purpose other than to pad out the novel, giving Karr enough material for her second book. I wish dystopian YA authors would take note: You don't need to write multiple books! I theorize (because I'm yet to read the next book at this point) that the story could have been wrapped up in one book if someone had come along and edited it well. Then we've got the gratuitous abbreviations which seem to serve no real purpose other than to convey *cue the spooky voice* Welcome to the future! It just came across to me as a bit old hat.
For starters, our main character, Nina, simply doesn't come across as a teenage girl - or even a real human, really. Her reactions to events aren't realistic but the bigger issue is the way I was left feeling like, despite the fact I'd read 325 pages about her, the only thing of substance I knew about Nina was that she didn't want to have sex. I know a few other readers have already said this, but I really feel like Nina was a mouthpiece for Karr's opinions about sex and relationships (ie. the typical don't have sex until you're older, don't change yourself to appeal to a guy spiel), and not even a particularly well-fleshed out mouthpiece at that.
Nina's character makes me question whether Julia Karr decided to set the book in this sort of world purely to make her point about sex, particularly by actively engaging in slut shaming;
Spoiler
she couldn't have made it any more obvious if she had raped and killed off the 'slutty' girl while letting the 'pure' one live. Oh, wait...What really puts the mouldy cherry on this festering sundae is the writing in general; it's so BAD! I feel like someone should have told Karr to be a bit more liberal in her editing as we're left with so many irrelevant parts of this novel which seem to serve no purpose other than to pad out the novel, giving Karr enough material for her second book. I wish dystopian YA authors would take note: You don't need to write multiple books! I theorize (because I'm yet to read the next book at this point) that the story could have been wrapped up in one book if someone had come along and edited it well. Then we've got the gratuitous abbreviations which seem to serve no real purpose other than to convey *cue the spooky voice* Welcome to the future! It just came across to me as a bit old hat.