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A review by pagesplotsandpints
Easy Prey by Catherine Lo
2.0
Initial Impressions 6/2/20: EASY PREY is a complicated book and there are a lot of good talking points in here, but I didn't love some of its messages. The story deals with three teens who end up involved in a scandal of nude photos leaked on the internet from a teacher but the way things unfolded... I just hated a lot of it.
Part of the story is that Jenna, the lead female, had similar photos leaked of her the year prior and was scolded instead of defended. She had a lot of really great things to say about people sticking up for women, especially women for women since her advisors and teachers at school were pretty much the worst, and I really liked that she was trying to eradicate the double standard that exists in the world. There were a lot of ways, though, that I didn't like how she went about it, especially in the end because that was some total BS and counterproductive. There was a little twist in the end, but I kind of hated it instead what I thought it was going to be.
The characters were pretty blah. I think Jenna was the most well-rounded out of the three MCs but they were all kind of stereotypical. Jenna definitely had more depth and she was probably the best-written character in the book (along with Jenna's mom because she was awesome). Mouse and Drew were dubbed the nerdy genius and the jock with a troubled family life and parents they didn't get along with due to grades/athletics/appearances. Blah blah. Give them more depth than just their stereotypes!
The book overall was interesting but in some terrible ways. There's also a thing going around where the guys are keeping track of nude photos from the girls in their class and a game to see who can get the most, and guess what -- both MCs have their hand in this. Gross. They try to act blameless and they're obviously not, and they both think they're good or at least not that bad. The more you find out about them, the worse it gets and I wish this book had been from Jenna's POV only because we didn't need to spend time in these boys' heads and doing so only made me hate them more.
There are a lot of things wrong in this book, and it's not just the book -- it's things that are wrong with double standards, abuse, and technically child pornography considering Jenna was a minor when her photos were leaked. EASY PREY brought light to some of these tough issues and did make some good statements and had the characters bring to light some of the more terrible parts of these things that do happen on a daily basis. What turned me off in the end was how ALL of the characters handled things, including Jenna because she went against everything she preached in this book. My feelings are conflicted, but overall I'm basing it on the lingering feelings which were set by how everything came to a close. There was a good twist but I just can't get over the hypocrisy.
Part of the story is that Jenna, the lead female, had similar photos leaked of her the year prior and was scolded instead of defended. She had a lot of really great things to say about people sticking up for women, especially women for women since her advisors and teachers at school were pretty much the worst, and I really liked that she was trying to eradicate the double standard that exists in the world. There were a lot of ways, though, that I didn't like how she went about it, especially in the end because that was some total BS and counterproductive. There was a little twist in the end, but I kind of hated it instead what I thought it was going to be.
The characters were pretty blah. I think Jenna was the most well-rounded out of the three MCs but they were all kind of stereotypical. Jenna definitely had more depth and she was probably the best-written character in the book (along with Jenna's mom because she was awesome). Mouse and Drew were dubbed the nerdy genius and the jock with a troubled family life and parents they didn't get along with due to grades/athletics/appearances. Blah blah. Give them more depth than just their stereotypes!
The book overall was interesting but in some terrible ways. There's also a thing going around where the guys are keeping track of nude photos from the girls in their class and a game to see who can get the most, and guess what -- both MCs have their hand in this. Gross. They try to act blameless and they're obviously not, and they both think they're good or at least not that bad. The more you find out about them, the worse it gets and I wish this book had been from Jenna's POV only because we didn't need to spend time in these boys' heads and doing so only made me hate them more.
There are a lot of things wrong in this book, and it's not just the book -- it's things that are wrong with double standards, abuse, and technically child pornography considering Jenna was a minor when her photos were leaked. EASY PREY brought light to some of these tough issues and did make some good statements and had the characters bring to light some of the more terrible parts of these things that do happen on a daily basis. What turned me off in the end was how ALL of the characters handled things, including Jenna because she went against everything she preached in this book. My feelings are conflicted, but overall I'm basing it on the lingering feelings which were set by how everything came to a close. There was a good twist but I just can't get over the hypocrisy.