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canarynoir 's review for:
Some Boys
by Patty Blount
I skimmed through this after about 1/3rd because I wanted to see how it ended but I got pretty fed up with the book's direction.
Grace is an interesting, intelligent, sympathetic character, but the entire romantic storyline with Ian was uninteresting and frustrating.
Ian is just another boy who needs to be slowly, painfully educated before he'll even consider that a girl might be telling the truth. But that isn't actually enough. He actually has to see a video.
Oh, is THAT all? If only there were always videos to convince everyone that rape victims weren't just making things up for the LULZ or to destroy men!
I mean, seriously. A video. He has to see a video. Finding Grace bleeding and abandoned post-rape isn't enough. Having her say "I was raped" isn't enough. To believe her, he needs video evidence. To believe his buddy? Nothing. His word is enough. Enough to make him angry with Grace, mean to Grace, treat her like damaged goods because she'd had sex with his friend which is basically like he owns her now and forever.
UUUUUgggggh.
I'm not sure why Grace would ever do more than pat him on the head for finally catching up. Forgive him? DATE him?! I mean, he was so obtuse and even actively mean to her throughout the book and in the end, he gets praised for finally realizing he was wrong.
Well gooooooood for hiiiiiiim.
The book addresses and attempts to deconstruct very complex gender politics but having Ian as a POV character gives uncomfortable weight to his wrong-headed, victim-blaming, slut-shaming, objectifying opinions which he expresses through most of the book. By the time he gets dismantled and converted and Grace's innocence is proven to him, we've spent a lot of time with him as he normalizes really gross behavior and vouches for his heinous friends.
I also had a pretty difficult time believing that Grace would have no allies at all. Some other girl(s) who Zac has abused? Some other girl(s) who've had similar experiences or are the school feminists (there are always school feminists)? People who just think the jocks are assholes (there are always people who think the jocks are assholes)?
Her so-called friends are awful cartoons and no one else in the entire school will even be quietly supportive of her except via a note stuck in a book which she may never find? I mean, really? That's one of those probably-true things that doesn't feel true. I figure there'd be at least one or two people who'd at least sneak up beside Grace and say, "hang in there" out of the corner of their mouth before scuttling away as quickly as possible.
This book had a lot of things going for it but I think far too much time and energy was focused on just another dudebro. Grace deserves better -- she -- and all rape victims -- deserve someone who actually believes her when she says, "I was raped." I get that wasn't the story the author was telling; she was telling the story of a guy who evolves (but, y'know, not really as his path to enlightenment is actual video proof).
In the end, rewarding Ian for finally finally FINALLY coming around after shitting on Grace the whole book is gross.
Grace is an interesting, intelligent, sympathetic character, but the entire romantic storyline with Ian was uninteresting and frustrating.
Ian is just another boy who needs to be slowly, painfully educated before he'll even consider that a girl might be telling the truth. But that isn't actually enough. He actually has to see a video.
Oh, is THAT all? If only there were always videos to convince everyone that rape victims weren't just making things up for the LULZ or to destroy men!
I mean, seriously. A video. He has to see a video. Finding Grace bleeding and abandoned post-rape isn't enough. Having her say "I was raped" isn't enough. To believe her, he needs video evidence. To believe his buddy? Nothing. His word is enough. Enough to make him angry with Grace, mean to Grace, treat her like damaged goods because she'd had sex with his friend which is basically like he owns her now and forever.
UUUUUgggggh.
I'm not sure why Grace would ever do more than pat him on the head for finally catching up. Forgive him? DATE him?! I mean, he was so obtuse and even actively mean to her throughout the book and in the end, he gets praised for finally realizing he was wrong.
Well gooooooood for hiiiiiiim.
The book addresses and attempts to deconstruct very complex gender politics but having Ian as a POV character gives uncomfortable weight to his wrong-headed, victim-blaming, slut-shaming, objectifying opinions which he expresses through most of the book. By the time he gets dismantled and converted and Grace's innocence is proven to him, we've spent a lot of time with him as he normalizes really gross behavior and vouches for his heinous friends.
I also had a pretty difficult time believing that Grace would have no allies at all. Some other girl(s) who Zac has abused? Some other girl(s) who've had similar experiences or are the school feminists (there are always school feminists)? People who just think the jocks are assholes (there are always people who think the jocks are assholes)?
Her so-called friends are awful cartoons and no one else in the entire school will even be quietly supportive of her except via a note stuck in a book which she may never find? I mean, really? That's one of those probably-true things that doesn't feel true. I figure there'd be at least one or two people who'd at least sneak up beside Grace and say, "hang in there" out of the corner of their mouth before scuttling away as quickly as possible.
This book had a lot of things going for it but I think far too much time and energy was focused on just another dudebro. Grace deserves better -- she -- and all rape victims -- deserve someone who actually believes her when she says, "I was raped." I get that wasn't the story the author was telling; she was telling the story of a guy who evolves (but, y'know, not really as his path to enlightenment is actual video proof).
In the end, rewarding Ian for finally finally FINALLY coming around after shitting on Grace the whole book is gross.