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A review by jenniefallis
Easy Prey by Catherine Lo
3.0
SPOILERS
I really enjoyed listening to this book. BUT SO MANY THOUGHTS. First of all: the characters felt very true to high school so good job. Too many YA books pander to 20-30 y/os - all the references were a decade out of date and the social media use was hilarious (TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit and Instagram not just Twitter), a simple conversation with a teen would have corrected this issue. Also a basic computer science person would know to use a VPN to change IP addresses constantly, so that is a flaw, but I digress.
Mouse’s character was the worst one of all. His clear lack of ethics when it came to technology was appalling. His actions reflected real world tech giants who typically have little regard for the dissemination of crude photos on their platforms. If he had not been stopped in high school I can only imagine his antics continuing with the excuse that he was just wanting to appease others. He represents many “nice guys” with the “friend zone” sob story. His dad may have been hard on him or abusive, but that is never an excuse for his actions. Nor is getting drunk or high. I have no sympathy for Mouse for drinking to excess: he is responsible for posting the photos and assaulting Jenna at a party. I am surprised he did not confess and apologize.
Drew is garbage.
As a woman in her early 30s, Miss Bailey was awfully out of touch with every other woman in the book, it seemed unrealistic. I understand for the plot things had to happen, but adding some connection with another girl or woman earlier in the book would have made this story feel more full.
In my opinion this book glorified girl on girl bashing. I was surprised by Jenna’s motivations at the end - posting the teacher’s photos on Twitter. Miss Bailey was wrong in asking Jenna to speak about trauma in front of her class mates, especially when they inflicted it, but even so I cannot imagine Jenna putting her through the same trauma. Yet she made her decisions and I felt despite her being a victim, she should have been held responsible.
At the end of the day Drew and Mouse got their comeuppance. However, I cannot help feeling that the book promoted a “boys will be boys” attitude, and a “girls will be girls” attitude which felt even more degrading. All the girls were so mean to each other, wore makeup and uncomfortable shoes, AND were described as conventionally attractive so it was okay they were treated overtly sexually. I wish there had been one healthy male female friendship that did not involve any sexual elements. And positive arena of support for Jenna - a proper therapy session or a friend who stuck by her.
I think this book should be read and thoroughly discussed to bring up both the good elements and problematic themes throughout.
I really enjoyed listening to this book. BUT SO MANY THOUGHTS. First of all: the characters felt very true to high school so good job. Too many YA books pander to 20-30 y/os - all the references were a decade out of date and the social media use was hilarious (TikTok, Snapchat, Reddit and Instagram not just Twitter), a simple conversation with a teen would have corrected this issue. Also a basic computer science person would know to use a VPN to change IP addresses constantly, so that is a flaw, but I digress.
Mouse’s character was the worst one of all. His clear lack of ethics when it came to technology was appalling. His actions reflected real world tech giants who typically have little regard for the dissemination of crude photos on their platforms. If he had not been stopped in high school I can only imagine his antics continuing with the excuse that he was just wanting to appease others. He represents many “nice guys” with the “friend zone” sob story. His dad may have been hard on him or abusive, but that is never an excuse for his actions. Nor is getting drunk or high. I have no sympathy for Mouse for drinking to excess: he is responsible for posting the photos and assaulting Jenna at a party. I am surprised he did not confess and apologize.
Drew is garbage.
As a woman in her early 30s, Miss Bailey was awfully out of touch with every other woman in the book, it seemed unrealistic. I understand for the plot things had to happen, but adding some connection with another girl or woman earlier in the book would have made this story feel more full.
In my opinion this book glorified girl on girl bashing. I was surprised by Jenna’s motivations at the end - posting the teacher’s photos on Twitter. Miss Bailey was wrong in asking Jenna to speak about trauma in front of her class mates, especially when they inflicted it, but even so I cannot imagine Jenna putting her through the same trauma. Yet she made her decisions and I felt despite her being a victim, she should have been held responsible.
At the end of the day Drew and Mouse got their comeuppance. However, I cannot help feeling that the book promoted a “boys will be boys” attitude, and a “girls will be girls” attitude which felt even more degrading. All the girls were so mean to each other, wore makeup and uncomfortable shoes, AND were described as conventionally attractive so it was okay they were treated overtly sexually. I wish there had been one healthy male female friendship that did not involve any sexual elements. And positive arena of support for Jenna - a proper therapy session or a friend who stuck by her.
I think this book should be read and thoroughly discussed to bring up both the good elements and problematic themes throughout.