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A review by mrsthrift
Cycler by Lauren McLaughlin
2.0
I first heard about this book on the Boingboing Holiday Gift YAF list. They described it as "Smart YA novel about sex and sexuality." I like boingboing's recommendations, usually, so I checked it out. It was a complete "miss."
For a book that is supposed to be so smart about sex and sexuality, there was very little insight into gender expressions beyond the painfully stereotypical - boys like porn, girls like prom. It was like *headdesk* over and over again. The premise is interesting - girl becomes a boy every 28 days - but the execution was lackadaisical. The characters had a lot of potential for real insight or something interesting, but they fell short again and again. The teenage sentiment was like a Hollywood version of anyone's life... Oh wait, the author is a screenwriter? I see. The characters didn't seem genuine, their "teen slang" was forced, and their motivations were fake.
I was just really disappointed with the book. I have no reason to recommend it to my tween-age kid, or any of my "chick lit" or YAF-reading friends. My bar is too high, I guess.
For a book that is supposed to be so smart about sex and sexuality, there was very little insight into gender expressions beyond the painfully stereotypical - boys like porn, girls like prom. It was like *headdesk* over and over again. The premise is interesting - girl becomes a boy every 28 days - but the execution was lackadaisical. The characters had a lot of potential for real insight or something interesting, but they fell short again and again. The teenage sentiment was like a Hollywood version of anyone's life... Oh wait, the author is a screenwriter? I see. The characters didn't seem genuine, their "teen slang" was forced, and their motivations were fake.
I was just really disappointed with the book. I have no reason to recommend it to my tween-age kid, or any of my "chick lit" or YAF-reading friends. My bar is too high, I guess.