Scan barcode
A review by atlasinwars
Girls Save the World in This One by Ash Parsons
3.0
not to be gay on your updates page or anything, but this book would’ve felt so much more real if queer. i’ll get into that later.
this book was fun, light, and i haven’t read a zombie comedy in a while, so refreshing in a sense? i don’t think i would read it again for a multitude of reasons:
the writing and pacing really bothered me. i was so bored - zombie action only occurred like 100 pages in and this is a ZOMBIE book, dude - and also i had trouble comprehending the floor plan and also their plans. perhaps my comprehension skills are at an all time low, but what the fuck was going on most of the time?
the writing felt like riverdale and basically any netflix show right now: 30-year-olds attempting to mimic teenage behaviours. it made me want to rip my own eyes out, or perhaps be bitten by a zombie. there was also an intense, unnecessary amount of detail that never amounted to anything. we never even got to meet (i forgot her name briefly) imani’s sister, so why did we need to know that she liked photography and special effects makeup and wanted to get into a college?
the romance didn’t feel very believable, either. hunter and june meet halfway through and they just sorta… hit it off. their first encounter is written in a way that i wrote my characters at thirteen, which is never a good sign. i understand they’re in a pressured situation and that elevates emotions, but what the fuck? no! that’s not how people work! i have to say that hunter grew on me as the book progressed, though. if i just block out the cringey parts, i’ll be okay.
some characters that were killed off early didn’t matter to me because they weren’t properly fleshed out. i don’t feel like getting into it because it’s not that big of a deal and it’s 3am.
other characters went through extremely fast character arcs. annie’s was fine, it was understandable, realistic- on the other hand… so yeah.
NOW, the big thing, the romance. i already mentioned june and hunter. you knew it was going to happen the moment you read it. you just KNEW because it was such a fanfic-y cliche moment. i was desperately hoping this book would be above that and subvert it somehow (MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS GAY, PEOPLE) but i was sorely mistaken. now this is where the queer part comes in: june and her little posse of girls were so queercoded it was ridiculous. the book is written in first person from the perspective of june, and you should HEAR the way she describes her friends. in fact, i’ll tell you. this is how she describes blair, a friend who is introduced as no longer a friend at the start:
"With Blair it was intensity. She made me feel so immediate, a little unsafe, a little thrilled, being around her like being on a roller coaster that hasn’t been tested.
I don’t know what she liked about me."
it’s giving major "aster-flores-about-ellie-chu" energy. but blair isn’t even the main one. june’s best friend is imani, and i’ll give you a quote from the beginning about her, but the book is LITTERED with moments like these:
“Did I mention she’s gorgeous? While our relationship is purely platonic, it doesn’t keep me from admiring how beautiful she is. Beauty is just beauty.” sure it is, sweetheart.
okay, i’m wrapping this up now. i’ll leave you with this quote, which definitely has no gay subtext at all:
“If I’m being honest, I wanted to have you to myself,” Imani says, with that sly side-smile that makes it feel like the sun is rising in my heart.
“I liked that, too,” I say.”
alright, that would’ve been a fun ending, but i have more thoughts. i’m a little torn. on one hand, i LOVE to see good female friendship in books because they’re not so well done i guess? but also, there needs to be more sapphic stuff in the world. i don’t know. it’s not for me to decide.
wrapping this up now. 3.5 stars for a cutesy little book.
this book was fun, light, and i haven’t read a zombie comedy in a while, so refreshing in a sense? i don’t think i would read it again for a multitude of reasons:
the writing and pacing really bothered me. i was so bored - zombie action only occurred like 100 pages in and this is a ZOMBIE book, dude - and also i had trouble comprehending the floor plan and also their plans. perhaps my comprehension skills are at an all time low, but what the fuck was going on most of the time?
the writing felt like riverdale and basically any netflix show right now: 30-year-olds attempting to mimic teenage behaviours. it made me want to rip my own eyes out, or perhaps be bitten by a zombie. there was also an intense, unnecessary amount of detail that never amounted to anything. we never even got to meet (i forgot her name briefly) imani’s sister, so why did we need to know that she liked photography and special effects makeup and wanted to get into a college?
the romance didn’t feel very believable, either. hunter and june meet halfway through and they just sorta… hit it off. their first encounter is written in a way that i wrote my characters at thirteen, which is never a good sign. i understand they’re in a pressured situation and that elevates emotions, but what the fuck? no! that’s not how people work! i have to say that hunter grew on me as the book progressed, though. if i just block out the cringey parts, i’ll be okay.
some characters that were killed off early didn’t matter to me because they weren’t properly fleshed out. i don’t feel like getting into it because it’s not that big of a deal and it’s 3am.
other characters went through extremely fast character arcs. annie’s was fine, it was understandable, realistic- on the other hand…
Spoiler
cuellar (which i kept reading as cruella) was a misogynistic, selfish asshole until suddenly he wasn’t? and then he decided to sacrifice himself? seems unachievable because it takes FOREVER to get through to those sons of bitches. take brent from the good place [THE GOOD PLACE SPOILERS UP AHEAD LMAO], for example. he sucked. and even on his 2000th? (don’t quote me on that) attempt, he was still sucking. so. yeah. good luck making me believe anything about cuellar.NOW, the big thing, the romance. i already mentioned june and hunter. you knew it was going to happen the moment you read it. you just KNEW because it was such a fanfic-y cliche moment. i was desperately hoping this book would be above that and subvert it somehow (MAKE YOUR CHARACTERS GAY, PEOPLE) but i was sorely mistaken. now this is where the queer part comes in: june and her little posse of girls were so queercoded it was ridiculous. the book is written in first person from the perspective of june, and you should HEAR the way she describes her friends. in fact, i’ll tell you. this is how she describes blair, a friend who is introduced as no longer a friend at the start:
"With Blair it was intensity. She made me feel so immediate, a little unsafe, a little thrilled, being around her like being on a roller coaster that hasn’t been tested.
I don’t know what she liked about me."
it’s giving major "aster-flores-about-ellie-chu" energy. but blair isn’t even the main one. june’s best friend is imani, and i’ll give you a quote from the beginning about her, but the book is LITTERED with moments like these:
“Did I mention she’s gorgeous? While our relationship is purely platonic, it doesn’t keep me from admiring how beautiful she is. Beauty is just beauty.” sure it is, sweetheart.
okay, i’m wrapping this up now. i’ll leave you with this quote, which definitely has no gay subtext at all:
“If I’m being honest, I wanted to have you to myself,” Imani says, with that sly side-smile that makes it feel like the sun is rising in my heart.
“I liked that, too,” I say.”
alright, that would’ve been a fun ending, but i have more thoughts. i’m a little torn. on one hand, i LOVE to see good female friendship in books because they’re not so well done i guess? but also, there needs to be more sapphic stuff in the world. i don’t know. it’s not for me to decide.
wrapping this up now. 3.5 stars for a cutesy little book.