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A review by lauisreading
Till It Stops Beating by Hannah R. Goodman
2.0
Irequested this title on Netgalley because the synopsis sounded fun. I like requesting titles I wouldn't normally pick up as soon so I can get a bit out of my comfort zone, sometimes this ends well and I end up finding a book I love. Sometimes... I hate the book. That is what happened here.
It's been a while since I read this book and I can't fully remember all the details, which is telling in it's own way. I made notes and let's just say none of them are positive so let's just get into them.
This book has a lot of problems. First of all, the main character decided she doesn't like a show and she says it's because the boys in it cry. First of all, that's a pretty strange reason not to like a show and second of all it's harmful. It is harmful for boys to think they can't cry and for girls to read that it is normal for boys not to cry. Everyone needs to let their feelings out, no matter their gender. Writing this into a book just reinforces the harmful stereotype.
There were some other iffy things about this book. For example, how it talks about LGBTQ. One of the best friends of the main character is gay and the conversations around this in the book are... not good. For example there's a conversation where this characters says: There's a part of me that thinks I'm bi. To which the mc replies: bi-curious or bi-confused. Like those are the only two options? You can't be bi, you always have to make a choice in the end. It made me so mad and it was just so unnecessary. There is also a scene in which another gay character wants a 'gay test' and asks to kiss Maddie, the mc. And the whole idea of a gay test is just so painful and wrong. It's like saying: well, you haven't tried girls so how can you be so certain? Which implies that people who identify as gay don't know their own feelings and I hate when that's said and implied. It's hard enough to come out, a lot of people doubt their identities for so long especially because of comments like this. I feel like I'm rambling a bit but in short: even though there is a gay couple in this book, LGBTQ issues are not handled well.
Maddie is also not consistent. She is a very confusing character. The one moment she cares so much about her friends and the next she just says Bye! And hangs up the phone after her best friend ran off after he broke up with his boyfriend. She also sends off her ex-boyfriend to military school after she blabbed about his drug abuse to his family but then she is pissed when he doesn't contact her... She has another ex-boyfriend that died in a car crash when they were together. He was hardly mentioned and she seemed completely fine over it? It did happen two years ago but you'd think it would leave some kind of impression. Especially now her grandma might die so there will be someone else close to her looking dead in the eyes.
Maddie suffers from anxiety. She has some episode early on in the book that makes her aware of this. Her parents find her in this episode, carry her to bed and leave her there. There are no doctors or anyone medical to check her out even though the episode is described to be very intense. I can't comment on the anxiety rep in this one since I don't suffer from anxiety myself.
I still have some notes left but I feel like I have said the most important things. The story in itself is cute but the characters are majorly flawed. This book had a lot of potential but the inconsistent characters made me confused and somewhat mad sometimes. They annoyed me to no end and the ending of this book was so predictable it didn't even phase me. I did see it was part of a series so maybe it's not as bad if you've read the whole series? Still, I don't recommend this book at all.
It's been a while since I read this book and I can't fully remember all the details, which is telling in it's own way. I made notes and let's just say none of them are positive so let's just get into them.
This book has a lot of problems. First of all, the main character decided she doesn't like a show and she says it's because the boys in it cry. First of all, that's a pretty strange reason not to like a show and second of all it's harmful. It is harmful for boys to think they can't cry and for girls to read that it is normal for boys not to cry. Everyone needs to let their feelings out, no matter their gender. Writing this into a book just reinforces the harmful stereotype.
There were some other iffy things about this book. For example, how it talks about LGBTQ. One of the best friends of the main character is gay and the conversations around this in the book are... not good. For example there's a conversation where this characters says: There's a part of me that thinks I'm bi. To which the mc replies: bi-curious or bi-confused. Like those are the only two options? You can't be bi, you always have to make a choice in the end. It made me so mad and it was just so unnecessary. There is also a scene in which another gay character wants a 'gay test' and asks to kiss Maddie, the mc. And the whole idea of a gay test is just so painful and wrong. It's like saying: well, you haven't tried girls so how can you be so certain? Which implies that people who identify as gay don't know their own feelings and I hate when that's said and implied. It's hard enough to come out, a lot of people doubt their identities for so long especially because of comments like this. I feel like I'm rambling a bit but in short: even though there is a gay couple in this book, LGBTQ issues are not handled well.
Maddie is also not consistent. She is a very confusing character. The one moment she cares so much about her friends and the next she just says Bye! And hangs up the phone after her best friend ran off after he broke up with his boyfriend. She also sends off her ex-boyfriend to military school after she blabbed about his drug abuse to his family but then she is pissed when he doesn't contact her... She has another ex-boyfriend that died in a car crash when they were together. He was hardly mentioned and she seemed completely fine over it? It did happen two years ago but you'd think it would leave some kind of impression. Especially now her grandma might die so there will be someone else close to her looking dead in the eyes.
Maddie suffers from anxiety. She has some episode early on in the book that makes her aware of this. Her parents find her in this episode, carry her to bed and leave her there. There are no doctors or anyone medical to check her out even though the episode is described to be very intense. I can't comment on the anxiety rep in this one since I don't suffer from anxiety myself.
I still have some notes left but I feel like I have said the most important things. The story in itself is cute but the characters are majorly flawed. This book had a lot of potential but the inconsistent characters made me confused and somewhat mad sometimes. They annoyed me to no end and the ending of this book was so predictable it didn't even phase me. I did see it was part of a series so maybe it's not as bad if you've read the whole series? Still, I don't recommend this book at all.