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amybbooks 's review for:
Murder Is Bad Manners
by Robin Stevens
Where to start.
This book could have been a five star read for me, but there were a few things that were problematic for me, and I just didn’t like the way that the author handled them. I’ll detail those below, and I don’t think it’s spoilery or anything. I recommend reading my comments before you let your child or student read this story. I will say that I really enjoyed the mystery and the second half was much better than the first. I will at least read the next book because I already have it, and because I’d like to see if the author is better about the issues I address below. Everything considered, I give the book 3 stars because the story had a lot going for it, and because I’m hoping that the author is going to make up for some of her errors in the following books.
Here are my issues:
The first is the way in which Hazel’s race was discussed. Hazel is from Hong Kong, and she is also the narrator. It’s great to have an Asian MC and narrator, but the author is not Asian, so I’m not entirely thrilled about her trying to write from an Asian first person perspective. But that’s not the biggest frustration for me. I was more so frustrated with the very frequent comments and references to Hazel’s race that felt unnecessary (at least at that level of frequency). They are supposed to be “historically accurate”, but I feel like if you’re going to have that within Middle Grade literature, you need to counter it with positive messages and address the racism for what it is.
Additionally, Hazel makes comments about her weight and compares her larger body to other bodies, making it clear that she thinks thinner bodies are superior. She also, as narrator, brings up the body shape of many, if not most, of the other characters she introduces. I feel like this reflects a high concern with body shape and size that also isn’t addressed or corrected. I think that authors have a responsibility to be aware of their audience and recognize the values they are intentionally or unintentionally promoting through their stories. For Hazel to think that her body is worse than a skinny body, and for it to go unaddressed, it reinforces that idea to young readers who are already getting that message from our media and culture.
Both of these things could be intended as reflecting Hazel’s own perspective on herself and her situation, constantly comparing herself to others and feeling less than her British schoolmates. However, I wish these things would have been addressed in some way to reflect better values for the reader. I care about historical accuracy, but not when it puts a reader at risk of being encouraged to feel like their body or their race (or another’s race or body) is less than. It’s just not okay.
I also thought that Daisy treated Hazel horribly… and while this is addressed much more than the other issues, Daisy still has a lot of work to do in order to actually be a good friend to Hazel. She uses Hazel, is constantly critiquing her and diminishing her, is constantly condescending to her, and takes her for granted all the time. While Daisy does apologize at least once in this novel, most of her poor treatment of Hazel just gets brushed aside as Hazel is constantly wowed by Daisy and therefore willing to except the poor treatment. Again, I’m really hoping to see some major changes in future stories. We don’t want young readers to think that this is what a good friendship looks like.
Thanks for reading my rant.
This book could have been a five star read for me, but there were a few things that were problematic for me, and I just didn’t like the way that the author handled them. I’ll detail those below, and I don’t think it’s spoilery or anything. I recommend reading my comments before you let your child or student read this story. I will say that I really enjoyed the mystery and the second half was much better than the first. I will at least read the next book because I already have it, and because I’d like to see if the author is better about the issues I address below. Everything considered, I give the book 3 stars because the story had a lot going for it, and because I’m hoping that the author is going to make up for some of her errors in the following books.
Here are my issues:
The first is the way in which Hazel’s race was discussed. Hazel is from Hong Kong, and she is also the narrator. It’s great to have an Asian MC and narrator, but the author is not Asian, so I’m not entirely thrilled about her trying to write from an Asian first person perspective. But that’s not the biggest frustration for me. I was more so frustrated with the very frequent comments and references to Hazel’s race that felt unnecessary (at least at that level of frequency). They are supposed to be “historically accurate”, but I feel like if you’re going to have that within Middle Grade literature, you need to counter it with positive messages and address the racism for what it is.
Additionally, Hazel makes comments about her weight and compares her larger body to other bodies, making it clear that she thinks thinner bodies are superior. She also, as narrator, brings up the body shape of many, if not most, of the other characters she introduces. I feel like this reflects a high concern with body shape and size that also isn’t addressed or corrected. I think that authors have a responsibility to be aware of their audience and recognize the values they are intentionally or unintentionally promoting through their stories. For Hazel to think that her body is worse than a skinny body, and for it to go unaddressed, it reinforces that idea to young readers who are already getting that message from our media and culture.
Both of these things could be intended as reflecting Hazel’s own perspective on herself and her situation, constantly comparing herself to others and feeling less than her British schoolmates. However, I wish these things would have been addressed in some way to reflect better values for the reader. I care about historical accuracy, but not when it puts a reader at risk of being encouraged to feel like their body or their race (or another’s race or body) is less than. It’s just not okay.
I also thought that Daisy treated Hazel horribly… and while this is addressed much more than the other issues, Daisy still has a lot of work to do in order to actually be a good friend to Hazel. She uses Hazel, is constantly critiquing her and diminishing her, is constantly condescending to her, and takes her for granted all the time. While Daisy does apologize at least once in this novel, most of her poor treatment of Hazel just gets brushed aside as Hazel is constantly wowed by Daisy and therefore willing to except the poor treatment. Again, I’m really hoping to see some major changes in future stories. We don’t want young readers to think that this is what a good friendship looks like.
Thanks for reading my rant.