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A review by voidkid
H2O by Virginia Bergin
adventurous
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Goodness. This sure was a book.
Genuinely, it could have been a good one! It really could have, there were some great ideas and there were moments where it seemed like the author genuinely was enjoying writing this and was writing something with really strong emotional moments.
But the thing is, this author was writing for YA without actually talking to a real teenager because. Goodness. This was cringey. The writing was so, so cringey.
The unnecessary capitalization (YOU DONT NEED TO DO THIS TO GET YOUR POINT ACROSS), the jokes cracked at just the right time so that every bit of tension is completely gone, the annoying main character, the damn butterfly emoji filter instead of cursing.
Look, I get not wanting to write swears in a ya book, but for the love of all things good and holy just use a substitute instead of the butterfly emoji. Every time I saw it I rolled my eyes and the scene got ruined for me. People could be dying, screaming in pain and fear, and this girl is writing butterfly emojis.
The main character was just. Insufferable. Think the mean girl from your high school who thinks she’s a good person for not tripping you when she really, really wanted to, and says that out loud, to your face. And she didn’t get better! At all! Even at the end, she was still complaining and acting holier than thou and so upset about the fact that she kissed a nerdy boy that she mentions that at the very end of the book, instead of, I don’t know, anything else.
The supporting characters were only there to help her survive and to move the plot along. The treatment of minority and disabled characters was.. weird, to say the least. The only minority character that could be considered one of the major characters is never allowed to speak (literally, she’s selectively mute), and is really only there to show us that no, the main character is a good person! Look at her help this poor little girl!
It was. Ugh. It was bad. The book had potential, but the execution was horrible.
Genuinely, it could have been a good one! It really could have, there were some great ideas and there were moments where it seemed like the author genuinely was enjoying writing this and was writing something with really strong emotional moments.
But the thing is, this author was writing for YA without actually talking to a real teenager because. Goodness. This was cringey. The writing was so, so cringey.
The unnecessary capitalization (YOU DONT NEED TO DO THIS TO GET YOUR POINT ACROSS), the jokes cracked at just the right time so that every bit of tension is completely gone, the annoying main character, the damn butterfly emoji filter instead of cursing.
Look, I get not wanting to write swears in a ya book, but for the love of all things good and holy just use a substitute instead of the butterfly emoji. Every time I saw it I rolled my eyes and the scene got ruined for me. People could be dying, screaming in pain and fear, and this girl is writing butterfly emojis.
The main character was just. Insufferable. Think the mean girl from your high school who thinks she’s a good person for not tripping you when she really, really wanted to, and says that out loud, to your face. And she didn’t get better! At all! Even at the end, she was still complaining and acting holier than thou and so upset about the fact that she kissed a nerdy boy that she mentions that at the very end of the book, instead of, I don’t know, anything else.
The supporting characters were only there to help her survive and to move the plot along. The treatment of minority and disabled characters was.. weird, to say the least. The only minority character that could be considered one of the major characters is never allowed to speak (literally, she’s selectively mute), and is really only there to show us that no, the main character is a good person! Look at her help this poor little girl!
It was. Ugh. It was bad. The book had potential, but the execution was horrible.