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A review by santanareads
The Whole Thing Together by Ann Brashares
1.0
There are overhyped books. There are disappointing books. There are books you dislike strongly. And books you hate. I've had my fair share of all the mentioned above. But I don't often HATE books. It must be really fucking crappy for me to do so. It didn't take much for me to hate The Whole Thing Together.
First, it's basically a mix of all the things that I dislike in a novel. The chapters are waaay too long. Nothing really happened until the last 30% of the novel. It was VERY character-driven, not that I mind, but it was so boring. It was told from 3rd person POV, which I don't like if it's not done well. The shift in different perspectives was HORRID and extremely confusing.
The whole time I felt like I was reading from the same character. They were all flat and bland and had no personality to them whatsoever. Quinn, who was probably the only character I liked, was killed off, like, WTF Ann?!? The romance was just, OFF. There was a really weird incestous situation going on and it was disgusting.
Also, the whole mystery of why the parents hated each other so much was never explained. I had so many questions when I finished reading.
Now onto the main reason of my hate. This book promotes racism, sexism, girl hate, slut & body shaming, bullying, and cheating. Basically, it's problematic af. Ann Brashares tried to induce diversity into her newest novel, but did it in the worst possible way.
Up next, some quotes that prove how horrible this book is:
"She was a dark, humble contrast to her towering, spike-heeled friend. He saw boys' heads swivel and gawk at the friend as the pair went by, but his shuffly girl was the actual beauty, her lovely body hidden under the modest clothes. She was the kind of pretty only someone as deep as him understood." - I'm sorry, fuck you. She's not yours, you idiot.
"The elevator doors opened, a cluster of people pushed in, and suddenly he was standing behind her, less than a foot away. He smelled her hair before he saw her. The smell made him dizzy. It took a shortcut to a part of his brain that didn't deal in words. He didn't mean to look down at her chest, but what could he do?" - Here's what you can do, respect that young lady you sexist piece of shit.
"Emma was an exotic head-turner with thick black hair down to her belly button; and Sasha, the most Indian in looks, was quietly the prettiest of all of them..." - Ummm, what? Explain. NOW.
"I kind of got all of it... She'd won the genetic jackpot. She'd inherited her dad's smarts and grit, his merit as an outsider, his righteousness as a self-maker, his check mark in the diversity box." - OMFG. I don't think I've ever read such an insensitive quote in a novel before.
This book has the potential to hurt so many marginalized readers, and those are not even all the offensive quotes. I'd 10x prefer to read a book with an all-white cast by a white author than read books with "diversity" that are are done WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. I can't believe trees were cut to publish this.
I'M OUT. DON'T READ THIS.
First, it's basically a mix of all the things that I dislike in a novel. The chapters are waaay too long. Nothing really happened until the last 30% of the novel. It was VERY character-driven, not that I mind, but it was so boring. It was told from 3rd person POV, which I don't like if it's not done well. The shift in different perspectives was HORRID and extremely confusing.
The whole time I felt like I was reading from the same character. They were all flat and bland and had no personality to them whatsoever. Quinn, who was probably the only character I liked, was killed off, like, WTF Ann?!? The romance was just, OFF. There was a really weird incestous situation going on and it was disgusting.
Also, the whole mystery of why the parents hated each other so much was never explained. I had so many questions when I finished reading.
Now onto the main reason of my hate. This book promotes racism, sexism, girl hate, slut & body shaming, bullying, and cheating. Basically, it's problematic af. Ann Brashares tried to induce diversity into her newest novel, but did it in the worst possible way.
Up next, some quotes that prove how horrible this book is:
"She was a dark, humble contrast to her towering, spike-heeled friend. He saw boys' heads swivel and gawk at the friend as the pair went by, but his shuffly girl was the actual beauty, her lovely body hidden under the modest clothes. She was the kind of pretty only someone as deep as him understood." - I'm sorry, fuck you. She's not yours, you idiot.
"The elevator doors opened, a cluster of people pushed in, and suddenly he was standing behind her, less than a foot away. He smelled her hair before he saw her. The smell made him dizzy. It took a shortcut to a part of his brain that didn't deal in words. He didn't mean to look down at her chest, but what could he do?" - Here's what you can do, respect that young lady you sexist piece of shit.
"Emma was an exotic head-turner with thick black hair down to her belly button; and Sasha, the most Indian in looks, was quietly the prettiest of all of them..." - Ummm, what? Explain. NOW.
"I kind of got all of it... She'd won the genetic jackpot. She'd inherited her dad's smarts and grit, his merit as an outsider, his righteousness as a self-maker, his check mark in the diversity box." - OMFG. I don't think I've ever read such an insensitive quote in a novel before.
This book has the potential to hurt so many marginalized readers, and those are not even all the offensive quotes. I'd 10x prefer to read a book with an all-white cast by a white author than read books with "diversity" that are are done WRONG, WRONG, WRONG. I can't believe trees were cut to publish this.
I'M OUT. DON'T READ THIS.