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A review by djkirsikirs
No Filter and Other Lies by Crystal Maldonado
3.0
Main character Kat is going through a lot of heavy stuff. Her family is fractured due to a decision made when she was an infant, her friends don't get her, her photography isn't appreciated, she's questioning her sexuality,....and she's not famous on social media. Most of the first half of the book is all about the social media part of Kat's life leading up to her creating a fake profile.
I really liked all of the diversity in the story. There are people of all races, sizes, sexuality, and genders throughout the whole book and they are never made to seem like throwaway characters just there for diversity's sake. I also really liked this book dissected the reality of how certain types people (skinny, white, rich, straight etc) get more views on social media than others That's not something talked about in many novels even though it's so prevalent in our society.
The reason this book just didn't work for me was that there was so much more focus on social media than on the other parts of Kat's life that she was struggling with. Her family situation was a mystery that I spent most of the book hoping to learn more about, but at the end it was a pretty dull reason her parents gave her up. I think that piece of the story was so compelling but it resolved pretty quickly. I also wanted to see a little more of Kat realizing her sexuality but it was literally just "huh, i like how this girl makes me feel. Must be bi!" Maybe that's some people's experience but I was hoping for just a little more narration on that. Figuring out a whole new piece of yourself, I feel, is more interesting than Instagram.
Overall, this was a good book with fantastically diverse and fun characters but I was hoping for a little more substance.
**Side note: Did anyone else think that Kat would kick ass if she was on 'The Circle'?*
I really liked all of the diversity in the story. There are people of all races, sizes, sexuality, and genders throughout the whole book and they are never made to seem like throwaway characters just there for diversity's sake. I also really liked this book dissected the reality of how certain types people (skinny, white, rich, straight etc) get more views on social media than others That's not something talked about in many novels even though it's so prevalent in our society.
The reason this book just didn't work for me was that there was so much more focus on social media than on the other parts of Kat's life that she was struggling with. Her family situation was a mystery that I spent most of the book hoping to learn more about, but at the end it was a pretty dull reason her parents gave her up. I think that piece of the story was so compelling but it resolved pretty quickly. I also wanted to see a little more of Kat realizing her sexuality but it was literally just "huh, i like how this girl makes me feel. Must be bi!" Maybe that's some people's experience but I was hoping for just a little more narration on that. Figuring out a whole new piece of yourself, I feel, is more interesting than Instagram.
Overall, this was a good book with fantastically diverse and fun characters but I was hoping for a little more substance.
**Side note: Did anyone else think that Kat would kick ass if she was on 'The Circle'?*