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A review by ladytiara
Chaotic Good by Whitney Gardner
4.0
Chaotic Good is a seemingly lightweight book that deals with some serious issues in a sensitive way. It takes on sexism, toxic masculinity, online harassment, and gender roles.
Cameron is having a rough summer. She's just moved to a smaller town from Portland. She hasn't made any friends yet, she's bored, and she's being harassed online. Cameron is a talented seamstress who makes her own cosplay costumes. She recently won a contest, and when she mentioned publicly that she doesn't actually play the game she made a costume from, the online abuse starts. She's called an attention whore, pathetic, and other far less printable things. She visits the local comic book store looking for some costume inspiration. Unfortunately, the guy who runs the place is a sexist jerk, who says her boyfriend won't like the comics she's picked out, points her to the "girl section," and belittles her taste. But it's the only comic book store in her town, so she decides to borrow some of her twin brother's clothes and return disguised as a boy, hoping to avoid the sexist scrutiny.
The whole thing goes perfectly. She's treated well at the store, and ends up being asked to join a Dungeons and Dragons group. She's happy to make friends, and it becomes harder and harder to come clean about her true identity.
This book is really great. It takes on serious issues, but also manages to be really funny and poignant. Cameron masquerading as a boy has a very Twelfth Night vibe. There's some romantic confusion: Her new friend Why falls for her in her boy guise, while she's interested in another guy, Lincoln, and her brother Cooper has a thing for Why. Being a boy gives her a sense of safety and security. As she says: "Two stoners nod at me as I leave the park. I nod back and keep walking. Normally, I'd be a little bit worried. Worried that they might follow me, or that they might have bad intentions. But I don't feel nervous walking alone in my boy clothes, and I realize this is why I kept it up so long. This feeling of inevitability, of unquestioned acceptance. It was addicting. Comfortable. Easy. At least I thought it was." She's under so much pressure in her female body, and her boy persona is a welcome relief. And even though things become very complicated, it's really hard for her to give up the masquerade when it makes her feel safe, something she's lacking because of the aggressive harassment.
The online harassment that Cameron endures is awful, and when she tries to defend herself online, it gets much worse. Her phone number is posted and she starts getting death threats. It's really hard to imagine how anyone can think that death threats are a appropriate way to express your annoyance with a young woman who made a costume from a game she didn't play, but given what happens when a woman dares to express an opinion online, this all feels unfortunately realistic. As Cameron says, "What did I expect? I expected to post some photo ops and get stupid reaction gifs from my friends. Not hundreds of pages of abuse, not death threats growled at me through my phone."
I wish I could say that the character of Brody, the comic store manager, is too over the top, but he's pretty realistic. He's a classic "nice guy" who thinks that women owe him something just because he's polite to them. The author does a good job of making Brody three-dimensional, and ultimately, we see that his behavior is rooted in fear.
My only complaint is that the ending wraps up perhaps a little too neatly, but this is a minor quibble and didn't affect my enjoyment overall.
I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.
Cameron is having a rough summer. She's just moved to a smaller town from Portland. She hasn't made any friends yet, she's bored, and she's being harassed online. Cameron is a talented seamstress who makes her own cosplay costumes. She recently won a contest, and when she mentioned publicly that she doesn't actually play the game she made a costume from, the online abuse starts. She's called an attention whore, pathetic, and other far less printable things. She visits the local comic book store looking for some costume inspiration. Unfortunately, the guy who runs the place is a sexist jerk, who says her boyfriend won't like the comics she's picked out, points her to the "girl section," and belittles her taste. But it's the only comic book store in her town, so she decides to borrow some of her twin brother's clothes and return disguised as a boy, hoping to avoid the sexist scrutiny.
The whole thing goes perfectly. She's treated well at the store, and ends up being asked to join a Dungeons and Dragons group. She's happy to make friends, and it becomes harder and harder to come clean about her true identity.
This book is really great. It takes on serious issues, but also manages to be really funny and poignant. Cameron masquerading as a boy has a very Twelfth Night vibe. There's some romantic confusion: Her new friend Why falls for her in her boy guise, while she's interested in another guy, Lincoln, and her brother Cooper has a thing for Why. Being a boy gives her a sense of safety and security. As she says: "Two stoners nod at me as I leave the park. I nod back and keep walking. Normally, I'd be a little bit worried. Worried that they might follow me, or that they might have bad intentions. But I don't feel nervous walking alone in my boy clothes, and I realize this is why I kept it up so long. This feeling of inevitability, of unquestioned acceptance. It was addicting. Comfortable. Easy. At least I thought it was." She's under so much pressure in her female body, and her boy persona is a welcome relief. And even though things become very complicated, it's really hard for her to give up the masquerade when it makes her feel safe, something she's lacking because of the aggressive harassment.
The online harassment that Cameron endures is awful, and when she tries to defend herself online, it gets much worse. Her phone number is posted and she starts getting death threats. It's really hard to imagine how anyone can think that death threats are a appropriate way to express your annoyance with a young woman who made a costume from a game she didn't play, but given what happens when a woman dares to express an opinion online, this all feels unfortunately realistic. As Cameron says, "What did I expect? I expected to post some photo ops and get stupid reaction gifs from my friends. Not hundreds of pages of abuse, not death threats growled at me through my phone."
I wish I could say that the character of Brody, the comic store manager, is too over the top, but he's pretty realistic. He's a classic "nice guy" who thinks that women owe him something just because he's polite to them. The author does a good job of making Brody three-dimensional, and ultimately, we see that his behavior is rooted in fear.
My only complaint is that the ending wraps up perhaps a little too neatly, but this is a minor quibble and didn't affect my enjoyment overall.
I received an ARC from Amazon Vine.