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michael_g13 's review for:
True Biz
by Sara Nović
True biz? I was really excited to read this and had high expectations, but I was disappointed. It had a lot of potential, in my opinion, but not very good execution. I feel horrible, because I love having more disability rep in modern literature, but this was not the best. Spoilers ahead, read if you dare...
What I Disliked:
1. Charlie and Austin's relationship moving waayyyy too fast. It felt like they met, and then a couple of chapters later they were moving to the point of PDA and...other things. In just a few chapters!
2. Didn't like the character Slash and all the anarchy parts. I skimmed through their parts.
3. All of the loose ends from the supporting characters (such as Wanda, Kayla, and Charlie's mom) went completely unresolved by the end. And I personally thought Kayla should have been a larger character, having brought some diversity to the story being Black and Deaf.
4. Speaking of unresolved, the whole ending.
a. The climax of the story, what it had been leading up to since the prologue, was rushed into the last 36 pages of the book, and actually concluded 2 pages before the book ended, leaving NO room for the story to wrap up completely. The ending consisted of only a one-and-a-half-page chapter. It was so abrupt and vague, and I was left with more questions that I wanted the answer to: What happened to everyone at the end?? Did Charlie get re-implanted, and Sky get implanted? Will Mel take February back and WHY??? So frustrating!!!
b. In this ending, the Deaf students, angry about cochlear implants and the impending foreclosure of their school, resolve to make people hear them by teaming up with a group of drug-addled anarchists to bomb the bionics plant that makes the CI technology. They took inspiration from Deaf President Now (DPN), a protest in 1988 where Deaf students of Gallaudet University (a Deaf college) took action to demand a Deaf president instead of the hearing candidate their Board of Trustees chose.
But here's the thing: DPN was relatively harmless, peaceful even. The Gallaudet students hot-wired buses only for the sole purpose of barricading the gates to the school, and were diplomatic in giving their demands to the Board of Trustees. They also marched on the US Capitol, peacefully. They did burn effigies resembling the people they were protesting against, but they didn't hurt the actual people. What the True Biz students and their anarchist allies were going to attempt was very dangerous, and were bordering on the possibility of hurting people. I was reading these chapters and thinking "Oh my God, somebody's going to get hurt." They kept saying that they were inspired by DPN, but the two situations are completely different! DPN didn't resort to violence and destruction, which is why the message of this book is so wrong. Learn from DPN and actually demand stuff! Get people on your side! DPN wasn't anarchy, it was community!
What I Liked:
1. Austin was my favorite of the three protagonists.
2. The parts between chapters where specific ASL signs/moments of Deaf culture and history/Deaf rights were taught.
3. The characters' relationships/dynamics with each other (specifically February and Mel, and Austin and his parents)
4. Writing style was mostly good
What I Had Mixed Feelings Towards (but leaning towards dislike) = the formatting
- Liked the italics for when Deaf characters were signing
- Did not like the multiple columns for the signing
- No quotation marks?! Not even those for the hearing/those who are actually speaking?!
- Had a lot of trouble figuring out who is hearing/Deaf based on the formatting
In conclusion, even though the numbers seem to be medium on both sides of the Like/Dislike scale, the ending really made it clear for me. 2 stars. That's the real-talk. Definitely. Seriously. True biz.
What I Disliked:
1. Charlie and Austin's relationship moving waayyyy too fast. It felt like they met, and then a couple of chapters later they were moving to the point of PDA and...other things. In just a few chapters!
2. Didn't like the character Slash and all the anarchy parts. I skimmed through their parts.
3. All of the loose ends from the supporting characters (such as Wanda, Kayla, and Charlie's mom) went completely unresolved by the end. And I personally thought Kayla should have been a larger character, having brought some diversity to the story being Black and Deaf.
4. Speaking of unresolved, the whole ending.
a. The climax of the story, what it had been leading up to since the prologue, was rushed into the last 36 pages of the book, and actually concluded 2 pages before the book ended, leaving NO room for the story to wrap up completely. The ending consisted of only a one-and-a-half-page chapter. It was so abrupt and vague, and I was left with more questions that I wanted the answer to: What happened to everyone at the end?? Did Charlie get re-implanted, and Sky get implanted? Will Mel take February back and WHY??? So frustrating!!!
b. In this ending, the Deaf students, angry about cochlear implants and the impending foreclosure of their school, resolve to make people hear them by teaming up with a group of drug-addled anarchists to bomb the bionics plant that makes the CI technology. They took inspiration from Deaf President Now (DPN), a protest in 1988 where Deaf students of Gallaudet University (a Deaf college) took action to demand a Deaf president instead of the hearing candidate their Board of Trustees chose.
But here's the thing: DPN was relatively harmless, peaceful even. The Gallaudet students hot-wired buses only for the sole purpose of barricading the gates to the school, and were diplomatic in giving their demands to the Board of Trustees. They also marched on the US Capitol, peacefully. They did burn effigies resembling the people they were protesting against, but they didn't hurt the actual people. What the True Biz students and their anarchist allies were going to attempt was very dangerous, and were bordering on the possibility of hurting people. I was reading these chapters and thinking "Oh my God, somebody's going to get hurt." They kept saying that they were inspired by DPN, but the two situations are completely different! DPN didn't resort to violence and destruction, which is why the message of this book is so wrong. Learn from DPN and actually demand stuff! Get people on your side! DPN wasn't anarchy, it was community!
What I Liked:
1. Austin was my favorite of the three protagonists.
2. The parts between chapters where specific ASL signs/moments of Deaf culture and history/Deaf rights were taught.
3. The characters' relationships/dynamics with each other (specifically February and Mel, and Austin and his parents)
4. Writing style was mostly good
What I Had Mixed Feelings Towards (but leaning towards dislike) = the formatting
- Liked the italics for when Deaf characters were signing
- Did not like the multiple columns for the signing
- No quotation marks?! Not even those for the hearing/those who are actually speaking?!
- Had a lot of trouble figuring out who is hearing/Deaf based on the formatting
In conclusion, even though the numbers seem to be medium on both sides of the Like/Dislike scale, the ending really made it clear for me. 2 stars. That's the real-talk. Definitely. Seriously. True biz.