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emilyinlalaland 's review for:
S.T.A.G.S
by M.A. Bennett
I read this while I was waiting downtown for a dinner thing, and let me just say: what a perfect book to read in Soho, with all the posh accents around.
I had a lot of fun with this one! It's a little like Gossip Girl mixed with Heathers mixed with the Riot Club mixed with the Hunger Games. An engaging mystery slash action piece. Greer was a fun protagonist, and even though she made some of the stupidest decisions ever, she at least admitted that they were beyond dumb. Chanel was by-far my favourite though, and I do feel like, given the small page count, she and the Medievals (other than Henry) could have been fleshed out slightly better.
My biggest gripes of the book were the weird social media stances and lessons that the book tried to impart, and I really don't think the whole technology vs. history thing fit well into a story that was much more based on class. It was distracting, and ultimately felt irrelevant and at-times preachy. The only character of colour in the book is also HIGHLY exoticized when he isn't being derided for his race, and the constant references comparing him to Aladdin and referring to India only in context to... tigers and empire? It was weird.
Also, just like the social media element, I thought the cult element was WAY too much for the last 15-20% of the book. If this is going to be a series, I get why it needed to be introduced, but it was just super rushed and honestly made little sense if we're meant to buy it semi-realistically. Also also also, while I loved Greer and her love of movies, the constant talk about the last Sherlock Holmes movie (Game of Shadows) in the last 20% was just... a bit much and distracted from any tension. It's never good to have two characters standing on a waterfall and have one literally say out loud "WOW THIS IS EXACTLY LIKE THIS OTHER BOOK/MOVIE WHERE TWO CHARACTERS ALSO STAND ON A WATERFALL."
Still! This was a fun, quick read, and I'd totally check out a sequel.
I had a lot of fun with this one! It's a little like Gossip Girl mixed with Heathers mixed with the Riot Club mixed with the Hunger Games. An engaging mystery slash action piece. Greer was a fun protagonist, and even though she made some of the stupidest decisions ever, she at least admitted that they were beyond dumb. Chanel was by-far my favourite though, and I do feel like, given the small page count, she and the Medievals (other than Henry) could have been fleshed out slightly better.
My biggest gripes of the book were the weird social media stances and lessons that the book tried to impart, and I really don't think the whole technology vs. history thing fit well into a story that was much more based on class. It was distracting, and ultimately felt irrelevant and at-times preachy. The only character of colour in the book is also HIGHLY exoticized when he isn't being derided for his race, and the constant references comparing him to Aladdin and referring to India only in context to... tigers and empire? It was weird.
Also, just like the social media element, I thought the cult element was WAY too much for the last 15-20% of the book. If this is going to be a series, I get why it needed to be introduced, but it was just super rushed and honestly made little sense if we're meant to buy it semi-realistically. Also also also, while I loved Greer and her love of movies, the constant talk about the last Sherlock Holmes movie (Game of Shadows) in the last 20% was just... a bit much and distracted from any tension. It's never good to have two characters standing on a waterfall and have one literally say out loud "WOW THIS IS EXACTLY LIKE THIS OTHER BOOK/MOVIE WHERE TWO CHARACTERS ALSO STAND ON A WATERFALL."
Still! This was a fun, quick read, and I'd totally check out a sequel.