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A review by aeralston
Ballads of Suburbia by Stephanie Kuehnert
Did not finish book. Stopped at 49%.
Stilted dialogue. Serious situations become funny when they are overdramatized. Does not feel connected to reality and how people really act and behave. Took me out of the story and only read on to underline parts that made me chuckle.
A fascination with death and misery. I’m talking about those crappy exploitation film scripts. They’re not deep.
The “not like other girls” mindset is upheld. Self-absorption and victim complex. Trauma loses impact when every character (besides MC Kara) has gone through extreme situations. Not disconnected from reality but trauma is ham-handed, resulting in caricature.
However, I will say that this is how many teens act. They can be very self-absorbed. They lack control and can’t escape their small bubble. They’re confronted with the reality that even parents are flawed. I think the execution just failed for me.
In short, it felt like a teenage emo soap opera that failed to ring true and failed to move me.
A fascination with death and misery. I’m talking about those crappy exploitation film scripts. They’re not deep.
The “not like other girls” mindset is upheld. Self-absorption and victim complex. Trauma loses impact when every character (besides MC Kara) has gone through extreme situations. Not disconnected from reality but trauma is ham-handed, resulting in caricature.
However, I will say that this is how many teens act. They can be very self-absorbed. They lack control and can’t escape their small bubble. They’re confronted with the reality that even parents are flawed. I think the execution just failed for me.
In short, it felt like a teenage emo soap opera that failed to ring true and failed to move me.