Take a photo of a barcode or cover
shealea's reviews
622 reviews
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater
2.0
Fair warning to whoever's reading this; this is going to be one of those "it's-not-you-it's-me" kinds of spiel. I'll be frank, alright? Shiver is the kind of book that leaves you with two options: you likey or you don't likey. In my case, it's the latter.
Now, before I move on to the actual reviewing of the content and all the other elements, let me tell you the story of how I stumbled upon this innocent read. Six words: The school library's 'popular books' bookshelf. I vow to never trust that section of the library ever again. Don't get me started on the cool-looking cover. It's misleading, okay? It's misleading.
Er, the paragraph above isn't exactly relevant so I'm striking it all out. Right, back to business.
I'll admit that the writing style isn't exactly intolerably horrendous. It's quite the opposite, really. The words flowed like bee-you-tea-fool poetry. (Hah. See what I did there? But I digress.) The vivid imagery, the gorgeous settingwhich deserves an A+, the majority of the plot, the grammar, the heroine named Grace, they were all pretty good. The thing is, the prose-style of this book felt a bit forced to me. It seemed to me that dear Maggie Stiefvater was trying so hard to come up with a compelling, lyrical, fictional piece. (To be fair, I'm sure there are people out there who were into how Shiver was written but it didn't work for me in this one.) Anyway, so there, my first comment on this book: trying too hard.
Now, since I've already mentioned Grace, I'll expound on her. Alright. Grace, from what I can tell in this book, is a pretty tolerable character. I wouldn't say that she's likable - because she isn't, in my opinion - but there was no instance of me hating her. A good sign? Perhaps.
In Shiver, she's a teenage girl who's fascinated by the wolves (the yellow-eyed one in particular) near her house ever since the day she survived a wolf attack.Never mind the fact that most teenage girls would probably be scared shitless of wolves after experiencing that kind of trauma. I mean, I can deal with the whole 'curious as to why the yellow-eyed one saved me' scenario but what I just couldn't comprehend was how Grace managed to be... attracted to Sam... in wolf form.
Then again, whatever, that isn't my main problem with her anyway. My biggest dilemma with supposedly curious, headstrong, quick-witted, spunky, independent Grace is the fact that I couldn't connect to her at all. Perhaps it's because I've never experienced falling in love with a dog before... or something to that extent. Whatever the reason is, I just didn't care about her life, her problems, her experiences and basically anything that involved her. (And honestly, being disconnected with the main character is a huge, unforgivable no-no.)
Moreover, I had a lot of mixed feelings about Sam. At first, I cooed at the fact that he plays the guitar. (I mean, seriously, musicians are my undoing.) At first, I was giddy that he isn't all brooding, bipolar, dominating and abusive... unlike Daniel Grigori. At first, I was relieved - let me type that in all caps: RELIEVED - that finally, a sweet, caring, sensitive guy is going to get the girl this time. At first, I felt sympathy towards him. What with the whole 'shifting-to-a-wolf-whenever-it-gets-too-cold' thing. However, all those 'at firsts' Avada Kedavra-ed themselves the moment I realized that Samuel (or whatever his full name is) is actually a Samantha. It's as if Stiefvater forgot to give him a penis - forgive me for my crudeness but there's no other way to explain his overly feminine demeanor. There were instances when I literally groaned, "Grow a pair. Please." whenever Sam decides that he "looks like a blimp" in a particular coat, thinks things like, "I don't even know what they are. Probably a million calories." or compares his self to "a leaky womb".
Isabel/Isabella/Isa-whatever-her-name-is-I-don't-really-give-a-flying-duck is probably the best character there. Yep, she is so amazing I can't even remember her name. Which says a lot about the rest of the characters. Kidding aside, Isabel (let's assume that that's her name) shows the most development and growth in this book. In the beginning, she was, to simply put, one of the Mean Girls - beautiful, blonde and bitchy. I'll admit that I wasn't a huge fan of her at first; in fact, I barely noticed her... but as the story progressed, Isabel became a real spitfire, a doting sister and a determined heroine - which is just wrong since Grace is the heroine. Nevertheless, she is, by far, my favorite character in this series. (Not saying that I'll actually finish this series. [b:Linger|6654313|Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #2)|Maggie Stiefvater|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1292482391s/6654313.jpg|6848948] is more tormenting, in my humble opinion.)
The pacing of this book is excruciatingly sluggish. (There was this instance wherein I stopped reading and paid attention to - wait for it - Chemistry class. I preferred Chemistry over this book. Not that there's anything wrong with that class but come on, people.)
I think that's one of the main reasons why I just couldn't lose myself in Shiver. It felt like Stiefvater was constantly droning on and on and on. That said, I couldn't find it in my heart to enjoy the plot either. In fact, sometimes, I wasn't even aware of what was happening.
From what I can remember though, the plot is... fairly okay: Girl is attacked by wolves. Yellow-eyed wolf rescues girl from death without a particular reason. Girl is in awe and is curious about yellow-eyed wolf. Yellow-eyed wolf shares the same interest with girl. Girl learns that her wolf is actually a teenage boy. Girl and wolf boy fall in love. Girl and wolf boy attempt to find a cure. Girl and wolf boy unravel mysteries and go on adventures while dragging Isabel along. - There's nothing particularly vomit-inducing if you think about it, right? Right. I guess what really didn't work for me is the delivery. As I already mentioned, I just didn't care. At all.
I do, however, applaud Miss Stiefvater for the hauntingly beautiful setting and for her talent in twisting words into carefully crafted sentences. (Although I can't say the same for her song lyrics. I mean, I'm not a composer, but I've dabbled a bit in writing lyrics and the content of Sam's songs are just... too poetic. There's a fine line between 'vague' and 'what-drug-is-this-boy-on'. But whatever.)
In my opinion, Shiver is bordering between 1.5 and 2 stars. I didn't necessarily vehemently dislike it, but I enjoyed an estimate of nothing - if that makes sense. That said, I do think that there's an audience out there who would be delighted and enjoy giving this series a shot. In this case, I'm just not one of them.
Er, the paragraph above isn't exactly relevant so I'm striking it all out. Right, back to business.
I'll admit that the writing style isn't exactly intolerably horrendous. It's quite the opposite, really. The words flowed like bee-you-tea-fool poetry. (Hah. See what I did there? But I digress.) The vivid imagery, the gorgeous setting
Now, since I've already mentioned Grace, I'll expound on her. Alright. Grace, from what I can tell in this book, is a pretty tolerable character. I wouldn't say that she's likable - because she isn't, in my opinion - but there was no instance of me hating her. A good sign? Perhaps.
In Shiver, she's a teenage girl who's fascinated by the wolves (the yellow-eyed one in particular) near her house ever since the day she survived a wolf attack.
Then again, whatever, that isn't my main problem with her anyway. My biggest dilemma with supposedly curious, headstrong, quick-witted, spunky, independent Grace is the fact that I couldn't connect to her at all. Perhaps it's because I've never experienced falling in love with a dog before... or something to that extent. Whatever the reason is, I just didn't care about her life, her problems, her experiences and basically anything that involved her. (And honestly, being disconnected with the main character is a huge, unforgivable no-no.)
Moreover, I had a lot of mixed feelings about Sam. At first, I cooed at the fact that he plays the guitar. (I mean, seriously, musicians are my undoing.) At first, I was giddy that he isn't all brooding, bipolar, dominating and abusive
Isabel/Isabella/Isa-whatever-her-name-is-I-don't-really-give-a-flying-duck is probably the best character there. Yep, she is so amazing I can't even remember her name. Which says a lot about the rest of the characters. Kidding aside, Isabel (let's assume that that's her name) shows the most development and growth in this book. In the beginning, she was, to simply put, one of the Mean Girls - beautiful, blonde and bitchy. I'll admit that I wasn't a huge fan of her at first; in fact, I barely noticed her... but as the story progressed, Isabel became a real spitfire, a doting sister and a determined heroine - which is just wrong since Grace is the heroine. Nevertheless, she is, by far, my favorite character in this series. (Not saying that I'll actually finish this series. [b:Linger|6654313|Linger (The Wolves of Mercy Falls, #2)|Maggie Stiefvater|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1292482391s/6654313.jpg|6848948] is more tormenting, in my humble opinion.)
The pacing of this book is excruciatingly sluggish. (There was this instance wherein I stopped reading and paid attention to - wait for it - Chemistry class. I preferred Chemistry over this book. Not that there's anything wrong with that class but come on, people.)
I think that's one of the main reasons why I just couldn't lose myself in Shiver. It felt like Stiefvater was constantly droning on and on and on. That said, I couldn't find it in my heart to enjoy the plot either. In fact, sometimes, I wasn't even aware of what was happening.
From what I can remember though, the plot is... fairly okay: Girl is attacked by wolves. Yellow-eyed wolf rescues girl from death without a particular reason. Girl is in awe and is curious about yellow-eyed wolf. Yellow-eyed wolf shares the same interest with girl. Girl learns that her wolf is actually a teenage boy. Girl and wolf boy fall in love. Girl and wolf boy attempt to find a cure. Girl and wolf boy unravel mysteries and go on adventures while dragging Isabel along. - There's nothing particularly vomit-inducing if you think about it, right? Right. I guess what really didn't work for me is the delivery. As I already mentioned, I just didn't care. At all.
I do, however, applaud Miss Stiefvater for the hauntingly beautiful setting and for her talent in twisting words into carefully crafted sentences. (Although I can't say the same for her song lyrics. I mean, I'm not a composer, but I've dabbled a bit in writing lyrics and the content of Sam's songs are just... too poetic. There's a fine line between 'vague' and 'what-drug-is-this-boy-on'. But whatever.)
In my opinion, Shiver is bordering between 1.5 and 2 stars. I didn't necessarily vehemently dislike it, but I enjoyed an estimate of nothing - if that makes sense. That said, I do think that there's an audience out there who would be delighted and enjoy giving this series a shot. In this case, I'm just not one of them.
Pillow Thoughts by Courtney Peppernell
1.0
Truth be told, I can probably go on and on about how mediocre and embarrassing this literary monstrosity is because God knows I never thought I’d ever find a poetry book that I would end up loathing more than the collections written by Lang Leav. However, there are much more important things for me to accomplish than to waste so many words on a book that shouldn’t even warrant any positive attention.
To summarize everything, Pillow Thoughts is a portfolio of generic content framed using totally obsolete structures. Structurally, it’s atrocious. Lyrically, it’s atrocious. Stylistically, it’s atrocious. Perhaps the only remotely positive thing I can say is that I am incredibly blessed to have received only a digital copy of this book; otherwise, had I been given a physical copy, I would have grieved for the trees that died and ultimately lost my shit altogether.
* Read the full, detailed rant in my natural habitat! (Seriously, read it.)
Full disclosure: I was supposed to participate in a promotional blog tour for this book, which is why I received a copy of it. However, as evidenced by my star rating, I most certainly did not enjoy reading it, and as such, I decided to forfeit my spot in the tour. Still, many thanks to the blog tour organizer for providing a review copy.
Actual rating: 1 star
To summarize everything, Pillow Thoughts is a portfolio of generic content framed using totally obsolete structures. Structurally, it’s atrocious. Lyrically, it’s atrocious. Stylistically, it’s atrocious. Perhaps the only remotely positive thing I can say is that I am incredibly blessed to have received only a digital copy of this book; otherwise, had I been given a physical copy, I would have grieved for the trees that died and ultimately lost my shit altogether.
* Read the full, detailed rant in my natural habitat! (Seriously, read it.)
Full disclosure: I was supposed to participate in a promotional blog tour for this book, which is why I received a copy of it. However, as evidenced by my star rating, I most certainly did not enjoy reading it, and as such, I decided to forfeit my spot in the tour. Still, many thanks to the blog tour organizer for providing a review copy.
Actual rating: 1 star
That Thing Between Eli & Gwen by J.J. McAvoy
1.0
Review in a bullet-point format:
- Okay, wow, this was heaps of awful and terrible.
- Dialogue that was either ridiculously sappy monologue or laughably bad dirty talk.
- Unnecessary drama that was blown out of proportion for the sake of extending the plot!!!
- Pet names that made me cringe so hard I'm fairly certain I started an earthquake somewhere (i.e. Dr. Asshole, Boyfriend, Sexy Pussy Fucker).
- Honestly, how in the world can anyone fall in love with someone who not only said that dating you is pitiful but also said:
- At one point, Gwen literally told Eli that she does not want to share him with his daughter. How is that okay?
- A TRANS CHARACTER'S SUICIDE WAS USED AS A MERE PLOT DEVICE!!! And being a transperson was likened to wanting to pursue a career in music. Oh my fucking god. (See spoiler to read the actual passage.)
- TL;DR: Gwen and Eli are both horrible, horrible people that bring out the toxic in each other.
- Not much of a romance; this was very lust-driven and sex-centered.
- Plenty of badly written sex scenes.
- Ultimately unsatisfying, especially that god-awful epilogue.
- I won't ever recommend this literary garbage to anyone.
Content/Trigger warnings:
Infidelity and affair; suicide of a trans character; possible misgendering; transphobia; sex; surprise pregnancy.
Quick disclosure: I received a digital ARC of That Thing Between Eli & Gwen from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
Actual rating: 1 star
* Find more of my bookish shenanigans in my natural habitat!
- Okay, wow, this was heaps of awful and terrible.
- Dialogue that was either ridiculously sappy monologue or laughably bad dirty talk.
- Unnecessary drama that was blown out of proportion for the sake of extending the plot!!!
- Pet names that made me cringe so hard I'm fairly certain I started an earthquake somewhere (i.e. Dr. Asshole, Boyfriend, Sexy Pussy Fucker).
"So do you mind, Dr. Asshole, Boyfriend, Sexy Pussy Fucker, Eli?" She smiled so wide I couldn't help but smile back.
- Honestly, how in the world can anyone fall in love with someone who not only said that dating you is pitiful but also said:
"Yes! Especially compared to who I actually was dating! Not only was she beautiful and classy, but also extremely intelligent. How do you compare to that?"
- At one point, Gwen literally told Eli that she does not want to share him with his daughter. How is that okay?
"I can see it so clearly, me not seeing you because of work and then when I do you have to be with your daughter. Besides, I still have things I want to do with my career too... I'm selfish, Eli. I don't like that I am, but I don't want to share you with Hannah or your daughter or anyone. I feel like they are standing between us, like they are the thing between us... "
- A TRANS CHARACTER'S SUICIDE WAS USED AS A MERE PLOT DEVICE!!! And being a transperson was likened to wanting to pursue a career in music. Oh my fucking god. (See spoiler to read the actual passage.)
Spoiler
Putting my plate down on his coffee table, I faced him. "I'm going to tell you something sad, but please don't worry about if I'm still hurt or anything like that. For the most part, I'm really okay." I could tell he felt a little lost. "I'm only saying this because you fought with your brother. So when I was twelve, my brother came back from college and told my parents he didn't feel like a guy. He said he hated looking at this person in the mirror that wasn't him. It was killing him on the inside. He planned to become a female, and my father lost it." I whispered that last part.
"He was so angry he almost had a heart attack. He told my brother to never come back to his house ever again... not until he 'got his head on straight'. My brother, he tried. He tried as hard as he could to change himself to be more like what my father wanted, but that just made him hate himself more. No one talked about it. Then, a year later, he committed suicide, and only a few days after that, we each got letters in the mail from him. Mine was him telling me how much he loved me, and wanted me to be the best Guinevere in the history of Guineveres, and also to take care of his puppy, Taigi. To my parents, he said that he loved them, even though he knew he disgusted them, and that he hoped they could one day forgive him. My father cried for weeks, and my mom couldn't even get out of bed." I hated talking about my past. I had told no one this, not even Sebastian.
"When I go home and hug my father, I always wonder if he regrets what he said to my brother, if he would have preferred to have two daughters instead of one daughter and a dead son. The only reason I'm saying this to you - and I'm sorry for making this evening so depressing - is because hearing Logan felt like I was hearing my brother. The same thing, just this time it's about music. Is it really the same? No. Yes. I'm not sure. All I know is, we all get one life, and it's hard enough without the people we love trying to stop us from completing our dreams. Could he go out there and completely fail as a musician? Sure. It happens to millions of people, and I'm sure there will be more than enough people who will tell him he isn't any good, or that he will never make it. Believe me, I know, because I've met all of them."
- TL;DR: Gwen and Eli are both horrible, horrible people that bring out the toxic in each other.
- Not much of a romance; this was very lust-driven and sex-centered.
- Plenty of badly written sex scenes.
- Ultimately unsatisfying, especially that god-awful epilogue.
- I won't ever recommend this literary garbage to anyone.
Content/Trigger warnings:
Infidelity and affair; suicide of a trans character; possible misgendering; transphobia; sex; surprise pregnancy.
Quick disclosure: I received a digital ARC of That Thing Between Eli & Gwen from the publisher (via NetGalley) in exchange for an honest review.
Actual rating: 1 star
* Find more of my bookish shenanigans in my natural habitat!
The Upside of Falling Down by Rebekah Crane
1.0
Full review to follow!
Quick thoughts:
- Well, this was dreadfully boring and underwhelming.
- Hard-to-follow, hard-to-believe character motivations.
- Weakly written, cartoonish characters with angst-y backstories that made me roll my eyes.
- Lackluster writing style interspersed with generic, feel-good motivational crap (e.g. letting go, finding who you are, making changes).
- Annoying, hypocritical protagonist who hardly thought or acted logically? Jesus.
- Token diversity (i.e. a side character that likes to announce he’s Jewish and gay to literally everyone he meets).
- What’s the exact opposite of sizzling chemistry? That’s what Clementine and Kieran had.
- Poorly executed attempt at an interesting mystery. The reveals were also terribly done.
- Circular dialogues about who saved whom. Eww.
- SO. MANY. PLOT. HOLES. This wasn’t cohesive in any way.
- The resolution was really rushed, and I cringed the whole time.
-
- No emotions outside of cringing were felt as I read this.
Actual rating: 1 star
* Read more of my bookish shenanigans in my natural habitat!
Quick thoughts:
- Well, this was dreadfully boring and underwhelming.
- Hard-to-follow, hard-to-believe character motivations.
- Weakly written, cartoonish characters with angst-y backstories that made me roll my eyes.
- Lackluster writing style interspersed with generic, feel-good motivational crap (e.g. letting go, finding who you are, making changes).
- Annoying, hypocritical protagonist who hardly thought or acted logically? Jesus.
- Token diversity (i.e. a side character that likes to announce he’s Jewish and gay to literally everyone he meets).
- What’s the exact opposite of sizzling chemistry? That’s what Clementine and Kieran had.
- Poorly executed attempt at an interesting mystery. The reveals were also terribly done.
- Circular dialogues about who saved whom. Eww.
- SO. MANY. PLOT. HOLES. This wasn’t cohesive in any way.
- The resolution was really rushed, and I cringed the whole time.
-
Spoiler
Spoiler alert: she magically, instantaneously remembers her pre-plane crash memories in the last few chapters in the most unbelievable, overly convenient way possible.- No emotions outside of cringing were felt as I read this.
Actual rating: 1 star
* Read more of my bookish shenanigans in my natural habitat!
the boys i've loved and the end of the world by Catarine Hancock
1.0
Caution: Scalding tea ahead.
Content warning: Quoted excerpts used in this review and poems mentioned in this review contain themes of homophobia, suicide, islamophobia, transphobia, and drug addiction.
Okay. I don't know how or why this little poetry book found its way into my Kindle because I am absolutely sure that I did not purchase it. I'm convinced Satan hacked into my Amazon account. But I digress.
I'd like to preface this review with the confession that I never expected the boys i've loved and the end of the world to blow me away. I was expecting this collection to be filled with endless poems about love and heartbreaks -- and the thing about me and love/heartbreak poems is that I either feel really neutral about them or intensely dislike them. Rarely do I ever enjoy poetry books that are solely romance-themed. All of this is to say that I went into this thinking that, at worst, I'd be left unimpressed.
In the first few pieces, I was proven right. I was greeted with (arguably mediocre) poems that referred to the poet's lover as a "forlorn stargazer" who still found the poet beautiful despite being "full of dead stars and broken debris" -- and similar themes of "I'm so broken but this boy somehow thinks I'm still worth something" and its romanticization. (The year is 2020 and we're still romanticizing toxic and unhealthy relationships. My heart weeps.)
When I came across a poem about a turtle struggling to breathe (which, if I'm being honest, made me laugh out loud because it presents our environmental issues as this New, Shocking Thing that none of us were aware of prior to reading her poem), I learned that Catarine Hancock is an activist, according to her author bio that she wrote. It turns out that she "writes predominantly love poetry, but she also writes about [...] feminism and other controversial political topics," according to the author bio that she wrote.
I phrase it like that because while her poems about romance and young love come across as heartfelt and sincere (I just didn't like them), her other poems feel really forced and performative. It seems like Catarine wanted to prove that she's this remarkably progressive individual with a good head on her shoulders. In the boys i've loved and the end of the world, it really, truly shows that she pours her 100% into her love poetry and halfheartedly writes about activism and social issues. And this halfheartedness leads to her doing more harm than good: overly simplistic messages about nuanced issues, reductive (and potentially harmful) assumptions about gender, and worst of all, this abundantly privileged cis abled white woman tends to write about marginalized experiences that aren't hers to write about.
1. ode to the lgbt+ community -- In which she writes about the struggles faced by gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, asexuals, genderqueers, pansexuals, and aromantics from the first-person point of view. Again, the author is heterosexual. Most of her poems revolve around the boys she has kissed and the boys she has loved. Also, she even dedicates an entire stanza to the experiences of lgbtqiap+ allies, as if they experience the same level of discrimination and oppression as queer people.
2. ten words for the ten boys i've kissed -- In which #3 is "maybe if you weren't a homophobe, it could've worked out." and #4 is "people said you were gay, and i cared too much."
3. on the refugee crisis -- In which nothing about the refugee crisis is discussed. It's literally just "they [refugees] are important" rephrased enough times to create four stanzas. Completely insubstantial.
4. maybe a love story will catch your attention -- In which she describes the oppression faced by Muslims because she "fell in love with a muslim boy once" and that therefore qualifies her to write about Islamophobia.
5. as a woman -- In which we get around 9 stanzas about wearing/not-wearing makeup and the entire poem is packaged as a (white) feminist piece. The lack of nuance is truly astonishing.
6. cherry blossom kisses -- In which she narrates a fictional forbidden relationship between two gay men, which ends with one of them taking their own life. This particular piece makes casual use of a gay slur (f*gg*t).
7. the parallels between loving someone and drug addiction -- In which the title of the poem is self-explanatory, and yes, it's that bad.
8. a series of short poems on the boys who love(d) me -- In which she tells one of her exes that "i'm sorry i made you / want to kill yourself when i ended it but i / hope you've grown up because threatening / suicide won't make me love you again."
9. trans rights are human rights -- In which trans people are referred to as "in-betweens." And its last stanza goes: who cares if it's "weird" or you don't know why, / it's not about what you think, it isn't your life. / you respect their decision because it doesn't harm you; / get over it: some boys like pink and some girls like blue. Which just about sums up her reductive understanding of gender identities.
These are probably the most problematic pieces I noticed from this collection, but there are certainly more. In addition to these, the author casually gaslights her exes and explores sensitive topics (i.e. victim blaming, suicide, mental illness, infidelity) carelessly and irresponsibly.
I'm sorry, but the boys i've loved and the end of the world isn't it. Moving forward, I will no longer support this author (although I hope she someday learns how to be a good ally).
Not recommended (1 star)
Content/Trigger warnings
Content warning: Quoted excerpts used in this review and poems mentioned in this review contain themes of homophobia, suicide, islamophobia, transphobia, and drug addiction.
Okay. I don't know how or why this little poetry book found its way into my Kindle because I am absolutely sure that I did not purchase it. I'm convinced Satan hacked into my Amazon account. But I digress.
I'd like to preface this review with the confession that I never expected the boys i've loved and the end of the world to blow me away. I was expecting this collection to be filled with endless poems about love and heartbreaks -- and the thing about me and love/heartbreak poems is that I either feel really neutral about them or intensely dislike them. Rarely do I ever enjoy poetry books that are solely romance-themed. All of this is to say that I went into this thinking that, at worst, I'd be left unimpressed.
In the first few pieces, I was proven right. I was greeted with (arguably mediocre) poems that referred to the poet's lover as a "forlorn stargazer" who still found the poet beautiful despite being "full of dead stars and broken debris" -- and similar themes of "I'm so broken but this boy somehow thinks I'm still worth something" and its romanticization. (The year is 2020 and we're still romanticizing toxic and unhealthy relationships. My heart weeps.)
When I came across a poem about a turtle struggling to breathe (which, if I'm being honest, made me laugh out loud because it presents our environmental issues as this New, Shocking Thing that none of us were aware of prior to reading her poem), I learned that Catarine Hancock is an activist, according to her author bio that she wrote. It turns out that she "writes predominantly love poetry, but she also writes about [...] feminism and other controversial political topics," according to the author bio that she wrote.
I phrase it like that because while her poems about romance and young love come across as heartfelt and sincere (I just didn't like them), her other poems feel really forced and performative. It seems like Catarine wanted to prove that she's this remarkably progressive individual with a good head on her shoulders. In the boys i've loved and the end of the world, it really, truly shows that she pours her 100% into her love poetry and halfheartedly writes about activism and social issues. And this halfheartedness leads to her doing more harm than good: overly simplistic messages about nuanced issues, reductive (and potentially harmful) assumptions about gender, and worst of all, this abundantly privileged cis abled white woman tends to write about marginalized experiences that aren't hers to write about.
1. ode to the lgbt+ community -- In which she writes about the struggles faced by gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgenders, asexuals, genderqueers, pansexuals, and aromantics from the first-person point of view. Again, the author is heterosexual. Most of her poems revolve around the boys she has kissed and the boys she has loved. Also, she even dedicates an entire stanza to the experiences of lgbtqiap+ allies, as if they experience the same level of discrimination and oppression as queer people.
2. ten words for the ten boys i've kissed -- In which #3 is "maybe if you weren't a homophobe, it could've worked out." and #4 is "people said you were gay, and i cared too much."
3. on the refugee crisis -- In which nothing about the refugee crisis is discussed. It's literally just "they [refugees] are important" rephrased enough times to create four stanzas. Completely insubstantial.
4. maybe a love story will catch your attention -- In which she describes the oppression faced by Muslims because she "fell in love with a muslim boy once" and that therefore qualifies her to write about Islamophobia.
5. as a woman -- In which we get around 9 stanzas about wearing/not-wearing makeup and the entire poem is packaged as a (white) feminist piece. The lack of nuance is truly astonishing.
6. cherry blossom kisses -- In which she narrates a fictional forbidden relationship between two gay men, which ends with one of them taking their own life. This particular piece makes casual use of a gay slur (f*gg*t).
7. the parallels between loving someone and drug addiction -- In which the title of the poem is self-explanatory, and yes, it's that bad.
8. a series of short poems on the boys who love(d) me -- In which she tells one of her exes that "i'm sorry i made you / want to kill yourself when i ended it but i / hope you've grown up because threatening / suicide won't make me love you again."
9. trans rights are human rights -- In which trans people are referred to as "in-betweens." And its last stanza goes: who cares if it's "weird" or you don't know why, / it's not about what you think, it isn't your life. / you respect their decision because it doesn't harm you; / get over it: some boys like pink and some girls like blue. Which just about sums up her reductive understanding of gender identities.
These are probably the most problematic pieces I noticed from this collection, but there are certainly more. In addition to these, the author casually gaslights her exes and explores sensitive topics (i.e. victim blaming, suicide, mental illness, infidelity) carelessly and irresponsibly.
I'm sorry, but the boys i've loved and the end of the world isn't it. Moving forward, I will no longer support this author (although I hope she someday learns how to be a good ally).
Not recommended (1 star)
Content/Trigger warnings
Spoiler
Abusive relationships; victim blaming; mentions of suicide and suicide ideation; romanticization of mental illness and suicide; homophobia; transphobia; islamophobia; harmful representation of lgbtqiap+ identities; drug addiction; blood and bleeding; rape culture.
The Fever King by Victoria Lee
5.0
I made the right call to make this my first read of 2020. It’s my newest obsession and shiny new favorite. Hands down the best science fantasy I’ve ever read.