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dododenise's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
There’s something about Neal Shusterman’s writing that just works for me. I cannot let his stories go. He has great ideas and is able to execute them in a satisfying way. Same goes for this book:
In many ways I would describe this book as an educational book for social justice. It deals with topics with racism, homophobia, abuse… In many ways it’s very on the nose. But since this is a book for teens, I think it works. I think the book can teach white teens, straight teens, cis male teens about the injustices in our world. And it does so in a very interesting way, in a book full of mystery and scifi magic. The alternative worlds make for a great tool to do thought experiments on what could be, what has been and giving it a new angle.
In many ways Ash is an unreliable narrator. What I found interesting to clearly make his voice in the book him from the future, telling the story of what happened to him. So in the one hand you have Ash’s ignorance and confusion in the moment itself, as well as an Ash from the future providing commentary. I think it helps with focusing on the right themes, and making the right judgements for those who might otherwise take a wrong turn. Perhaps to some readers it might seem like Neal does not appreciate their intelligence of figuring it out themselves, but I liked it. Sometimes it’s nice to just be told what is going wrong to be able to focus on more details.
In many ways I would describe this book as an educational book for social justice. It deals with topics with racism, homophobia, abuse… In many ways it’s very on the nose. But since this is a book for teens, I think it works. I think the book can teach white teens, straight teens, cis male teens about the injustices in our world. And it does so in a very interesting way, in a book full of mystery and scifi magic. The alternative worlds make for a great tool to do thought experiments on what could be, what has been and giving it a new angle.
In many ways Ash is an unreliable narrator. What I found interesting to clearly make his voice in the book him from the future, telling the story of what happened to him. So in the one hand you have Ash’s ignorance and confusion in the moment itself, as well as an Ash from the future providing commentary. I think it helps with focusing on the right themes, and making the right judgements for those who might otherwise take a wrong turn. Perhaps to some readers it might seem like Neal does not appreciate their intelligence of figuring it out themselves, but I liked it. Sometimes it’s nice to just be told what is going wrong to be able to focus on more details.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Violence, Racism, Misogyny, and Hate crime
ms_sarah621's review
challenging
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I’m not sure how to put this into words. First, this was nothing what I thought it was going to be. I thought there was going to be a strong focus on concussions and the changing perspective of them in sports. I thought there would be some fantasy/sci-fi elements mixed in. However, it was not that. At first, I was into the changing realities and what was happening. The confusion, the mystery, the tension. It was intriguing and kept my interest, even though it was different from my expectations. Then, the political/social justice elements became stronger and stronger as I read. Now, it’s important for books to handle these tough topics. Yet, this book tried to handle too many of them at once. It just kept coming and coming, and I started to lose the point of the story. This really caused my enjoyment level to be smushed as I kept reading. This book was too much and didn’t cover the topic of concussions like I thought. It was still interesting, and I love Neal Shusterman’s writing. This was just not the one for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Car accident, Bullying, Hate crime, Outing, Racism, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Terminal illness, Police brutality, and Gun violence
aelis_'s review
dark
emotional
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Homophobia
Moderate: Sexism
morag's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.25
I don't even know where to begin. The one good thing I can say about this book is that it was well-intentioned. Shusterman clearly wanted to teach his audience about sexism, racism, abuse, and homophobia. In that regard, this road to hell is shining like the sun, because it is one of the most poorly paced, shallow, ham-fisted attempts at a social justice novel I have ever read.
The real problem is that he wants to do it all. He's trying to talk about four highly complex topics in one novel, and as a result, none of them are explored to the extent they deserve. Not only that, but because of the way the dimension hopping powers work, everything layers on top of one another. So he ends up in a world where segregation never ended, and then on top of that he becomes gay, and then on top of that he becomes a woman and an abuse victim all at once.
Every time he changes, he ends up switching focus onto the new thing, and then the other problems are relegated to the background. He spends almost the entire book in a world where segregation never ended, but then they barely touch it for half that time because he has to talk about homophobia/feminism/abuse. As a result, every exploration into these topics is extremely shallow.
Again, I appreciate the good intentions, but Shusterman should have picked one topic and stuck with it.
The real problem is that he wants to do it all. He's trying to talk about four highly complex topics in one novel, and as a result, none of them are explored to the extent they deserve. Not only that, but because of the way the dimension hopping powers work, everything layers on top of one another. So he ends up in a world where segregation never ended, and then on top of that he becomes gay, and then on top of that he becomes a woman and an abuse victim all at once.
Every time he changes, he ends up switching focus onto the new thing, and then the other problems are relegated to the background. He spends almost the entire book in a world where segregation never ended, but then they barely touch it for half that time because he has to talk about homophobia/feminism/abuse. As a result, every exploration into these topics is extremely shallow.
Again, I appreciate the good intentions, but Shusterman should have picked one topic and stuck with it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Misogyny
sharkysheets's review
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Be prepared for strange, reads much less serious than Dry or Roxy
Content Warnings
Moderate: Car accident, Sexism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Racism, Cursing, Addiction, Bullying, Classism, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Cultural appropriation, and Gun violence
emmaopaline's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, and Homophobia
littletiramisu's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Homophobia, Physical abuse, and Emotional abuse
persipha_books's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Outing, Terminal illness, Death, and Car accident
Minor: Drug use, Body shaming, Homophobia, Blood, Gun violence, Medical content, and Physical abuse
reiki's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Homophobia, and Toxic relationship
kshertz's review
adventurous
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
This book is seriously challenging. It would have been a good resistance book club pick. It’s like butterfly wings and the changes that seem small change the entire world. It made me think and reflect on the past, gender, racism, and future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Sexism, Car accident, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Homophobia, Racism, and Toxic relationship