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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
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
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
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
mira123's review
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Ich bin ein großer Fan von Neal Shustermans Büchern. "Scythe" hat mich total gefesselt und die "Vollendet"-Reihe erst recht. Deswegen war für mich auch klar, dass ich auch sein neues Buch "Game Changer" lesen will.
In welcher Welt würdet ihr Leben wollen, wenn ihr zwischen allen möglichen Paralleluniversen wählen könntet? Ich hätte da schon so ein paar Wünsche, die ich mir gerne erfüllen würde... Blöd nur, dass das in diesem Buch nicht so funktioniert. Ash landet nämlich völlig unvorbereitet in dieser schrägen Position als Mittelpunkt des Universums. Das bedeutet konkret: Er kann zwischen den Paralleluniversen wechseln. Was zu Beginn für ihn zwar eine verwirrende Situation ist, aber keine Katastrophe für die Welt bedeutet, führt bald zur Wiedereinführung der Rassentrennung. Ihr seht: Die Situation ist recht schnell eskaliert. Und irgendwie muss er jetzt dafür sorgen, dass er wieder zurück in seine Welt kommt oder vielleicht sogar in eine bessere. Blöd nur, dass ihm keiner erklären kann, was genau er dafür machen muss...
Bis jetzt hört sich das einfach an wie ein normaler Fantasy-Thriller, oder? Allerdings wäre das kein Buch von Neal Shusterman, wenn es nicht gleichzeitig um sehr ernste Themen ginge. Es geht hier um Privilegien, die man sich oft gar nicht bewusst ist, wenn man sie hat. Ich meine: Ich denke kaum darüber nach, dass ich weiß bin. Meine Hautfarbe spielt in meinem Leben keine Rolle. Gleichzeitig aber doch, denn sie bewahrt mich vor Problemen und Diskriminierung. Und Ash ist da ziemlich ähnlich. In der Theorie weiß er, dass er privilegiert ist. Aber so richtig bewusst wird ihm das erst im Laufe der Handlung.
Ich muss euch leider sagen, dass ich den Schreibstil in diesem Buch schwächer fand als in den anderen Büchern von Neal Shusterman. Bei den anderen Büchern war ich absolut begeistert vom Stil und konnte das sie gar nicht mehr aus der Hand legen. Hier war der Stil schon okay, aber halt nicht mehr. Vielleicht liegt das an der Übersetzung, ich hab bis jetzt aber keines der Bücher im Original gelesen und kann das deswegen auch nicht wirklich beurteilen.
Mein Fazit? Spannend, aber leider etwas schwächer als die anderen Bücher Shustermanns.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug use, Homophobia, Misogyny, Outing, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Slavery, and Toxic relationship
kbergsten's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
5.0
Excellent definitely recommend!!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Hate crime, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Slavery, Sexism, Racial slurs, Racism, Police brutality, Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Medical content
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