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marryallthepeople's review against another edition
1.0
Too sensationalised and it annoyed it. It was like it was trying too hard to be clever and when you only have limited minutes to spend on a book, I felt like I was wasting time even when I was flipping through the pages and not taking anything in!
Megan summed it up the best for me: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/744342255?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
Megan summed it up the best for me: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/744342255?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1
avsfan08's review against another edition
2.0
Yes, I read it to see what the fuss was about. Felt the whole thing to be very underwhelming with unlikeable characters.
daisyq's review against another edition
3.0
I only read this because it was briefly banned here. I doubt I would've heard of it or bothered otherwise, so suck on that, Family First. I'm not the target audience, and I just found it okay. At times it feels like it's trying a bit too hard, but it's a solid YA read. Perhaps it has more resonance if you've read the book to which it's a prequel (I haven't).
kbell23's review against another edition
1.0
I was underwhelmed by this book. Perhaps because of the controversy, I expected more...? Devon seemed flat as a character, and let things happen to him without taking an active role. Also, some of the supporting characters were underdeveloped.
melchk's review against another edition
3.0
I was looking to read a 'banned book' for one of my reading challenges. This is one that was banned in New Zealand and I'm not even sure why (considering the age group this book is aimed at...we are kidding ourselves if we don't think our 14-15 year old children don't know about any of these things)...the ban didn't last long before it was lifted so someone agrees with me. It started off quite well , I enjoyed the Maori feel and understood the little quirks very well, but I got lost in the last few chapters; it covers some pretty serious subjects which was upsetting. Not a bad read overall.
treereader's review against another edition
1.0
So last this book was temporarily banned while they decided whether kids could read it. This was because it had (shock horror) sex and drugs and swearing in it. I know, outrageous right? So know it's not banned any more I decided I'd read it, to see if the level of scandal was more or less than the hundreds of young adult books I've read. I was particularly interested in, for example, Cherub, which is a series I've always found a little extreme.
So I read Into the River.
And it was really, really bad
The writing
Atrocious. Especially at the beginning. The grammar and punctuation were poor, and the use of speech marks stood out the most - when a guy was telling a page or two long story, they'd put " before it (correct) and then at the start of every single line break after it. Without closing off the speechmarks.
I wanted to find the editor and say DO YOUR JOB to them.
Plot
Not very good. Sort of like [b:Spud|701937|Spud (Spud, #1)|John van de Ruit|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1346079654s/701937.jpg|1600810], but nowhere near as good - less humour, poorer writing, and a mysterious 'weight' that hung over the main character.
Also the blurb and first chapter (Te Arepa, the mc, catches this giant eel in a part of a river where there's a rahui he doesn't know about. He is worried there'll be utu from the spirit world). This plot has no significance whatsoever to the rest of the story, which is, in essence, a boarding school story with extra drugs.
The ONE THING I LIKED was that the mc was Maori, which you don't often get in YA. The author portrayed the (kinda hidden) racism in Auckland, esp. private school Auckland, well, and although I disliked the Maori characters back at the mc's home, Dawe's portrayal of life near a marae was good, and most of the time the slang felt real.
To conclude, this was a rubbish book with a tinsy bit of Kiwi-ism showing through.
It had some pretty graphic scenes, but certainly no worse than Cherub or some others that I can't quite remember the names of right now, and this wasn't really enough to ban it. Unless they're gonna ban Cherub in NZ too?
Also, the whole environment was REALLY REALLY HOMOPHOBIC and I couldn't tell whether the author was portraying that as an unfortunate truth, or whether he reckoned he was right. >:-(
So I read Into the River.
And it was really, really bad
The writing
Atrocious. Especially at the beginning. The grammar and punctuation were poor, and the use of speech marks stood out the most - when a guy was telling a page or two long story, they'd put " before it (correct) and then at the start of every single line break after it. Without closing off the speechmarks.
I wanted to find the editor and say DO YOUR JOB to them.
Plot
Not very good. Sort of like [b:Spud|701937|Spud (Spud, #1)|John van de Ruit|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1346079654s/701937.jpg|1600810], but nowhere near as good - less humour, poorer writing, and a mysterious 'weight' that hung over the main character.
Also the blurb and first chapter (Te Arepa, the mc, catches this giant eel in a part of a river where there's a rahui he doesn't know about. He is worried there'll be utu from the spirit world). This plot has no significance whatsoever to the rest of the story, which is, in essence, a boarding school story with extra drugs.
The ONE THING I LIKED was that the mc was Maori, which you don't often get in YA. The author portrayed the (kinda hidden) racism in Auckland, esp. private school Auckland, well, and although I disliked the Maori characters back at the mc's home, Dawe's portrayal of life near a marae was good, and most of the time the slang felt real.
To conclude, this was a rubbish book with a tinsy bit of Kiwi-ism showing through.
It had some pretty graphic scenes, but certainly no worse than Cherub or some others that I can't quite remember the names of right now, and this wasn't really enough to ban it. Unless they're gonna ban Cherub in NZ too?
Also, the whole environment was REALLY REALLY HOMOPHOBIC and I couldn't tell whether the author was portraying that as an unfortunate truth, or whether he reckoned he was right. >:-(
ksbrennan's review against another edition
2.0
“The mesh of stories that held him back was finally burned away; he was maddened and desperate with curiosity.”
So, this book was banned, and I can clearly see why: sex, drugs, violence, predatory adults.
I have complicated feelings. The writing is beautiful. The teen characters feel realistic: their perspectives, feelings and reactions.
On the other hand, I think boarding schools are awful. Admittedly, so does Dawes, but I had a hard time reading about the bullying and competitiveness, enabled by adults. Also, a lot of the adults in this are truly awful: they’re racist, they enable bullying, they’re actively abusive.
The last part might be the crux of what makes me uncomfortable about this novel. The predatory gay male teacher is a damaging trope, and keeping to the youth perspective, although realistic, doesn’t allow the book to actively deal with how awful the situation is.
Of course, the heterosexual sex is also pretty upsetting. No straight people in this novel seem to understand birth control, foreplay, or active consent.
So, this book was banned, and I can clearly see why: sex, drugs, violence, predatory adults.
I have complicated feelings. The writing is beautiful. The teen characters feel realistic: their perspectives, feelings and reactions.
On the other hand, I think boarding schools are awful. Admittedly, so does Dawes, but I had a hard time reading about the bullying and competitiveness, enabled by adults. Also, a lot of the adults in this are truly awful: they’re racist, they enable bullying, they’re actively abusive.
The last part might be the crux of what makes me uncomfortable about this novel. The predatory gay male teacher is a damaging trope, and keeping to the youth perspective, although realistic, doesn’t allow the book to actively deal with how awful the situation is.
Of course, the heterosexual sex is also pretty upsetting. No straight people in this novel seem to understand birth control, foreplay, or active consent.
kdb's review
2.0
This feels like two books glued together. I enjoyed aspects of it and it was pretty well written, but the main character at the beginning (for me) was unrecognizable as the character at the end. Not being of Maori descent- I can't say if his depiction of a Maori youth is accurate, but that also seemed to be a bit hollow. Overall it was a book that for me did not live up to it's potential.
jillianmatchett's review
1.0
I tried to read this, I really did. I was curious because it was banned due to a sex scene between two teenagers. This has to be the worst written book that I have ever read, so I could not continue with it. The only reason this book should be banned is the quality of the writing. Awful.
serendipitysbooks's review
3.0
An interesting look into the life of a young Maori teen who lives with his grandfather in a small rural community. A school teacher recognises his academic promises and arranges for him to sit a scholarship exam for a prestigious boarding school. Winning and accepting that scholarship throw him into a whole new world. In adapting to a fairly brutal environment, and losing the connection with his whanau and community, he makes decisions and enter a world most parents would not want for their children. The novel ends with him being expelled from school and leaping from a car onto the city streets where he will presumably establish a new life for himself. It's hard to believe it was, for a time, illegal to supply this book. While the language is not what I would use it was not overdone or out of context, nor did the behaviour of teachers (sadly) seem out of line with my own experiences.