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goosemixtapes's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
okay it’s 2am i feel fucking crazy i was gonna save my review of this for tomorrow when i'm awaker but i'm just sitting here, insane, feeling like i need to write a thesis about this book and specifically what it’s doing with heterosexuality and the ever-present never-spoken specter of lesbianism
If it hadn't been what it was, it would have been beautiful.
this book like. snagged me and then pulled me behind a car. does the writing sometimes shade into purple prose? yes. but that doesn't matter. because most of the time it's knife-sharp and it goes down so fast and the entire experience is addicting. like, i'm going to have to watch the netflix series now, and trying to get me to watch TV is like pulling teeth blindfolded. i feel like i could reread this book again, tomorrow, and love it even more.
There's something dangerous about the boredom of teenage girls.
calling this “fight club for women” feels dismissive, because calling anything “X for women” 99% of the time makes me want to bite. but in this case, i really do think the comparison is apt, because fight club is about the violent homoerotic ugliness of manhood, and dare me is about the violent homoerotic ugliness of teenage girlhood. not just stereotypical teenage girlhood (the backstabbing, the gossip, the eating disorders, although that’s all present), but like. girlhood as a constant teetering on the edge of something (womanhood? catastrophe?). girlhood as a being desired and a desiring something, but emptily, in ways that make you feel unpersoned. girlhood and innocence and the question of who gets to own innocence. girlhood and going ignored. girlhood and not wanting to be ignored. and girlhood and heterosexuality, and the pain and emptiness and ennui of the perfect suburban life, and yet the inability to even let yourself look beyond it or want something different. this book does absence SO well, guys. the things that float unspoken--beth's mother, addy's parents, the casey thing, hell, addy herself is so often a blankness with something dark humming underneath. i don't think anyone ever says the word lesbian in this book. only dyke.
beth cassidy is one of the characters of all fucking time. beth cassidy i am bonkers insane about you. i feel like i need to read this entire book over again now that i understand her just so that her scenes will feel even more like i'm bleeding from all orifices. i think the ending might be polarizing and to be fair i don't know how i feel about the very last chapter but i am staggered by the build to that climactic scene. it's not often that i feel a sense of physical heaviness as the story breaknecks forth to the inevitable. i also think i am maybe going to be thinking about the coach/addy/beth triangle forever. there's something There in the scene with prine and beth versus the quieter, more ongoing grooming of addy by coach. would you believe me if i told you this book is a love story
🎵 Smells Like Teen Spirit (Malia J cover)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide, Eating disorder, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Sexual violence
Minor: Car accident
mediocremasen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
This book is in that middle place of not great but not terrible. I'm not upset that I spent time reading it but I also probably won't remember it in a month.
(Except the line "Seven, Eight, fucking ex-tend Slaussen!" Which was been playing in my head since I read it for a reason I do not understand.)
It was an indepth look into an often misunderstood world. I think the main call in the marketing being the murder was a misstep.
It doesn't even take place until like halfway through the book and then it's not really a huge plot point, just there to add tension.
I liked the unreliable narrator aspect of the story but I wish there had been a better resolution at the end.
It's mentioned multiple times that Addy isn't the front she puts on and she lies to herself, we even see that being the case a few times, but there is never really a full conclusion to it. Like she never addresses it and nothing happens to make the reader think that has changed so it kinds feels like an underused or unnecessary bit to the story.
The writing also got confusing more than once. Luckily I saw another review commenting on this as well so it's not just my reading comprehension.
There would be paragraphs where the vibe was that something had happened but it wasn't clear what had happened.
Marking my example as a spoiler just to be safe.
A great example is that there were a few times where there was a scene with Beth and Addy alone. The scene could be read as them having had sex; it talks about how tired and sore they are, how excited they are as they laid beside each other, but it could also be read as them doing any number of other things.
There's nothing to help explain what has just happened, we just see the after affect of it.
I'm not saying everything needs to be written down plainly, I'm all for things being hinted at, but they need to be hinted at.
Those moments could have added another layer to the Addy/Beth relationship and help unravel more why they have both stayed even though it is so toxic.
Instead it's just left and can at times feel like something an editor should have cut out.
A very easy read that does a good job of making you feel wary and like something sinister is going to happen. I feel like it ticks a lot of boxes for a decent thriller.
I just wish the ending would have been better/resolved more.
It feels more like the end of the first book in a series than the actual end of a work
A solid three.
(Except the line "Seven, Eight, fucking ex-tend Slaussen!" Which was been playing in my head since I read it for a reason I do not understand.)
It was an indepth look into an often misunderstood world. I think the main call in the marketing being the murder was a misstep.
It doesn't even take place until like halfway through the book and then it's not really a huge plot point, just there to add tension.
I liked the unreliable narrator aspect of the story but I wish there had been a better resolution at the end.
It's mentioned multiple times that Addy isn't the front she puts on and she lies to herself, we even see that being the case a few times, but there is never really a full conclusion to it. Like she never addresses it and nothing happens to make the reader think that has changed so it kinds feels like an underused or unnecessary bit to the story.
The writing also got confusing more than once. Luckily I saw another review commenting on this as well so it's not just my reading comprehension.
There would be paragraphs where the vibe was that something had happened but it wasn't clear what had happened.
Marking my example as a spoiler just to be safe.
A great example is that there were a few times where there was a scene with Beth and Addy alone. The scene could be read as them having had sex; it talks about how tired and sore they are, how excited they are as they laid beside each other, but it could also be read as them doing any number of other things.
There's nothing to help explain what has just happened, we just see the after affect of it.
I'm not saying everything needs to be written down plainly, I'm all for things being hinted at, but they need to be hinted at.
Those moments could have added another layer to the Addy/Beth relationship and help unravel more why they have both stayed even though it is so toxic.
Instead it's just left and can at times feel like something an editor should have cut out.
A very easy read that does a good job of making you feel wary and like something sinister is going to happen. I feel like it ticks a lot of boxes for a decent thriller.
I just wish the ending would have been better/resolved more.
It feels more like the end of the first book in a series than the actual end of a work
A solid three.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol, Cursing, Eating disorder, and Death
Minor: Infidelity, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Rape
lydia123's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
This is my second Megan Abbott read, and honestly even though her writing style is quite over-the-top, I love it. Abbott writes women and girls in a way that just isn’t replicated anywhere else. The teenagers in this book are mean, violent and full of all the patriarchal conditioning that impacts you as a teenage girl. They egg on each other’s eating disorders and downplay sexual assault. It’s awful, but it’s also deeply authentic and intriguing. They exert their power in the only way they can - through cheer. This book kicks away anyone who dares say that cheerleading isn’t a sport - hell it’s more than a sport for these girls, it’s a cult, it’s a religion, it’s their lives.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Eating disorder and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Sexual violence, Infidelity, Body shaming, Bullying, Fatphobia, and Adult/minor relationship
evasiveplant's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body shaming, Death, Eating disorder, Murder, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, and Vomit
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
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