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A review by becandbooks
Take Three Girls by Simmone Howell, Fiona Wood, Cath Crowley
TW: misogyny, slut shaming, fat shaming, rape, drug/alcohol addiction
When I finished this book I had a lot of mixed emotions. I honestly did not know how I was going to rate such a book. I put the review off countless times because of the emotion that came from thinking about this book. It was a bit of a rollercoaster.
Because here is the thing.
+As far as the plot goes, I honestly found it too slow and quite cliche.
+As a YA book, I found incredibly compelling, informative, honest, big-issue-tackling, full of positive female rep, and I L O V E D the bi rep.
+And then there was this one scene. That one scene made me so incredibly upset and disappointed at this book.
A lot of the positive feedback on this book concentrates on ALL THE GOOD IMPORTANT THINGS that this book brings to light. Of which I believe the authors deserve applause for.
Take Three Girls covers cyberbullying, self-image, feminism and the gender discrimination, sexuality, and the importance of friendship and having a support circle. This book contains so many important discussion points that should be included in YA books. And if I could just base it off this the book was heading for a 3- to 4-star review.
But in amongst all these super important themes that the book explores and discusses, they missed one. The authors threw something in and then chose to not name it, not discuss it further, and therefore I also haven't seen a single review discuss it's poor inclusion in this book.
About halfway through the book, one of the MCs is raped. The entire scene is about a page long, but at no point is it made explicitly obvious to the reader. Following the scene, there is a comment from another MC about sex, but it's pretty much implied as consensual.
I read the rest of the book, desperate to find some sort of reference to the scene occurring but there was nothing.
If you want to hear a further discussion, check out my full review.
Simply put though; If you are to include something in a book that is of this nature, be clear and explicit about what it is. Do not put in this scene and then leave out all further discussion of it. Do not refuse to name it.
This one scene brought a potentially 4-star review down to 2-stars. I give the book credit for all that it did, but the poor way this scene was handled is just too concerning for me to ignore.
In many ways, this is a good book. But that scene ruined it for me. The ways the authors chose to handle the scene ruined it for me.
And honestly, it's a shame.
Full review | More reviews | Twitter | Pinterest | A room without books is like a body without a soul (M.T. Cicero)
When I finished this book I had a lot of mixed emotions. I honestly did not know how I was going to rate such a book. I put the review off countless times because of the emotion that came from thinking about this book. It was a bit of a rollercoaster.
Because here is the thing.
+As far as the plot goes, I honestly found it too slow and quite cliche.
+As a YA book, I found incredibly compelling, informative, honest, big-issue-tackling, full of positive female rep, and I L O V E D the bi rep.
+And then there was this one scene. That one scene made me so incredibly upset and disappointed at this book.
"I need to pop the delusion bubble and grow some fangs"
A lot of the positive feedback on this book concentrates on ALL THE GOOD IMPORTANT THINGS that this book brings to light. Of which I believe the authors deserve applause for.
Take Three Girls covers cyberbullying, self-image, feminism and the gender discrimination, sexuality, and the importance of friendship and having a support circle. This book contains so many important discussion points that should be included in YA books. And if I could just base it off this the book was heading for a 3- to 4-star review.
“I hear longing in these notes. They go all the way to the past and forward to some future where I haven't yet arrived.”
But in amongst all these super important themes that the book explores and discusses, they missed one. The authors threw something in and then chose to not name it, not discuss it further, and therefore I also haven't seen a single review discuss it's poor inclusion in this book.
Spoiler
About halfway through the book, one of the MCs is raped. The entire scene is about a page long, but at no point is it made explicitly obvious to the reader. Following the scene, there is a comment from another MC about sex, but it's pretty much implied as consensual.
I read the rest of the book, desperate to find some sort of reference to the scene occurring but there was nothing.
If you want to hear a further discussion, check out my full review.
Simply put though; If you are to include something in a book that is of this nature, be clear and explicit about what it is. Do not put in this scene and then leave out all further discussion of it. Do not refuse to name it.
This one scene brought a potentially 4-star review down to 2-stars. I give the book credit for all that it did, but the poor way this scene was handled is just too concerning for me to ignore.
In many ways, this is a good book. But that scene ruined it for me. The ways the authors chose to handle the scene ruined it for me.
And honestly, it's a shame.
Full review | More reviews | Twitter | Pinterest | A room without books is like a body without a soul (M.T. Cicero)