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A review by maddi_md
The S-Word by Chelsea Pitcher
4.0
Angie and Lizzie were best friends once upon a time, that is until Angie caught Lizzie alone in a hotel room with her boyfriend on prom night. Once the rest of the school discovered what had happened, Lizzie is quickly branded the school slut. The word ‘slut’ covers her locker and belonging so one day, feeling bullied and alone, Lizzie commits suicide. This story starts out the day after Lizzie’s funeral when more graffiti and entry’s of Lizzie’s diary begin to circulate around school. Angie struggles with the death of her best friend, the malevolence of high school students and her own guilt over what happened. Angie immediately sets out for revenge against the people who drove her friend to suicide. Angie’s mission to understand her friends final days and discover who targeted her so mercilessly leads Angie to discover dark secrets about the people around her that she was never expecting.
After some relatively recent and highly publicized events in America I became seriously disgusted and obsessed with the idea of slut shaming. Maybe this is the reason that I did enjoy this book so much because it does confront the inequality between men and women when it comes to screwing around. Why is it that the female is instantly pinned with all the guilt? Why is she the one to be alienated and bullied while the guy receives relatively no blame? It’s totally unfair and happens way too often in today’s modern society. I hate it. I hate the word “slut” and I hate the all the judgement. I love that this book confronts the issue and points out how wrong it is. Angie investigates the events that led to prom night and the consequences of that night, she asks the hard questions like ‘why did the school label her a slut?’ and, uncovers the secret’s of Lizzie’s life and those of her bullies.
This is a very emotional and dramatic book. I really felt the anguish and guilt that plagued Angie after the death of her best friend. I loved most of the characters, like Jesse and Kennedy, and absolutely loathed Drew (just like I’m supposed to). While at times this book was slightly predictable, there were a few plot twists that I was most certainly not expecting (but that just might be me) and I found that to be super exciting because I find a lot of books to be a tad predictable these days.
Of course this book isn’t perfect, but not many are. At times I found the main character to be way too melodramatic for my taste. The writing could also definitely be improved upon, there were some awkward and forced moments throughout the book that really bothered me. And while I appreciate that the author is trying to get across a lot of important social issues about bullying, gender inequality, and slut shaming, I also don’t think it needed to be so obviously pointed out. The messages could have been written into the story in a very clear but much more subtly way which would have made it sound slightly less preachery. But other than that I found myself really immersed in this story.
This book has gotten a lot of mixed reviews but I really did enjoy it and would definitely recommend you give it a go!!
After some relatively recent and highly publicized events in America I became seriously disgusted and obsessed with the idea of slut shaming. Maybe this is the reason that I did enjoy this book so much because it does confront the inequality between men and women when it comes to screwing around. Why is it that the female is instantly pinned with all the guilt? Why is she the one to be alienated and bullied while the guy receives relatively no blame? It’s totally unfair and happens way too often in today’s modern society. I hate it. I hate the word “slut” and I hate the all the judgement. I love that this book confronts the issue and points out how wrong it is. Angie investigates the events that led to prom night and the consequences of that night, she asks the hard questions like ‘why did the school label her a slut?’ and, uncovers the secret’s of Lizzie’s life and those of her bullies.
This is a very emotional and dramatic book. I really felt the anguish and guilt that plagued Angie after the death of her best friend. I loved most of the characters, like Jesse and Kennedy, and absolutely loathed Drew (just like I’m supposed to). While at times this book was slightly predictable, there were a few plot twists that I was most certainly not expecting (but that just might be me) and I found that to be super exciting because I find a lot of books to be a tad predictable these days.
Of course this book isn’t perfect, but not many are. At times I found the main character to be way too melodramatic for my taste. The writing could also definitely be improved upon, there were some awkward and forced moments throughout the book that really bothered me. And while I appreciate that the author is trying to get across a lot of important social issues about bullying, gender inequality, and slut shaming, I also don’t think it needed to be so obviously pointed out. The messages could have been written into the story in a very clear but much more subtly way which would have made it sound slightly less preachery. But other than that I found myself really immersed in this story.
This book has gotten a lot of mixed reviews but I really did enjoy it and would definitely recommend you give it a go!!