Q U I C K S T A T S
Characters- ⭐⭐. 5
Setting- ⭐⭐⭐
Writing style- ⭐⭐. 5
Overall rating- ⭐⭐⭐
// Content Warning: Bullying //
Publisher: Clarion Books
Age group: Young adult
Genre(s): Contemporary
Pub date: May 12th 2020
P R E M I S E
As a devotee of classic novels, Mary Porter-Malcolm knows all about Mistakes That Have Been Made, especially by impressionable young women. So, when a girl at her new high school nearly succumbs to the wiles of a notorious cad, Mary starts compiling the Scoundrel Survival Guide, a rundown of literary types to be avoided at all costs.
Unfortunately, Mary is better at dishing out advice than taking it—and the number one bad boy on her list is terribly debonair. As her best intentions go up in flames, Mary discovers life doesn’t follow the same rules as fiction. If she wants a happy ending IRL, she’ll have to write it herself.
M Y R E V I E W
God, where to start? I tried so hard to love this book but I just could not because the narrator was so pretentious, and for what? I can't really blame her, or her six siblings, because her parents would literally comfort their children using fancy words to jazz up their life, like thanks mum calling me a zany head makes me feel so much better about myself (zany is a synonym for quirky for the illiterate fools, like myself, out there). It didn't help that as soon as I met this character, my mind starts going 'Mary Bennet' every ten seconds, because a) her name was Mary, literally b) drastically long analyses of the society and its people that nobody even cares about and c) the usage of big words I'm 95% sure she doesn't even understand. But, to give credit where credit is due, I respect Mary's hustle and her ability to get through classical literature without getting a brain ache (and she reads them for fun?!).
The only character I could stand was Alex and yes, he gets his own paragraph. Besides being cute and all (he plays the piano for crying out loud), dude also carried the entire book on his back. I loved his sense of humour and his personality as a whole. He was the only character who had an ounce of common sense and without him I probably wouldn't have finished this book. He earned the entire two stars in the overall rating.
The writing style was very Austen-y at times, considering this book follows Mary's narration and honestly, it was quite intimidating. The language used wasn't very accessible, especially to a sleep deprived me who relied on my terrible eyesight. The observations of the society weren't clever at all. I found them very, as Mary's father kindly put in, melodramatic. I am incredibly grateful that all my friends are very stupid (no offence but you guys are) because if someone I knew spoke like Mary, I would bang my head on the wall multiple times.
T R O P E S
Enemies to lovers (one sided hate actually)
Coming of age
R E P R E S E N T A T I O N
Queer side character (I think)
S I M I L A R B O O K S
Everything, everything by Nicola Yoon
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