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A review by mathildeliva
Watch Us Rise by Ellen Hagan, Renée Watson
2.0
Watch us rise is trying to be so many things. A tale about friendship, love, body positivity, stereotypes, gender equality, death and foremost breaking the literal patriarchy. Unfortunately for me, it fell flat in almost all aspects. This is a problem with a lot of contemporary ya books. They try to cover soooo much, that they end up barely scratching the surface of anything important.
Also, this book is just so over the top. It only covers the very basics of feminism and does so in such a whiny, shallow way that it almost comes off as a parody. And I just couldn't take it seriously.
It somehow managed to be both self-aware (here I'm referring to Ms. Lucas calling out Chelsea on her stupidity) but also having characters, who are stupid from the beginning *hmfph hmfph Chelsea* not go through any character development whatsoever.
PLEASE DON'T GET ME STARTED ON CHELSEA. God was she annoying. This book would definitely have benefited if it switched her POV for someone else. Maybe seeing Meg's thoughts and perspectives shift throughout the story could have been interesting? But anyways, Chelsea always, always, ALWAYS had some stupid comment to make. She couldn't just mind her own damn business. Not even once. I'm also a little sour that nothing about her relationship with James was resolved. I have so much more to say about her, but if you truly want to experience the pain of her narrative, the only way is to just go read the book yourself.
Oh and also: For a book that hates stereotypes so much, it enforces quite a bit of them itself. Meg is the mean, pretty, white girl and James is the jock with a sidechick. Please just give these characters some depth (this also goes for Nadine. Her only distinguishing character trait was being good at fashion).
To briefly mention the writing: It was bland and forgettable. The two narratives were distinguishable, but mostly because Chelsea was always whining.
The main reasons why I'm giving this two instead of one stars:
- The art was awesome!! Wish there would have been more.
- It was fastpaced and very easy to read.
- Jasmine had some good things to say every once in a while.
Thanks for reading :) Bye.
Also, this book is just so over the top. It only covers the very basics of feminism and does so in such a whiny, shallow way that it almost comes off as a parody. And I just couldn't take it seriously.
It somehow managed to be both self-aware (here I'm referring to Ms. Lucas calling out Chelsea on her stupidity) but also having characters, who are stupid from the beginning *hmfph hmfph Chelsea* not go through any character development whatsoever.
PLEASE DON'T GET ME STARTED ON CHELSEA. God was she annoying. This book would definitely have benefited if it switched her POV for someone else. Maybe seeing Meg's thoughts and perspectives shift throughout the story could have been interesting? But anyways, Chelsea always, always, ALWAYS had some stupid comment to make. She couldn't just mind her own damn business. Not even once. I'm also a little sour that nothing about her relationship with James was resolved. I have so much more to say about her, but if you truly want to experience the pain of her narrative, the only way is to just go read the book yourself.
Oh and also: For a book that hates stereotypes so much, it enforces quite a bit of them itself. Meg is the mean, pretty, white girl and James is the jock with a sidechick. Please just give these characters some depth (this also goes for Nadine. Her only distinguishing character trait was being good at fashion).
To briefly mention the writing: It was bland and forgettable. The two narratives were distinguishable, but mostly because Chelsea was always whining.
The main reasons why I'm giving this two instead of one stars:
- The art was awesome!! Wish there would have been more.
- It was fastpaced and very easy to read.
- Jasmine had some good things to say every once in a while.
Thanks for reading :) Bye.