Book Review
Intro Rant:
As a gay teen (I’m bisexual and use gay as an umbrella term) I was thoroughly excited to read a book where a girl explores her sexuality and the mystery surrounding her family just added to my intrigue. After perusing for information about the author I found that she is not a member of the LGBTQ+ community (unless this information has yet to be disclosed) in addition to this she is 39 writing a book aimed for people ages 14-18. I have no qualms with people writing books that they do not completely identify with, however; consultation of the groups being depicted in the book is extremely necessary. A single consolation could have saved me from reading Jess: “You little bitch” Cat: “Ho-bag”. I despite being an anti-social bibliophile have friends, at no point in my life have I heard the term ‘Ho-bag’ and I can’t imagine using it in reference to my best friend let alone using it as a greeting. Now, a simple chat with any teenager would have prevented this ill-fitting dialogue but, more importantly, Miss Venable needed to have input from queer people. Talk to a trans teen talk to a gay teen instead of consulting your gay best friend who is also not a teenager. With this rant out of the way now I will delve into the contents of the book.
A Summary: The beginning of the book starts off with images of the 7 boys that Amanda has kissed with number 8 being left a mystery. The reader learns that Amanda is very close to her baseball-loving dad but distant from her icy mother. Both of Amanda’s parents are religious and the main characters of the book all attend the school. Amanda has two
best friends Cat and Laura although she heavily favors Cat. Laura is a one-dimensional character her personality traits are quiet and caring a good friend to Amanda who shies away from the more outrageous things Cat and Amanda do. Cat is boisterous, to say the least essentially the bad girl of the group who hooks up with who she wants and drinks when she wants, dragging Amanda alongside her. A mystery involving her father's grandparents threatens her entire worldview and causes her to reevaluate her sexuality and how she sees her friends.
THE REVIEW: I will be addressing each of my problems with the book by sections that will be bullet-pointed I like to organize my disdain.best friends Cat and Laura although she heavily favors Cat. Laura is a one-dimensional character her personality traits are quiet and caring a good friend to Amanda who shies away from the more outrageous things Cat and Amanda do. Cat is boisterous, to say the least essentially the bad girl of the group who hooks up with who she wants and drinks when she wants, dragging Amanda alongside her. A mystery involving her father's grandparents threatens her entire worldview and causes her to reevaluate her sexuality and how she sees her friends.
Characters
v Cat is a bad person she judges Jess for having a job aside from being in a band (-1)
v Cat constantly hits on Laura’s brother [blank] despite trashing Amanda (-3)
v Cat is never properly portrayed as the terrible person that she is even though she: threw Amanda’s bag out of a car, blatant transphobe, and blatant homophobe (-6)
Writing
v Introduction of homophobic and transphobic ideals but not directly countering these deals (the author could have done this with a text bubble) (-20)
v “Ho-bag” (need I say more?) vernacular like this was constantly used and it just aided in me realizing the author of this was not what I would consider being a young adult. (-10)
v “Ho-bag” (need I say more?) vernacular like this was constantly used and it just aided in me realizing the author of this was not what I would consider being a young adult. (-10)
v I’m not sure who to blame for Amanda assaulting Laura but I’ve decided to put it on the author. Once again, the author introduces themes of sexual assault and exploring one’s sexuality, but she does not do it in a constructive way. If this book is seriously meant to be read by YA gay(hehe) then I suggest refraining from condoning sexual assault under the guise of sexual exploration. (-15)
Art Style
v Ellen. T Crenshaw did a splendid job illustrating this graphic novel it was engaging and concise and was my favorite part of the book (+20)
v Ellen. T Crenshaw did a splendid job illustrating this graphic novel it was engaging and concise and was my favorite part of the book (+20)
The Author
v Colleen AF Venable can not relate to the majority of the issues discussed in the book and that is where the majority of the book’s shortcomings stem from (-10)
v This is one of Colleens first attempts at writing for the YA demographic and it fell short for me but as a gay teen I do appreciate the effort (+5)
v Colleen AF Venable can not relate to the majority of the issues discussed in the book and that is where the majority of the book’s shortcomings stem from (-10)
v This is one of Colleens first attempts at writing for the YA demographic and it fell short for me but as a gay teen I do appreciate the effort (+5)
Kiss Number 8
Grade: 60/100
Stars: 3.5 stars
Thoughts: 6/10 would not kiss again also would not recommend.
Stars: 3.5 stars
Thoughts: 6/10 would not kiss again also would not recommend.
