I didn't love this one, but there are some things about it, I really liked, so I thought it was a good book to review here today.
Privilege is a word that gets bandied about a lot, but many times, I feel like the person brandishing doesn't truly understand what the word truly means. This book explores privilege and how it can be abused.
Daisy is a great main character - impulsive, headstrong, determined and… well….totally clueless. She's one of those people who throws themselves into any cause with all her heart, never considering the consequences or even if she has a right to champion that cause, let alone if she's qualified to do so.
In this case, it's misguided solidarity and love for her best friend that leads her to throw all her energy and enthusiasm into a cause - allowing same-sex partners at school dances (sound familiar? Yes, I wrote a book about this too….) Daisy is so passionate about the cause, she doesn't even pause to notice her best friend isn't joining in the protest, or even that she appears not to want it to happen.
As a result, friendships are strained, romances burn and sizzle out, and Daisy learns some valuable lessons about herself and her place in the world.
The lessons come across a little heavy-handedly and I felt a little like the book's message was being beaten over my head. But it's an important message, and maybe it needs to be pounded into some peoples' skulls.
It wasn't a bad book. In fact I really enjoyed parts of it. Maybe you will too…
But to help you decide, here's the blurb:
Meg Cabot meets Glee in this breezy, hilarious, deceptively smart YA about privilege, pretense, and realizing that every story needs a hero. Sometimes it's just not you.
When her best friend Hannah comes out the day before junior year, Daisy is so ready to let her ally flag fly that even a second, way more blindsiding confession can't derail her smiling determination to fight for gay rights.
Before you can spell LGBTQIA, Daisy's leading the charge to end their school’s antiquated ban on same-sex dates at dances—starting with homecoming. And if people assume Daisy herself is gay? Meh, so what. It's all for the cause.
What Daisy doesn't expect is for "the cause” to blow up—starting with Adam, the cute college journalist whose interview with Daisy for his university paper goes viral, catching fire in the national media. #Holy #cats.
With the story spinning out of control, protesters gathering, Hannah left in the dust of Daisy’s good intentions, and Daisy's mad attraction to Adam feeling like an inconvenient truth, Daisy finds herself caught between her bold plans, her bad decisions, and her big fat mouth.
This book sounds like a lot of fun. I like the idea of showing someone like that who kind of inserts themselves into a cause and overrules everyone else. It's a very unique premise.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that message probably does need to be pounded into some peoples' skulls.
ReplyDeleteThis book does sound like a very timely story.
I could totally see that happening in real life. Of course, I remember same sex couple attending dances when I was in high school, so...
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