Title: Squad
Author: Mariah McCarthy
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publishing Date: March 12th, 2019
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Publishing Date: March 12th, 2019
Pages: 384
Genre: YA Contemporary
Genre: YA Contemporary
Series: Stand Alone
Source: Audio
Source: Audio
This darkly comic debut novel by an award-winning playwright is like Mean Girls meets Heathers with a splash of Bring it On.
Jenna Watson is a cheerleader. But it’s not some Hollywood crap. Cheerleaders are not every guy’s fantasy; they are not the “popular girls” or the “mean girls” of Marsen High School. They’re too busy for that. They're literally just some human females trying to live their lives and do a perfect toe touch. But that all changed after Raejean stopped talking to Jenna and started hanging out with Meghan Finnegan. Jenna stopped getting invited out with the rest of the squad and she couldn’t tell if it was on purpose or if it was all in her head.
This book has been a maybe for me for quite a while. I love the cover, but the synopsis just didn't say too much for me to really get a handle of what this was about. My best guess.. I thought there would be some kind of dark humor, revenge... that is what it sounds most like from the synopsis. This book really wasn't anything I thought it would be. I really have mixed feelings about the entire read.
Jenna has been a cheerleader with the same friends for as long as she can remember. One day everything changes. She loses her friends, she becomes and outcast, and she goes off the deep end with just revenge tactics. She kind of loses her way.. that is until she finds a place amongst her brothers friends. These friends consist of a group that aren't the type that Jenna is used to or fully understands. She starts a friendship and a romantic relationship with this group and finds there is an entire different world that exists out there and she may find her place outside of her norm.
Okay so there are some points I would like to make about this book.
It was very well written for what it was. The story was well told and would mean so much to so many teens out there. The book was very informative about many things. I didn't dislike it. I think it was very well done.
My problem lies here. I am not a teen and this book is really a ya meant for teens. This is not at all the books fault or the authors fault. I know as an adult there are ya books that are just not going to be for me. I understand that and I am okay with. If I had known more of what I was getting into... maybe I would have enjoyed it more or maybe I would have not read it.
I enjoyed the characters. Jenna was a very unlikable character at first, but she grew and she figured herself out and she made some much needed changes. I loved the growth of her character. The book also had great family support. I love seeing this in ya books. Much of the characters were just wonderful.
This book deals with issues of self worth, bullying, acceptance, and much more. So it's a good book. Just not for me.
I found myself not connected and bored through most of the read. It just wasn't anything that really caught my interest. I really didn't find it humorous or dark and that is what I was looking for.
I really did struggle with my rating for this book. I don't think it's a bad book... quite the opposite, I found it beautifully written... just not my type of book. So in the end I went with rating it for my enjoyment. I don't want to discourage others from reading this book. If coming of age and dealing with all the teen issues in the schools right now is what interests you.. grab this one, you will probably love it.
Not my kind of read.
Jenna has been a cheerleader with the same friends for as long as she can remember. One day everything changes. She loses her friends, she becomes and outcast, and she goes off the deep end with just revenge tactics. She kind of loses her way.. that is until she finds a place amongst her brothers friends. These friends consist of a group that aren't the type that Jenna is used to or fully understands. She starts a friendship and a romantic relationship with this group and finds there is an entire different world that exists out there and she may find her place outside of her norm.
Okay so there are some points I would like to make about this book.
It was very well written for what it was. The story was well told and would mean so much to so many teens out there. The book was very informative about many things. I didn't dislike it. I think it was very well done.
My problem lies here. I am not a teen and this book is really a ya meant for teens. This is not at all the books fault or the authors fault. I know as an adult there are ya books that are just not going to be for me. I understand that and I am okay with. If I had known more of what I was getting into... maybe I would have enjoyed it more or maybe I would have not read it.
I enjoyed the characters. Jenna was a very unlikable character at first, but she grew and she figured herself out and she made some much needed changes. I loved the growth of her character. The book also had great family support. I love seeing this in ya books. Much of the characters were just wonderful.
This book deals with issues of self worth, bullying, acceptance, and much more. So it's a good book. Just not for me.
I found myself not connected and bored through most of the read. It just wasn't anything that really caught my interest. I really didn't find it humorous or dark and that is what I was looking for.
I really did struggle with my rating for this book. I don't think it's a bad book... quite the opposite, I found it beautifully written... just not my type of book. So in the end I went with rating it for my enjoyment. I don't want to discourage others from reading this book. If coming of age and dealing with all the teen issues in the schools right now is what interests you.. grab this one, you will probably love it.
Not my kind of read.
I liked this a little more than you did. I struggled a bit with the first part of the book, because dark is not my thing, but as Jenna branched out and found new interests and friends, I began to enjoy it more, and I liked ending too.
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry this one wasn't a great read for you! I struggle with YA contemporary because I feel like it's more specifically written for teens than YA fantasy, so I often have the same issue as you.
ReplyDelete