Author: Elizabeth Keenan
Genre: historical fiction
Similar books: Moxie by Jennifer Mathieu
Goose by Dawn O'Porter
Rating:
 |
| well intentioned with some troublesome issues |
Summary (provided by publisher): When it comes to being social, Athena Graves is far more comfortable creating a mixtape playlist than she is talking to cute boys—or anyone, for that matter. Plus her staunchly feminist views and love of punk rock aren’t exactly mainstream at St. Ann’s, her conservative Catholic high school.
Then a malicious rumor starts spreading through the halls…a rumor that her popular, pretty, pro-life sister had an abortion over the summer. A rumor that has the power to not only hurt Helen, but possibly see her expelled.
Despite their wildly contrasting views, Athena, Helen, and their friends must find a way to convince the student body and the administration that it doesn’t matter what Helen did or didn’t do…even if their riot grrrl protests result in the expulsion of their entire rebel girl gang.
My opinion: I like a lot of the over-arching themes of this book. Yes, Athena and her friends are getting involved in riot grrrl culture. But this is not shown as an easy or natural development. They are constantly struggling against societal norms and their own habits. They are constantly questioning what it means to be a feminist and how they should be fighting for their rights. Keenan makes it a point to show that there is no one right way to live, that each person should be able to make their own choices rather than having things dictated by any sort of governing body. The broad strokes are excellent. I struggled with a number of the details. Those problematic plot points hung me up to the point that they detracted from my enjoyment of the book on the whole. Those failings took what could have been a great book and made it just good.
Advanced Reader Copy provided by NetGalley.
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