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Sep 23, 2008

Rachel rated it:

Ok, I know I just said in my last review that I tend to give four and five stars, but not lower. Well, here's a low one for you. There was nothing objectively wrong with the writing, I want to say that, at least. The premise was also relatively interesting. Unfortunately, the way it was handled...well, I found it pretty offensive.

It's about this girl, Jill, who turns into a boy every month for the four days preceding her period. Hence the title, I guess. Anyway, during those More...

4 comments like (12 people liked it)

Nov 18, 2008

Trin rated it:

Once a month, teenager Jill McTeague turns into a boy for three days. Whereas I would be like, “OMG! Best period alternative ever!”—especially since Jill is lucky enough to have a cute bisexual boy fall in love with her—Jill is less than psyched by this little bit of genderfuckery. In fact, thanks to the influence of her cartoonishly evil mother, Jill has totally sublimated her male side, causing him to split into a separate personality called Jack. And Jack’s starting to get pissed.

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0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 25, 2010

Natalie rated it:

I'm not really sure what I think about this book. It took a lot of odd turns that... are just that.. odd. I can't really describe a whole lot of the book with out giving away a good chunk of the plot. However i'll try to.

Jill is a 17 year old girl with a unique condition. Every month about the time "aunt flow" would come to visit she would turn into a 17 year old boy named Jack. Jack was hated by Jill's mother, and as a result was forced to live in her room the four day More...

1 comment like (2 people liked it)

Mar 11, 2009

laaaaames rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Feb 24, 2009

Coffeeboss rated it:

For me, Cycler started out as light teen reading, but the book actually improved as the story went along, becoming much more emotionally complex. High school student Jill has a rare, strange problem where on her monthly cycle, she actually physically morphs into a teenage boy named Jack. This "problem" is stated as rather matter-of-fact in the story, which is fun, but when Jack develops a crush on Jill's best girlfriend, and Jill herself crushes on a boy who admits that he is bisexual, More...

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Sep 08, 2008

Becky rated it:

McLaughlin, Lauren. 2008. Cycler.

This book is blurbed by Scott Westerfeld, one of my favorite authors, "Artfully fractured and wickedly smart. A brilliant screwball comedy about love, self-knowledge, and the secret identities inside all of us." Part of me is curious what book he read, because that sure wasn't my take on Cycler. Proof yet again that reading is subjective.

I have mixed feelings on this one. I'll try to explain the pros and cons as I see them throug More...

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Apr 04, 2009

Tessa rated it:

First of all, I will credit this book for its premise. I think I first read about it on Jezebel or something and thought it might be interesting, even for a young adult novel.

But it was absolutely maddening. Harder to read than Twilight, even if possible. I know that teenage girls can sometimes be unbearable (I was one at one point!) but wow. For being such a gender-bending premise it was incredibly stereotypical. It was as if to say, "look at how with the times we are! There ar More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Aug 25, 2008

Lacey rated it:

I fell for this book based entirely on the premise: that the main character goes through a 4-day "cycle" of being male every month the way other girls go through their period. I expected this to be a pretty gimmicky book, and it looked as if it were going to start out that way: both Jill and Jack (her 4-day male alter-ego) start out reduced to the lowest common denominator of their genders. Jill is obsessed with getting the boy she's crushing on to ask her out to the prom, and Jack spe More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 17, 2008

Sue rated it:

I picked this one up because the cover blurb intrigued me, and I wanted to see how the author handled the "cycling".

Sadly, the book failed to live up to the promise of its premise. The build up, establishing Jill as a normal high school student with a secret, went on for far too long and contributed little to the overall story. Jack's sections were far more amusing, if rather insulting to males in general.

So what saved it? The last third of the book, where te More...

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Dec 13, 2008

Diana rated it:

Four days of the month Jill is Jack who is locked in her room until she resurfaces. The parents are caricatures and the book is a little too explicit for my taste but I did like the premise. What would it be like to change gender? I also liked the exploration of the range of human sexuality -- Jill's crush is bi, Jack is way hetero, Jill's BFF may be leaning towards bi. This is another one of those books that I'm going to have to think on as I'm not really sure how I feel about it..

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 11, 2008

Nancy rated it:

While extremely far-fetched in its premise, this is an interesting look at gender and gender identity, and one of the rare books for teens dealing with bisexual characters. Every month, for four days, Jill's alter-ego Jack comes to the fore, complete with teenage male body and desires. Jill has learned to block out all memories of his takeover of her body, and until this year he has agreed to stay hidden at home. But now he has a crush on her best friend, and even window bars and a keypad lock s More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 02, 2008

Debbie rated it:

A real surprise of a book. Okay, it's difficult to walk around in public reading a book with this cover, but there are always folders you could hide it in, or bigger books. Trust me, it's worth the hassle. This is a bizarre Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde / Cinderella / Frankenstein story for 21st century teens. It deals with identity and sexuality in an entirely unique way. The only negative comment I have is that some of the slang was used way too often and took away from a few scenes. Other than More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 25, 2009

jess rated it:

I first heard about this book on the Boingboing Holiday Gift YAF list. They described it as "Smart YA novel about sex and sexuality." I like boingboing's recommendations, usually, so I checked it out. It was a complete "miss."

For a book that is supposed to be so smart about sex and sexuality, there was very little insight into gender expressions beyond the painfully stereotypical - boys like porn, girls like prom. It was like *headdesk* over and over again. The p More...

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Dec 27, 2008

Carrie rated it:

Jill's "terrible" secret is that four days out of every month, she turns into a boy. It's a clever idea that could have been a good book for teens interested in bi-sexuality or queer gender. Unfortunately, the attitudes towards queerness and gender are so stereotyped and/or offensive that I can't actually see it appealing to queer teens.

(It's okay though, the phrase "not homophobic" was used so many times it couldn't possibly *be* homophobic. Everyone knows if More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 19, 2009

Jennifer rated it:

I saw a blurb on some website that this was a YA book about gender issues, and was intrigued enough to pick it up from the library. It's about a teenage girl, Jill, that turns into a boy once a month for 4 days (right before her period).This sense of otherness is too much for this teenage girl to handle, and she practices meditation techniques to wipe the experience completely, consequently creating a male split personality, Jack.

I've been thinking a lot since I finished it about HOW More...

0 comments like

Aug 15, 2009

Aaron rated it:

Jill is one of those kids everyone envies. She is a good kid. She gets good grades. Her friend Ramie is the type she can tell anything to ... or is she? You see, Jill has a secret. Once a month, she has to go into hiding for four days. Everyone at school, include Ramie, thinks she has a rare blood disease and that she takes the time out of school for blood transfusions. The reality is that for those four days, she is locked up in her bedroom.

You see, she was born a hermaphrodite, one More...

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May 04, 2009

Susan rated it:

With the vamp market hitting its saturation point, maybe it's time to tackle the popular metamorphosis theme a new way. Cycler does its best to do just that. Some girls feel like a completely different person during that particular time of the month, and then there's Jill...who literally transforms into a different person during that time of the month. For four days during her period, Jill becomes Jack, with all the accompanying equipment and social challenges that you might expect. McLaughlin c More...

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Apr 18, 2009

Kelly rated it:

Summary: Jill McTeague is a typical senior girl. Except for the tiny issue of how four days out of every month, she turns into a boy named Jack—in both mind and body.

Review: The premise of a cycling hermaphrodite made me think the book would be cheesy and induce frequent eye-rolling. But it was a great read.

This book made it fun to explore the themes of sexuality and homophobia without being hit over the head with a “message.” At first, the non-politically-correct languag More...

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Jan 14, 2012

BookChic rated it:

In this comedic take on the body switching plot, there's a twist as mentioned in the summary, which gives the book a fresh look at this used-before plot. Jill's side of the story is a bit bland as it's similar to some other chicklit novels that mainly talk about boys and how to get noticed by them, and then embarrassing situations abound, etc. but is still fairly fun to read because of McLaughlin's humor. But what really makes this novel is Jack's side- he is so very much a boy, and McLaughlin d More...

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May 21, 2011

Regina rated it:

The corny names Jack and Jill were the only boring things about this book.

Jill is a seventeen year-old girl. All GIRL, as she has to say to herself. She spends a lot of time reminding herself of this because instead of the normal menstrual cycle that other girls have, Jill endures something more painful than cramps. For her cycle, she becomes Jack, a horny teenage boy.

She and her mother have been to all kinds of doctors over the past four years, trying to find a reas More...

0 comments like

Dec 27, 2009

Julie rated it:

I totally should've reviewed this days ago when it was still fresh in my head and not crowded out by other things. But..

Older teen Jill turns into a boy once a month for 4 days before her period. This started with puberty, but she totally hates it, so she meditates to block out the memories. This has led to her boy self developing an identity of his own -- he's Jack.

But Jack is always trapped in the house because they don't want the secret to get out. So he spends the fou More...

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Aug 18, 2009

Steph Su rated it:

CYCLER is without doubt one of the most unique, thought-provoking, hilarious, and crazy stories that I have read so far this year. It’s an unforgettable mishmash of awkward teen love combined with the deeper implications of gender politics and identity.

A quirky story like CYCLER wouldn’t be successful if it weren’t for the incredibly real characters. Jill, Jack, and Ramie are delightfully well developed and memorable; their conversations crack me up, while some of their actions make More...

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Jul 16, 2009

Az rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

Jul 02, 2011

Sam a.k.a Rory rated it:

La première fois que je suis passée devant ce livre à la FNAC, je n’ai même pas pu me résoudre à lire la quatrième de couverture tellement la couverture rose m’a fait mauvaise impression. Ce n’est que plus tard, sur Internet, que je me suis penchée à nouveau dessus.

Le fait est que j’ai toujours été attirée par ce genre de récits où une fille se fait passer pour un garçon comme c’est dans le cas dans le drama japonais « Hanazakari no Kimitachi e », les dramas coréens « The 1st Shop of C More...

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Jan 14, 2010

Amanda rated it:

I wanted to rate this higher because it's such an interesting concept, but I can't in good faith, because the actual book is a total disappointment. It's essentialist, bi-phobic, and not even well-written (if I read "deeply" or "mal" one more time I was gonna throw something, and seriously, YA authors, stop trying to create your own slang -- it didn't work for the Babysitters Club and it won't work for you). I wanted this book to be so much more than it was, but no one is r More...

2 comments like

Dec 29, 2009

megan rated it:

the premise is rich for exploring gender from a teen girl's perspective -- the author creates a second character out of a 17-year-old's premenstrual hormones - the protagonist, jill, is transformed by mysterious processes into her male counterpart, jack, for five days out of the month, until the egg drops and she's "all girl" again.
jill bounces back and forth between two powerful forces in her life -- her conservative, antifeminist mother and her empowered, feminist best friend. More...

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Oct 20, 2008

Anderse rated it:

Great premise with lackluster follow through. One dimensional characters and flat plot left me disappointed. The ending was an interesting take on sex, gender, attraction and relationships though. I'd recommend to a voracious reader under 13 who'd probably love it. Everyone else, skip.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 28, 2009

Lisa rated it:

I love stories that play with gender. That's why I was excited to find this book in the book store. However, the book didn't open a new dialogue about gender. Instead, the two sides of the character are stereotypical; girly girl, and sex obsessed boy. Societal shame around sex continues as the girl side, Jill, continuously represses the boy side, Jack, who basically represents the sex drive. Other than that, the author uses a bisexual character whom Jill falls in love with. At first Jill i More...

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Jun 14, 2009

Melissa rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Mar 30, 2009

Dana rated it:

This book was mostly annoying. McLaughlin takes a fun, interesting concept, and then proceeds to drive it into the ground through the use of made-up slang, a rather unsympathetic, repressed main character, and most especially in its cynical characterizations of men and women(especially men). With a novel concept that could potentially say some rather interesting thing about the differences between genders, and the spaces in between, I was disappointed to read something that ultimately rigidly re More...

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