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Don't Cosplay with My Heart
When Edan Kupferman dresses up like her favorite character, Gargantua, she feels tall and powerful. That's important right now, because her family is a mess, her best friend is gone for the summer, her crush is confusing, and Edan's feeling small and not sure which end is up.When Edan's cosplaying, she can be angry, loud, and not the good girl everyone thinks she is. And when she's at conventions, she feels like she's found her own Team Tomorrow. But when her personal life starts to spiral out of control, Edan has to figure out whether she needs a sidekick, or if she has the strength to be the hero of her own story.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 2, 2018
29 people are currently reading
1283 people want to read
About the author
Cecil Castellucci
213 books724 followersCecil Castellucci is an author of young adult novels and comic books. Titles include Boy Proof, The Year of the Beasts (illustrated by Nate Powell), First Day on Earth, Rose Sees Red, Beige, The Queen of Cool The Plain Janes and Janes in Love (illustrated by Jim Rugg), Tin Star Stone in the Sky, Odd Duck (illustrated by Sara Varon) and Star Wars: Moving Target: A Princess Leia Adventure.
Her short stories have been published in various places including Black Clock, The Rattling Wall, Tor.com, Strange Horizons, Apex Magazine and can be found in such anthologies such as After, Teeth, Truth & Dare, The Eternal Kiss, Sideshow and Interfictions 2 and the anthology, which she co-edited, Geektastic.
She is the recipient of the California Book Award Gold Medal for her picture book Grandma's Gloves, illustrated by Julia Denos, the Shuster Award for Best Canadian Comic Book Writer for The Plain Janes and the Sunburst Award for Tin Star. The Year of the Beasts was a finalist for the PEN USA literary award and Odd Duck was Eisner nominated.
She splits her time between the heart and the head and lives north and south of everything. Her hands are small. And she likes you very much.
Her short stories have been published in various places including Black Clock, The Rattling Wall, Tor.com, Strange Horizons, Apex Magazine and can be found in such anthologies such as After, Teeth, Truth & Dare, The Eternal Kiss, Sideshow and Interfictions 2 and the anthology, which she co-edited, Geektastic.
She is the recipient of the California Book Award Gold Medal for her picture book Grandma's Gloves, illustrated by Julia Denos, the Shuster Award for Best Canadian Comic Book Writer for The Plain Janes and the Sunburst Award for Tin Star. The Year of the Beasts was a finalist for the PEN USA literary award and Odd Duck was Eisner nominated.
She splits her time between the heart and the head and lives north and south of everything. Her hands are small. And she likes you very much.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 167 reviews
March 10, 2024
This Young Adult novel begins with (what I hope is) an atypical teen scenario. Completely overcome by complicated, conflicting emotions…currently manifesting as mainly anger, Edan dons her Gargantua mask before sitting down to her final family dinner. For the foreseeable future.
She didn’t know much about her dad’s business, other than his firm handled payroll for several Hollywood productions. Lately, she’s heard whispers of misappropriated funds and missing money. Now, her father is being sequestered. But this is not a tale of white-collar crime. Although, that may be a bit more pertinent to the plot than I initially anticipated.
To me, the story is about Edan’s exponential growth as life forces her into self-discovery and independence at a wholly unanticipated time. Sort of like learning to swim by being thrown into the water, having never even contemplated swimming lessons. And Edan is truly alone.
Her best bud, Kasumi, is spending the summer in Japan. Their conversations are quick and Kasumi seems so happy that Edan cannot bear to burden her with what’s happening at home. Edan has to do something to get out of the house and more importantly, out of her own head. Attending her first Comic Con, solo, should do the trick.
Despite her admiration and adoration of all things Team Tomorrow, the best comic-book ever, Edan didn’t know much about the fan-filled conventions. And, aside from the recent addition of the Gargantua mask to her attire, she absolutely knew nothing of cosplaying. After attending only one con though, Edan was wholly hooked and, with a goal: “…learn how to make a costume so great that it pulls me right out of my misery and changes my life.”
I appreciate the realistic and relatable mistakes Edan made, as well as how she corrected them. And, I’m always particularly fond of friendships formed in the most unlikely of places. I found this to be fun and entertaining, without being cotton-candy fluffy.
This review was written for Buried Under Books by jv poore.
She didn’t know much about her dad’s business, other than his firm handled payroll for several Hollywood productions. Lately, she’s heard whispers of misappropriated funds and missing money. Now, her father is being sequestered. But this is not a tale of white-collar crime. Although, that may be a bit more pertinent to the plot than I initially anticipated.
To me, the story is about Edan’s exponential growth as life forces her into self-discovery and independence at a wholly unanticipated time. Sort of like learning to swim by being thrown into the water, having never even contemplated swimming lessons. And Edan is truly alone.
Her best bud, Kasumi, is spending the summer in Japan. Their conversations are quick and Kasumi seems so happy that Edan cannot bear to burden her with what’s happening at home. Edan has to do something to get out of the house and more importantly, out of her own head. Attending her first Comic Con, solo, should do the trick.
Despite her admiration and adoration of all things Team Tomorrow, the best comic-book ever, Edan didn’t know much about the fan-filled conventions. And, aside from the recent addition of the Gargantua mask to her attire, she absolutely knew nothing of cosplaying. After attending only one con though, Edan was wholly hooked and, with a goal: “…learn how to make a costume so great that it pulls me right out of my misery and changes my life.”
I appreciate the realistic and relatable mistakes Edan made, as well as how she corrected them. And, I’m always particularly fond of friendships formed in the most unlikely of places. I found this to be fun and entertaining, without being cotton-candy fluffy.
This review was written for Buried Under Books by jv poore.
August 11, 2017
"I'm being weird. Or maybe he's being weird. It was only a weird bubble moment. One that will be forgotten. It probably means nothing at all. The feeling is so nice/horrible/wonderful/terrible/floaty/rotten. My heart is on fire. My heart is exploding. My heart is growing. My heart is shrinking. My heart. Is so confused."
Have you ever been so in love with a cover before that you started to second guess yourself at picking it up? That maybe the cover will be the best thing and the characters might be bland? Well, this is that time.
The cover is stunning. An attention grabber that caught me off guard as I was walking around McCormick place in Chicago. And with nerds to go along with it, I was swooning. That is until I started to read it.
I've never been so disappointed in a cast of characters like I was with this. The connection with them was broken instantly and the relationships seemed more fake than Kim K's backside. Nothing fit together and felt broken as they waltzed across the pages.
Edan is obsessed with Team Tomorrow. Her favorite comic book series, but her favorite character is Gargantua. A ten feet tall badass once a hero and now a villain. When she hears a comic con coming to town she decides to cosplay her way through the event.
While there she meets Kirk, a guy who loves what she loves and has similar feelings towards the world. He's quite the temptation in her relationship with Yuri.
At school she heads SEW, which is a superhero cosplay group and they go to events together as they grow in the cosplay department.
As time goes on and her feelings get crossed and confused. Other parts of her life spiral out of control as her home life gets crazier and her love life is thrown through a loop. What will a girl with zero personality do!?
If you're looking for the cutest story about love, cosplay and comic cons, I suggest picking up The Geeks Guide to Unrequited Love. That story was well planned out and you fall in love with those characters. You'll find none of that with this one.
Get your geek on and sashay away!!
Have you ever been so in love with a cover before that you started to second guess yourself at picking it up? That maybe the cover will be the best thing and the characters might be bland? Well, this is that time.
The cover is stunning. An attention grabber that caught me off guard as I was walking around McCormick place in Chicago. And with nerds to go along with it, I was swooning. That is until I started to read it.
I've never been so disappointed in a cast of characters like I was with this. The connection with them was broken instantly and the relationships seemed more fake than Kim K's backside. Nothing fit together and felt broken as they waltzed across the pages.
Edan is obsessed with Team Tomorrow. Her favorite comic book series, but her favorite character is Gargantua. A ten feet tall badass once a hero and now a villain. When she hears a comic con coming to town she decides to cosplay her way through the event.
While there she meets Kirk, a guy who loves what she loves and has similar feelings towards the world. He's quite the temptation in her relationship with Yuri.
At school she heads SEW, which is a superhero cosplay group and they go to events together as they grow in the cosplay department.
As time goes on and her feelings get crossed and confused. Other parts of her life spiral out of control as her home life gets crazier and her love life is thrown through a loop. What will a girl with zero personality do!?
If you're looking for the cutest story about love, cosplay and comic cons, I suggest picking up The Geeks Guide to Unrequited Love. That story was well planned out and you fall in love with those characters. You'll find none of that with this one.
Get your geek on and sashay away!!
January 20, 2018
To see review with gifs click here.
Ugh.
I don’t know how this book got published. Actually, I probably do. It’s likely that Castelluci either had connections or knew someone that allowed this garbage to get a contract while someone else’s work was ignored.
But still it flummoxes me that books like Don’t Cosplay With My Heart exist. This book read more like a skeleton outline of a story than an actual book. The characters were cardboard flat, the story didn’t have any unexpected pothole. And honestly, I was kind of insulted reading it.
The general premises of the book is about a girl who finds herself through cosplay. Okay, not that original of a premises but it could work. Good contemporaries don’t have to have the most original of plots if they have good characters.
Unfortunately, the characters in this book are even weaker than the plot itself which is saying a lot. The main character, Edan, sounds ridiculously young.
It’s YA. I get that the characters are going to sound young at times becuase they’re young, but I wasn’t exactly sure how old Edan was suppose to be. And by the time I finished the book, I realized it wasn’t her sounding ridiculous naive so much as being completely undeveloped.
It’s really quite pathetic.
There are a lot of things going on with Edan’s personal life that should’ve made her an interesting character to watch grow and develop. Her dad is being investigated and later tried for embezzlement (though, it was probably one of the most unusual and ridiculous investigations I had ever seen), her mom is having what appears to be a nervous breakdown, and her grandmother is just one of those obnoxious characters who thinks you’re having a complete meltdown if you’re not being an ultra perky extrovert.
Seriously, there is a random fight where the character barely says ten words and she’s sentenced to having to volunteer at the grandmother’s hospital.
It’s a lame plot point at best, let alone one that makes me roll my eyes.
Every character though is sort of shitty. I mean, the best friend completely overreacts and betrays Edan with very little evidence. One of the guys that Edan is interested with turns into a total misogynist. In fact, he’s a misogynist from the get go, but he does stuff that should at the very least get him suspended from school but doesn’t. Instead, everyone vilifies Edan and she’s surprisingly okay with it. The love interest is bland with a backstory that is suppose to get us to cry but instead has me rolling my eyes.
Honestly, the best bits of the book were those that talked about the fictional comic book hero/villainess that Edan idolized. I would’ve much rather read her story than Edan’s. That’s how bad Edan’s story was.
Look, I’m okay with younger YA books. I think they’re needed. While I do like more mature YA books, the younger audience obviously needs something to read, but this one was just insulting. I think there’s often that fine line between a “young” voice and just a quite frankly “bad” voice and this falls into the latter.
Edan was unrealistic. The rest of characters were unrealistic. The plot was insipid and boring and it had potential. It had so much fucking potential and failed so epically.
Castellucci tries to brings in some deeper parts to the novel-some brief discussions of sexism but they’re hardly a blip on the page count that they’re barely worth mentioning. It’s like she was like oops got to add something in here and added that and a major supporting character is mentioned to be a lesbian like 3/4 of the way through the book for the first time.
It’s like really, you’d think that the MC would say that before since she is so close to said character but nope. It’s was like that supporting character’s sexuality was merely thrown in there so that the author could claim that her book had some diversity in it.
I just cannot in good faith recommend this one. If you like geek culture or books about cons check out Eliza and Her Monsters or Geekerella both books don’t have extremely complicated plots, but what they have they make the most of it. The characters in those books are well developed and you are interested in them. Not so much here.
Ugh.
I don’t know how this book got published. Actually, I probably do. It’s likely that Castelluci either had connections or knew someone that allowed this garbage to get a contract while someone else’s work was ignored.
But still it flummoxes me that books like Don’t Cosplay With My Heart exist. This book read more like a skeleton outline of a story than an actual book. The characters were cardboard flat, the story didn’t have any unexpected pothole. And honestly, I was kind of insulted reading it.
The general premises of the book is about a girl who finds herself through cosplay. Okay, not that original of a premises but it could work. Good contemporaries don’t have to have the most original of plots if they have good characters.
Unfortunately, the characters in this book are even weaker than the plot itself which is saying a lot. The main character, Edan, sounds ridiculously young.
It’s YA. I get that the characters are going to sound young at times becuase they’re young, but I wasn’t exactly sure how old Edan was suppose to be. And by the time I finished the book, I realized it wasn’t her sounding ridiculous naive so much as being completely undeveloped.
It’s really quite pathetic.
There are a lot of things going on with Edan’s personal life that should’ve made her an interesting character to watch grow and develop. Her dad is being investigated and later tried for embezzlement (though, it was probably one of the most unusual and ridiculous investigations I had ever seen), her mom is having what appears to be a nervous breakdown, and her grandmother is just one of those obnoxious characters who thinks you’re having a complete meltdown if you’re not being an ultra perky extrovert.
Seriously, there is a random fight where the character barely says ten words and she’s sentenced to having to volunteer at the grandmother’s hospital.
It’s a lame plot point at best, let alone one that makes me roll my eyes.
Every character though is sort of shitty. I mean, the best friend completely overreacts and betrays Edan with very little evidence. One of the guys that Edan is interested with turns into a total misogynist. In fact, he’s a misogynist from the get go, but he does stuff that should at the very least get him suspended from school but doesn’t. Instead, everyone vilifies Edan and she’s surprisingly okay with it. The love interest is bland with a backstory that is suppose to get us to cry but instead has me rolling my eyes.
Honestly, the best bits of the book were those that talked about the fictional comic book hero/villainess that Edan idolized. I would’ve much rather read her story than Edan’s. That’s how bad Edan’s story was.
Look, I’m okay with younger YA books. I think they’re needed. While I do like more mature YA books, the younger audience obviously needs something to read, but this one was just insulting. I think there’s often that fine line between a “young” voice and just a quite frankly “bad” voice and this falls into the latter.
Edan was unrealistic. The rest of characters were unrealistic. The plot was insipid and boring and it had potential. It had so much fucking potential and failed so epically.
Castellucci tries to brings in some deeper parts to the novel-some brief discussions of sexism but they’re hardly a blip on the page count that they’re barely worth mentioning. It’s like she was like oops got to add something in here and added that and a major supporting character is mentioned to be a lesbian like 3/4 of the way through the book for the first time.
It’s like really, you’d think that the MC would say that before since she is so close to said character but nope. It’s was like that supporting character’s sexuality was merely thrown in there so that the author could claim that her book had some diversity in it.
I just cannot in good faith recommend this one. If you like geek culture or books about cons check out Eliza and Her Monsters or Geekerella both books don’t have extremely complicated plots, but what they have they make the most of it. The characters in those books are well developed and you are interested in them. Not so much here.
March 25, 2018
I unexpectedly loved this book. It tugged on my heartstrings and wrapped me up in a world of fandoms and cosplay. It wasn't perfect - a little on the nose with its "all fans are equal" message and I'm never a fan of teenage romance - but it successfully walked the line of emotional and angsty. While this book could have been more fleshed out, I liked it because it wasn't. Short, fun, appealing. It captures what brings people to fandoms and cosplay and how one girl channels her anxiety about life into her costumes.
I don't love the name of this book. It might have captured my attention, but it doesn't do the book justice.
Not one that everyone will like...but one I found delightful!
I don't love the name of this book. It might have captured my attention, but it doesn't do the book justice.
Not one that everyone will like...but one I found delightful!
January 21, 2018
I know books for younger people tend to be a bit more heavy-handed in their messages on purpose, but this book had no subtlety of message at all. Like the message was being shouted so loud, I lost the characters and the story.
As I was reading, I just felt like the author wanted to tell a story that hit on all the bad parts of geeky convention experiences. People complaining about “fake” nerds/geeks...people who have just jumped on the bandwagon as geeky properties become more mainstream popular...especially guys who complain about “fake geek girls”. Guys treating girls who cosplay like objects and getting mean if said girls don’t want to pose for pictures, etc.
Not the fun, cute read celebrating geekiness that I was hoping for.
As I was reading, I just felt like the author wanted to tell a story that hit on all the bad parts of geeky convention experiences. People complaining about “fake” nerds/geeks...people who have just jumped on the bandwagon as geeky properties become more mainstream popular...especially guys who complain about “fake geek girls”. Guys treating girls who cosplay like objects and getting mean if said girls don’t want to pose for pictures, etc.
Not the fun, cute read celebrating geekiness that I was hoping for.
September 26, 2017
i have mixed feelings about this book. parts of it were strongly affecting, and the basic messages are important for young nerd girls to hear--especially the central theme what makes someone a 'real' fan /geek/etc. but i can't quite tell who the demographic is here--the prose is too simplistic to satisfy the average high schooler, so maybe it's meant for the middle grades? i wouldn't call it a YA book. there's not really an ounce of subtlety in what the book is trying to do, and though one of the meta-fictional asides talks about how no one is all good or all bad, the villains of this story are pretty clear cut (and, i mean, they're shitty teenage boys, so that's fine with me, but ...).
also, i did read an uncorrected proof, but dang ... hire me as a copy-editor, because this prose is rough as hell. like i said, some sections have solid emotional heft; there are moments when the spare, declarative style really works. but there's a lot of awkward, jarring sections, too--and tons of simple mechanical errors. i assume the latter will definitely be fixed before final publication, but who knows about the former.
also, i did read an uncorrected proof, but dang ... hire me as a copy-editor, because this prose is rough as hell. like i said, some sections have solid emotional heft; there are moments when the spare, declarative style really works. but there's a lot of awkward, jarring sections, too--and tons of simple mechanical errors. i assume the latter will definitely be fixed before final publication, but who knows about the former.
July 27, 2017
Cecil's work always gets me right in the heart. And I wish Team Tomorrow were real--the team FELT real. And important. And utterly wonderful.
March 2, 2018
So you know all those teen shows we loved as a kid like Saved by the Bell, Fresh Prince, Sabrina? The dialogue was clunky, the acting terrible and the serious episodes about "issues" were bludgeoning. But somehow they were still so charming and we loved them? That's this book.
The prose is clunky. The theme of misogyny and sexism in geek culture is hit into us like a hammer. The "villians" are basically walking, talking versions of the worst of gamer-gate forum messages. The characters all read far younger than they're supposed to be. But it's still charming.
Deep in this very rough book is an almost gem. And I liked it mostly. The parallels Edan would draw between her own life and her favorite comic book character, Gargantuan, were sometimes too blatantly forced but at other times inspired. The back history of Team Tomorrow was fun if eye-roll worthy. Like when it was needed to be pointed out that while Gargantuan had a large bust it wasn't the focus of her character. Or the dozen times it needed to be repeated that Team Tomorrow was socially forward for its time and revolutionary. But I liked this fictional comic and it's fictional creator and its fictional characters and relationships. I'd read it it if it were real.
There is a positive message of female empowerment here and that girls have always been geeks and we aren't "fake" just because men are suddenly threatened by our presence in fandoms. I prefer my social commentary a bit more subtle but perhaps the younger YA crowd needs a book like this. I probably would have appreciated a character like Edan to identify with at the age this is intended for.
The prose is clunky. The theme of misogyny and sexism in geek culture is hit into us like a hammer. The "villians" are basically walking, talking versions of the worst of gamer-gate forum messages. The characters all read far younger than they're supposed to be. But it's still charming.
Deep in this very rough book is an almost gem. And I liked it mostly. The parallels Edan would draw between her own life and her favorite comic book character, Gargantuan, were sometimes too blatantly forced but at other times inspired. The back history of Team Tomorrow was fun if eye-roll worthy. Like when it was needed to be pointed out that while Gargantuan had a large bust it wasn't the focus of her character. Or the dozen times it needed to be repeated that Team Tomorrow was socially forward for its time and revolutionary. But I liked this fictional comic and it's fictional creator and its fictional characters and relationships. I'd read it it if it were real.
There is a positive message of female empowerment here and that girls have always been geeks and we aren't "fake" just because men are suddenly threatened by our presence in fandoms. I prefer my social commentary a bit more subtle but perhaps the younger YA crowd needs a book like this. I probably would have appreciated a character like Edan to identify with at the age this is intended for.
March 17, 2018
I found this book quite charming and ended up reading it in one sitting. It's a celebration of fandom and geekery, but it also pulls back the curtain on that celebration (what it's like to be a lady geek, for instance). It was a little hard to get into at first, but once I was into it, I was INTO it. The voice is on point and authentic. I keep going back to one of the opening sentences, when Edan, the main character, shows up at the dinner table wearing a plastic mask of her favorite comic book character, Gargantua: "Gargantua is ten feet tall, and so is the size of me being pissed off at everything."
Some of the reviews I skimmed over are complaints that the main character sounds and acts too young. I had no problem with that. No character is going to be 100% relatable to everyone. UGH, what a BORING SAP that character would be. There isn't one authentic high school experience--there is one for every person who's ever been to high school, and this particular one really resonated with me. (Sorry, Gina. I said the R word. :P) I really liked it, and I want to own it.
Some of the reviews I skimmed over are complaints that the main character sounds and acts too young. I had no problem with that. No character is going to be 100% relatable to everyone. UGH, what a BORING SAP that character would be. There isn't one authentic high school experience--there is one for every person who's ever been to high school, and this particular one really resonated with me. (Sorry, Gina. I said the R word. :P) I really liked it, and I want to own it.
April 13, 2018
Really cute and understated look at geekery and passion. It can be a little heavy on showing how women and girls are left feeling unwelcome in fandoms, but that is also a core element in the story.
I really loved and was sad there wasn’t more to read!
I really loved and was sad there wasn’t more to read!
September 14, 2021
The best parts of this book occurred when it talked about Team Tomorrow or Gargantua. There’s a lot of potential with these characters that I was had been explored more in depth (or maybe even be the subject of their own story).
September 20, 2018
Just look at that cover; look at it! It snagged my eyes and the premise really reeled me in the rest of the way. But after barely 50 pages I'm giving up. These characters are so flat, so boring, and the writing style is tedious and like reading a manual or draft copy of an outline of a book that wants to plug in all the Words and Trendy Concepts du jour and it just was not working for me. Looks from reviews like if I feel this way I'm likely not going to be impressed with the rest so I'm stopping here and saving myself some agony. Might work for someone else; but I'd suggest you go in expecting rather boring, insipid (or laughably stereotypical) characters, a limp plot, and eye-rollingly forced jargon on every page and that seems exciting then maybe you'll be able to push through it further than I did...
January 1, 2019
Really young - not my thing but maybe older elementary or early MS would enjoy.
August 18, 2019
Really batters you in the face with its message, but I could see myself as a 13 year old appreciating it!
January 5, 2018
I enjoyed this book, it was a fun read - though not my fav Castellucci book. I could really relate to the awe of experiencing my very first comic book convention just as Edan had. There isn't anything too complex about the the plot but I really appreciate that the book brings up a lot of the negative of being a geek/nerd/fangirl - having to prove your geekiness, being ignored, being harassed for dressing up a certain way, etc. Yuri and his little a-hole cronies embody the crap that women in have to deal with just by loving the stuff they love. The way they treated Edan throughout the book made it really difficult to read through at some points. It pissed me off so much. Why? Because it's not fiction, that kind of crap really happens. So I'm glad it was in the foreground of this book. This was not some idealized geek love story - don't get me wrong, I love those too but what I love about Cecil Castellucci's books is that there is some aspect of bittersweet, characters are flawed, people make mistakes, and not everything is tied up in a neat little bow at the end.
Of course there were other things I would have liked to see in this book like Yuri and the jerk squad get his comeuppance and maybe more of SEW being involved with the hospital visits. That was adorable.
Seriously, I think Yuri is the most evil villain you've written to date Cecil. Kudos to you for stomaching writing such a jerky mcjerkface.
Of course there were other things I would have liked to see in this book like Yuri and the jerk squad get his comeuppance and maybe more of SEW being involved with the hospital visits. That was adorable.
Seriously, I think Yuri is the most evil villain you've written to date Cecil. Kudos to you for stomaching writing such a jerky mcjerkface.
February 22, 2019
I honestly tried with this one. You’d think being a result con goer and cosplayer that it would be of interest, right? Right. I should be able to push through the cringe, right? Wrong.
The main character reads like a self/righteous, self-insert of a fanfiction writer. I really can’t get into her story at all. I don’t care about her running monologue. The first page alone was a turn off but I made it to maybe a quarter.
The running monologue with “Gargantua wouldn’t do this.” is the point of the story, and the weak point I think.
I was looking for the actual experience of comic con. The “I see pieces of myself in this character.” Or “This character inspires me to grow as a person because she dives into problems with the self-assuredness I can only dream of.” I expected more development and “show don’t tell.” But this skeleton of a story is just a cringey young con goer that thinks loving a character makes them that character. The best real life example I can think of is the young ones that think they’re Harley Quinn and that it’s an entire personality.
I’m sure someone, some young geek, would find solace in this book. But it’s honestly hard for me to digest at almost 26.
The main character reads like a self/righteous, self-insert of a fanfiction writer. I really can’t get into her story at all. I don’t care about her running monologue. The first page alone was a turn off but I made it to maybe a quarter.
The running monologue with “Gargantua wouldn’t do this.” is the point of the story, and the weak point I think.
I was looking for the actual experience of comic con. The “I see pieces of myself in this character.” Or “This character inspires me to grow as a person because she dives into problems with the self-assuredness I can only dream of.” I expected more development and “show don’t tell.” But this skeleton of a story is just a cringey young con goer that thinks loving a character makes them that character. The best real life example I can think of is the young ones that think they’re Harley Quinn and that it’s an entire personality.
I’m sure someone, some young geek, would find solace in this book. But it’s honestly hard for me to digest at almost 26.
July 25, 2021
Oh god. What a train wreck.
Don’t cosplay with my heart is a feeble, sad excuse of a book that’s more comparable to the writing style of a teenagers fanfiction on Wattpad. Although I started reading this ‘story’ as a joke, jokes are funny and clever. Don’t cosplay with my heart was not.
More comparable to the infamous My Immortal then a published story, many plot points are as unfinished and as bland as the characters. Eden is a character I feel we’re supposed to be rooting for, however, I can’t help but find her anything but self important. Toxicly ‘not like other girls’.
Many characters are Japanese, which I would usually enjoy! I love POC representation whenever I can get it. However, these characters seem they were added on as a decoration, just for the sake of ‘anime’.
In short, don’t cosplay with my heart is a read not worth your time, even as a one off joke. It reeks of 2012 Tumblr, and not in the good way. Better off reading something else, like Geekerella.
Don’t cosplay with my heart is a feeble, sad excuse of a book that’s more comparable to the writing style of a teenagers fanfiction on Wattpad. Although I started reading this ‘story’ as a joke, jokes are funny and clever. Don’t cosplay with my heart was not.
More comparable to the infamous My Immortal then a published story, many plot points are as unfinished and as bland as the characters. Eden is a character I feel we’re supposed to be rooting for, however, I can’t help but find her anything but self important. Toxicly ‘not like other girls’.
Many characters are Japanese, which I would usually enjoy! I love POC representation whenever I can get it. However, these characters seem they were added on as a decoration, just for the sake of ‘anime’.
In short, don’t cosplay with my heart is a read not worth your time, even as a one off joke. It reeks of 2012 Tumblr, and not in the good way. Better off reading something else, like Geekerella.
January 21, 2018
I enjoyed reading this book very much! My English teacher gave it to me knowing I am a big nerd for cosplaying and I was overjoyed. I enjoyed the lessons that Edan learned along the way and how she dealt with each situation. I also liked the wide range of emotions that were present during the story and how Edan described them to feel like. Over all I think that this is a great book for teens to read, especially if they are as nerdy as me!
March 23, 2018
I've read two other books about cosplay that emphasize the Comicon aspect. This book was fun because the main character started a cosplay club at her school. This was how the cosplay was discussed.
It included romance, friend drama, and huge family drama.
I'm curious if students who are really into cosplay would enjoy it. It was Cosplay 101 for me.
Makes me want to go read some comic books though. I haven't read one since the last millennium!
It included romance, friend drama, and huge family drama.
I'm curious if students who are really into cosplay would enjoy it. It was Cosplay 101 for me.
Makes me want to go read some comic books though. I haven't read one since the last millennium!
May 22, 2018
This book is the most infuriating books I’ve read all year! It’s full of unlikeable characters, and storylines that are seen a mile away. On to of that the ending doesn’t feel like an ending at all... more like the author just stopped writing.
Bleh.
Bleh.
Want to read
March 9, 2018So the cover is ... interesting (not in love with it), the reviews are mixed, but because I'm a cosplayer ... I have to add it to my "to read" list! ;-)
May 30, 2018
(mild spoilers in review)
the cover of this book is incredible and beautiful. unfortunately what's inside the book does not compare. i will say the book DOES occasionally have meaningful insights about being a nerd - a couple lines here and there that i underlined. but beyond that this book is a mess and chock full of nonsense storylines and characters.
biggest problem i have with this book is the poor writing. there is no spice to this writing at all. the characters "say" things over and over - unless they're "snapping" at each other. literally those are the only two verbs used to describe dialogue. Edan says, then Yuri says, then Edan says....so bland.
also - who the hell edited this book because they need to become better at their jobs. there are ERRORS within this book and that really detracts from the enjoyment for me. there is one chapter where edan is counting down the days in the week....goes from monday to thursday to MONDAY and then to saturday. i thought it was supposed to be two weeks but it wasn't. Someone did not catch that they had written monday instead of friday. how? Why? published books sold in bookstores should not have these mistakes. and that wasn't the only one.
the characters are entirely one dimensional. constantly throughout the book i'm rolling my eyes at the narrator, Edan. she's spoiled and doesn't understand how to be a functional human half the time. she knows that her friend has a spare badge to comiccon but waits until she literally arrives at the convention in full costume to text him and ask for it, which of course it has already been given to someone else. i cannot understand this decision in any way shape or form. the author is CLEAR in indicating that Edan knew about the spare pass over a week before the convention, yet she obviously needed a way to have the narrator meet the second love interest, so Edan winds up stranded and pouting outside of the con with no badge, only to be rescued at the last minute by someone she doesn't even remember having a class with. okay....what???? and later in the story, at one point edan randomly decides to strip down to her underclothes in the middle of her club meeting. what???????? people need to make reasonably rational decisions in books or else they are not enjoyable characters to follow.
Edan is not a relatable character at all. she caters to a terrible, horrible boyfriend for NO REASON except that she kind of likes him? and then breaks up with him after letting him spend money on her by taking her on a day trip to an amusement park. and she tries to justify it by saying "well i wanted to come here." WHATTTTT? she is so spoiled and she does not change throughout the book even though her situation should promote growth in this department. her relationships make no sense. the oncoming conflicts are clear from early chapters but the narrator is oblivious to what is coming, until it smacks her in the face and literally everyone turns on her in a matter of paragraphs. very dramatic, but not very realistic or believable or exciting. and there's little to no resolution of it, either. definitely better nerd-centric books out there.
the cover of this book is incredible and beautiful. unfortunately what's inside the book does not compare. i will say the book DOES occasionally have meaningful insights about being a nerd - a couple lines here and there that i underlined. but beyond that this book is a mess and chock full of nonsense storylines and characters.
biggest problem i have with this book is the poor writing. there is no spice to this writing at all. the characters "say" things over and over - unless they're "snapping" at each other. literally those are the only two verbs used to describe dialogue. Edan says, then Yuri says, then Edan says....so bland.
also - who the hell edited this book because they need to become better at their jobs. there are ERRORS within this book and that really detracts from the enjoyment for me. there is one chapter where edan is counting down the days in the week....goes from monday to thursday to MONDAY and then to saturday. i thought it was supposed to be two weeks but it wasn't. Someone did not catch that they had written monday instead of friday. how? Why? published books sold in bookstores should not have these mistakes. and that wasn't the only one.
the characters are entirely one dimensional. constantly throughout the book i'm rolling my eyes at the narrator, Edan. she's spoiled and doesn't understand how to be a functional human half the time. she knows that her friend has a spare badge to comiccon but waits until she literally arrives at the convention in full costume to text him and ask for it, which of course it has already been given to someone else. i cannot understand this decision in any way shape or form. the author is CLEAR in indicating that Edan knew about the spare pass over a week before the convention, yet she obviously needed a way to have the narrator meet the second love interest, so Edan winds up stranded and pouting outside of the con with no badge, only to be rescued at the last minute by someone she doesn't even remember having a class with. okay....what???? and later in the story, at one point edan randomly decides to strip down to her underclothes in the middle of her club meeting. what???????? people need to make reasonably rational decisions in books or else they are not enjoyable characters to follow.
Edan is not a relatable character at all. she caters to a terrible, horrible boyfriend for NO REASON except that she kind of likes him? and then breaks up with him after letting him spend money on her by taking her on a day trip to an amusement park. and she tries to justify it by saying "well i wanted to come here." WHATTTTT? she is so spoiled and she does not change throughout the book even though her situation should promote growth in this department. her relationships make no sense. the oncoming conflicts are clear from early chapters but the narrator is oblivious to what is coming, until it smacks her in the face and literally everyone turns on her in a matter of paragraphs. very dramatic, but not very realistic or believable or exciting. and there's little to no resolution of it, either. definitely better nerd-centric books out there.
May 10, 2020
Alright so here's the scoop. Much like Boy Proof, this book starts out rough and a lot of that had to do with the protagonist who is almost entirely self focused. She does grow a lot as the book progresses, ad on a whole it got a lot less cringey.
I also appreciated the way the love interests turned out and how that situation was resolved. Turned out better than I expected on the whole, I don't really regret finishing it, but it's also not something I'm going to run out and jam into my friends' hands, you know?
(Quite honestly it made me really want to pick Chaotic Good back up which, IIRC, also has a large cosplaying storyline, and actually finish that book.)
I also appreciated the way the love interests turned out and how that situation was resolved. Turned out better than I expected on the whole, I don't really regret finishing it, but it's also not something I'm going to run out and jam into my friends' hands, you know?
(Quite honestly it made me really want to pick Chaotic Good back up which, IIRC, also has a large cosplaying storyline, and actually finish that book.)
July 27, 2020
I had such high hopes for this story, but it ended up being really disappointing.
After reading Fangirl last year, and discovering books with really relatable geeky characters, I've made it my mission to read more of them. I was expecting a fun YA contemporary centered around cosplay and cons, but this book really felt like an empty shell, waiting to be filled.
The story of this was extremely lackluster, and at times just plain boring. Some of the most interesting aspects were the snippets of Team Tomorrow and Gargantua, I would much rather have read their story. And certain scenes just felt like "and then..." (i.g. and then we got ice cream, and then we saw a movie, and then we talked, etc.).
The characters were absolutely atrocious. They felt like caricatures of real people. Edan was supposed to be this nerdy relatable girl, but all she did was make the stupidest decisions that made me want to pull out my own hair. Her boyfriend was a complete douche, and so were all his friends. Her love interest felt like an overly melodramatic sob story. And her best friend decided to dump her towards the end, and choose to believe all the lies (what a winner).
I did enjoy some aspects of this story (there had to be something worthwhile to make me actually finish this story). I've never read about conventions before, and I've only seen a couple videos bout cosplay, so that part was kinda interesting. Plus I highly enjoyed seeing geeks (whether they were likable or not) just geek out over various fandoms.
After reading Fangirl last year, and discovering books with really relatable geeky characters, I've made it my mission to read more of them. I was expecting a fun YA contemporary centered around cosplay and cons, but this book really felt like an empty shell, waiting to be filled.
The story of this was extremely lackluster, and at times just plain boring. Some of the most interesting aspects were the snippets of Team Tomorrow and Gargantua, I would much rather have read their story. And certain scenes just felt like "and then..." (i.g. and then we got ice cream, and then we saw a movie, and then we talked, etc.).
The characters were absolutely atrocious. They felt like caricatures of real people. Edan was supposed to be this nerdy relatable girl, but all she did was make the stupidest decisions that made me want to pull out my own hair. Her boyfriend was a complete douche, and so were all his friends. Her love interest felt like an overly melodramatic sob story. And her best friend decided to dump her towards the end, and choose to believe all the lies (what a winner).
I did enjoy some aspects of this story (there had to be something worthwhile to make me actually finish this story). I've never read about conventions before, and I've only seen a couple videos bout cosplay, so that part was kinda interesting. Plus I highly enjoyed seeing geeks (whether they were likable or not) just geek out over various fandoms.
June 4, 2018
I really wanted to like this book. The cover is AWESOME. and the premise isn't so bad either. I'll start with the things I did like: diversity in the characters' races, sexuality, and socio-economic statuses; some of the social/political issues discussed. An extra star for those things.
But it was a close call, and here's why: the MC is INSUFFERABLE. At first I chalked it up to teenage angst and turmoil, and maybe that just wasn't what I wanted to read about at the time. I was willing to forgive. But then I realized that the characters are supposed to be sophomores in high school. They are written like eight graders. You cannot tell me this isn't a middle grade book because I will not believe you. Now, don't get me wrong, I know that 15 isn't the height of maturity, but c'mon. Castellucci does 15 year olds a disservice with the interactions and dialogue in this book. The characters are utterly one dimensional--almost no growth occurs, except for maybe the MC at the end (and her wet noodle mother, if you're being generous).
Additionally, the drama was so cliched--especially with the boyfriend. Now, don't get me wrong. I am all about portrayals of strong females, acts of consent, and positive female friendships. But not when the read like a re-hash of your most popular gamer girl blog rants. I mean, I get it. The interactions/drama are things that can and do happen in real life (like your boyfriend and his disgusting, sexist friends) but my problem is that there isn't necessarily a resolution for these things. You don't have to tell ME the injustices that occur to gamer girls--I am one. I KNOW. What would be better is to demonstrate scenarios where these boys get put in their place. Teach me how to respond to the BS that I know happens IRL, don't just rehash the fact that it's happening.
Also, eff that make up with her friend at the end. The friend embarrassed her in front of everyone, helped throw her out a club that SHE created, and refused an apology because, what? the MC didn't confide her personal, horrible home life? This is an awful message to send. Children, we are not our parents and we should not be punished for the crimes of our fathers. I expected a better resolution than "hey come sit with me, I guess I'm not mad about what your dad did to my dad that neither of us had any control over."
Please, if you are on the fence, go read Geekerella by Ashley Poston instead.
But it was a close call, and here's why: the MC is INSUFFERABLE. At first I chalked it up to teenage angst and turmoil, and maybe that just wasn't what I wanted to read about at the time. I was willing to forgive. But then I realized that the characters are supposed to be sophomores in high school. They are written like eight graders. You cannot tell me this isn't a middle grade book because I will not believe you. Now, don't get me wrong, I know that 15 isn't the height of maturity, but c'mon. Castellucci does 15 year olds a disservice with the interactions and dialogue in this book. The characters are utterly one dimensional--almost no growth occurs, except for maybe the MC at the end (and her wet noodle mother, if you're being generous).
Additionally, the drama was so cliched--especially with the boyfriend. Now, don't get me wrong. I am all about portrayals of strong females, acts of consent, and positive female friendships. But not when the read like a re-hash of your most popular gamer girl blog rants. I mean, I get it. The interactions/drama are things that can and do happen in real life (like your boyfriend and his disgusting, sexist friends) but my problem is that there isn't necessarily a resolution for these things. You don't have to tell ME the injustices that occur to gamer girls--I am one. I KNOW. What would be better is to demonstrate scenarios where these boys get put in their place. Teach me how to respond to the BS that I know happens IRL, don't just rehash the fact that it's happening.
Also, eff that make up with her friend at the end. The friend embarrassed her in front of everyone, helped throw her out a club that SHE created, and refused an apology because, what? the MC didn't confide her personal, horrible home life? This is an awful message to send. Children, we are not our parents and we should not be punished for the crimes of our fathers. I expected a better resolution than "hey come sit with me, I guess I'm not mad about what your dad did to my dad that neither of us had any control over."
Please, if you are on the fence, go read Geekerella by Ashley Poston instead.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 8, 2018
What it's about: As Edan is preparing to turn 16, she finds her life slowly unravelling. Her father is under investigation for embezzlement, and has left Edan and her mother while he tries to figure out how to stay out of jail. This has sent Edan's mother into a deep depression, and has left Edan without her accustomed access to funds and fun. Her best friend is away. Her summer is ruined. So Edan decides to try cheering herself up by attending a local comics convention. Her last-minute decision to go in costume starts her down a path that she hadn't expected. She manages to land the boyfriend of her dreams at the convention, so things must be getting better, right?
What I thought: The main thing I liked about this book was the inside look at the teenaged female mind, and particularly the look inside the mind of a nerd and cosplayer. This book has inspired me to make my high school students aware of local conventions in the hopes that some of them will take part and find something they love and can share with other enthusiasts.
Why I rated it like I did: I am probably just too old and jaded and familiar with story structure to take a story like this at face value. There was no mystery for me as to what was going to happen throughout the course of this book. The writing was engaging enough to keep me reading, but I was able to see every "twist" and turn coming from a mile and a half away.
What I thought: The main thing I liked about this book was the inside look at the teenaged female mind, and particularly the look inside the mind of a nerd and cosplayer. This book has inspired me to make my high school students aware of local conventions in the hopes that some of them will take part and find something they love and can share with other enthusiasts.
Why I rated it like I did: I am probably just too old and jaded and familiar with story structure to take a story like this at face value. There was no mystery for me as to what was going to happen throughout the course of this book. The writing was engaging enough to keep me reading, but I was able to see every "twist" and turn coming from a mile and a half away.
September 21, 2022
this book was so bad. it made me feel sorry for the parents of cosplayers. the entire book was the mc complaining that her boyfriend didn’t think she was a real nerd. the writing quality reminded me of a fourth grade creative writing project. the author talked about things, but never actually went into any detail about them. this book is not slay.
January 1, 2018
My last new read for 2017 is Don’t Cosplay with My Heart by Cecil Castellucci, and you’ll love it if you’ve ever felt like any fandom universe is sometimes much better than the real world.
Squinklethoughts
1. The cover and title totally hooked me. I love the girl’s pink hair and purple mask – they drew my attention right away. Also, there’s a popular song that I grew up with called “Please Be Careful with My Heart”, and the title of this book made me remember the lyrics of the song, so I wanted to see how many parallels the two would have.
2. Edan Kupferman, the heroine of our story, is going through so much. I just feel for her. What’s great (for the reader, not for her) is that she’s in an unusual quandary, so it’s not like I could have predicted how things would turn out. In fact, I was quite surprised at how the problems within her family ultimately develop. (All the more interesting for me is that there’s a bit of Hollywood and behind-the-scenes allusions to Tinseltown in the story.) I like that Edan has a hard time telling her best friend, Kasumi, what’s really going on with her parents. She tells the audience right away how close they are, but there are some secrets that are difficult to share even with best friends, and this felt really realistic for me. I don’t know that I would have allowed things to develop the way Edan does, but her choices about this make the rising action more interesting. I also love that Edan’s family is comprised of three strong women who are tested to the core.
3. Yuri. Ugh. I did not like him right away. I see why he might have been interesting for Edan, but I just felt like she fell under the whole sunk-cost fallacy. She spent so much time pining for Yuri that she can’t see how terrible he is for her. I mean … just his friends are hard to hang around with, and even Edan can see that clearly. I wish there were more just deserts for Yuri, but I suppose Castellucci leaves that to the reader’s imagination.
4. Just as Yuri is so ugh, I felt myself rooting for Kirk almost right away. It’d have been great to have had a friend like Kirk in high school, though I’m sure I would have been just as emotionally invested in his home life as Edan eventually is. Edan and Kirk work well for me because even though they have their own really difficult dilemmas to deal with, they both have enough compassion in them to help one another out. This doesn’t always happen (and, for sure, I wish this had happened when I was in school), so to read about two characters who could think beyond themselves, even for a little while every so often, was quite refreshing for me.
5. I’ve been to many cons and conferences (though none as big as SDCC), and I love that world. I love being immersed in a fish tank of like-minded individuals for a few days. Even though I don’t cosplay myself, I do wear tailored tees and other paraphernalia to show my fandom love. It was particularly interesting for me to read about some of the rules, expectations, and backstage info about what happens in other cons (even the fabricated one here). Castellucci writes about Disney bounding and ticket lotteries with an authority that makes me think she’s been to a fair (faire, ha) few cons herself. If you are a “real nerd” (used in quotes because, well, read the book to find out why), you’ll love these bits in the novel.
6. I loved all the back stories on Team Tomorrow, Edan’s fandom of choice. These were the parts of the story that I thought were so well written, and I wonder if the author first thought of the Team Tomorrow backstory and just sort of built Edan’s story around it … which is so cool to speculate. There are lots of details about the made-up characters (Gargantua, Green Guarder, Lady Bird, etc.) and real comic-book life (ashcans, story arcs, writer-illustrator-creator-producer relationships, etc.), and I really wanted to learn more. Plus, there are tons of allusions to real fandoms that my Disney-Harry-Potter-Doctor-Who-Sherlock/Elementary-Murdoch-Mysteries-loving heart just eats up. I guess I’m all about the behind-the-scenes stuff. Anyway, the Team Tomorrow BTS pages were my favourite parts of the whole story.
7. There’s one part though that I wasn’t too fond of, which is the constant references to boys objectifying girls and Edan being super feisty (or thinking about doing something super feisty) every time it happened. I one-hundred-percent believe that girls should be treated with respect and should never be made to feel uncomfortable. But I felt, more times than not, that the way the author presented this was unrealistic. When Yuri’s friends are talking about how great a girl looks, Edan sometimes gets upset right away. Maybe it’s because people who talk poorly about girls like they do wouldn’t stay my friends for very long, or maybe it’s because I think commenting on someone’s looks is not always demeaning nor are those looks mutually exclusive of a person’s intelligence. I just can’t see myself getting as steamed as Edan does (and still being with Yuri … ugh again). Either way, I think this would make a great starting point for discussions among my students.
This review originally appeared on my blog, Squinklebooks.
Squinklethoughts
1. The cover and title totally hooked me. I love the girl’s pink hair and purple mask – they drew my attention right away. Also, there’s a popular song that I grew up with called “Please Be Careful with My Heart”, and the title of this book made me remember the lyrics of the song, so I wanted to see how many parallels the two would have.
2. Edan Kupferman, the heroine of our story, is going through so much. I just feel for her. What’s great (for the reader, not for her) is that she’s in an unusual quandary, so it’s not like I could have predicted how things would turn out. In fact, I was quite surprised at how the problems within her family ultimately develop. (All the more interesting for me is that there’s a bit of Hollywood and behind-the-scenes allusions to Tinseltown in the story.) I like that Edan has a hard time telling her best friend, Kasumi, what’s really going on with her parents. She tells the audience right away how close they are, but there are some secrets that are difficult to share even with best friends, and this felt really realistic for me. I don’t know that I would have allowed things to develop the way Edan does, but her choices about this make the rising action more interesting. I also love that Edan’s family is comprised of three strong women who are tested to the core.
3. Yuri. Ugh. I did not like him right away. I see why he might have been interesting for Edan, but I just felt like she fell under the whole sunk-cost fallacy. She spent so much time pining for Yuri that she can’t see how terrible he is for her. I mean … just his friends are hard to hang around with, and even Edan can see that clearly. I wish there were more just deserts for Yuri, but I suppose Castellucci leaves that to the reader’s imagination.
4. Just as Yuri is so ugh, I felt myself rooting for Kirk almost right away. It’d have been great to have had a friend like Kirk in high school, though I’m sure I would have been just as emotionally invested in his home life as Edan eventually is. Edan and Kirk work well for me because even though they have their own really difficult dilemmas to deal with, they both have enough compassion in them to help one another out. This doesn’t always happen (and, for sure, I wish this had happened when I was in school), so to read about two characters who could think beyond themselves, even for a little while every so often, was quite refreshing for me.
5. I’ve been to many cons and conferences (though none as big as SDCC), and I love that world. I love being immersed in a fish tank of like-minded individuals for a few days. Even though I don’t cosplay myself, I do wear tailored tees and other paraphernalia to show my fandom love. It was particularly interesting for me to read about some of the rules, expectations, and backstage info about what happens in other cons (even the fabricated one here). Castellucci writes about Disney bounding and ticket lotteries with an authority that makes me think she’s been to a fair (faire, ha) few cons herself. If you are a “real nerd” (used in quotes because, well, read the book to find out why), you’ll love these bits in the novel.
6. I loved all the back stories on Team Tomorrow, Edan’s fandom of choice. These were the parts of the story that I thought were so well written, and I wonder if the author first thought of the Team Tomorrow backstory and just sort of built Edan’s story around it … which is so cool to speculate. There are lots of details about the made-up characters (Gargantua, Green Guarder, Lady Bird, etc.) and real comic-book life (ashcans, story arcs, writer-illustrator-creator-producer relationships, etc.), and I really wanted to learn more. Plus, there are tons of allusions to real fandoms that my Disney-Harry-Potter-Doctor-Who-Sherlock/Elementary-Murdoch-Mysteries-loving heart just eats up. I guess I’m all about the behind-the-scenes stuff. Anyway, the Team Tomorrow BTS pages were my favourite parts of the whole story.
7. There’s one part though that I wasn’t too fond of, which is the constant references to boys objectifying girls and Edan being super feisty (or thinking about doing something super feisty) every time it happened. I one-hundred-percent believe that girls should be treated with respect and should never be made to feel uncomfortable. But I felt, more times than not, that the way the author presented this was unrealistic. When Yuri’s friends are talking about how great a girl looks, Edan sometimes gets upset right away. Maybe it’s because people who talk poorly about girls like they do wouldn’t stay my friends for very long, or maybe it’s because I think commenting on someone’s looks is not always demeaning nor are those looks mutually exclusive of a person’s intelligence. I just can’t see myself getting as steamed as Edan does (and still being with Yuri … ugh again). Either way, I think this would make a great starting point for discussions among my students.
This review originally appeared on my blog, Squinklebooks.
December 12, 2017
I put this down about two weeks ago and lack of interest is making me DNF it for the moment. Maybe I'll come back to it.
February 2, 2018
I didn't like this book very much. The synopsis made it sound better than it was. ONE STAR at most.
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