From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

XVI (XVI, #1)

Julia Karr

Start date: April 1, 2011

Finish date: April 30, 2011

Why we're reading this: This book won the vote for April's YA Book of the Month.…more
[close] This book won the vote for April's YA Book of the Month.

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What Members Thought

Mar 16, 2013 Trisha rated it it was ok

I just...I had a tough time buying into the world. Where suddenly we believe every girl, just when she turns 16, suddenly all she wants is sex. To the point that we don't eve aknowledge rape or consent. I just couldn't see the world getting to this point.

but when reading a dystopia novel, as soon as you can't buy into the reality, the rest (for me) kind of falls apart.

and there is a HUGE part of the story that is just the struggle of sex and turning "sexteen" and what that means. Because Nina is ...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Natalie rated it it was ok

Shelves: ya, dystopian

I was originally excited to read this book. It sounded gritty and edgy, taking on teen sexuality and the way that the media presents women as sex objects. It sounded like the author would present an interesting discussion of the subject wound up in a YA package. NOPE!

What you get instead is a cliched generic dystopian society with a big dollop of slut shaming. All men except for a few of the protagonist's family and love interests are creepy sex-animals who will almost literally rape girls on s ...more

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Nov 09, 2011 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: cbre, 2010s

I had not planned on deviating from reading my other books in favor of this one. The summary and plot idea sucked me in to reading it. After reading the reviews of my fellow readers, I have to agree in a way of how it did not exceed my expectations. So, I am giving it a three star.

When I started reading, I was very excited. After a while, I lost slight interest except when there was action or an intense moment. Otherwise, it did not keep me sucked in. All I wanted to do in the end was finish the ...more

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Jan 04, 2011 Deyara rated it really liked it

Liked it. Nina is an easy character to feel for, and her family and friends are great. Enjoyed finding out about the world, while we do get some information about their history, we dont really learn how this society came about, and what exactly the deal with the XVI tattooing is. So society has decided (or Media has decided for them) that guys having sex with sixteen-year-old girls is fine, and so the girls are tattooed to show they are 16... the tattooing seems a bit elaborate - if society says ...more

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Apr 04, 2025 Kami rated it liked it

Shelves: young-adult, sci-fi, fantasy, romance, dystopia, 2025-rrrc-reading-challenge

This a dystopia set in 2150, where girls are tattooed on their wrist the roman numerals XVI when they turn sixteen and then any man can have sex with them whenever they want which is a distasteful and disgusting world to live in that girls can just be passed around without any rights to their own body. Nina is fifteen and will be turning sixteen in a few months. Nina meets Sal who knows the mystery of what happened to Nina's father. This is the first book in a trilogy. Young girl rejects the est ...more

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Apr 02, 2011 Tfalcone rated it liked it

Good suspenseful story.

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Nov 26, 2010 A rated it it was ok

Shelves: 2011, 2011-debut

I wanted to like this more, but it was ridiculously repetitive--sometimes I wanted to shake the book and go, "I know, I know already, tell me something NEW!!!" I still think it's a good discussion book for some very uncomfortable topics. ...more

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