content warnings:

Spoiler

racism, sexism, ableist language, bullying, microaggressions, sexual harassment, terminally ill parent (cancer), parent death (cancer), grief, infidelity

rep:

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fat Black MC [Jasmine], Puerto Rican-American LI [Isaac], Lebanese-Japanese-American major character [Nadine], WLW secondary character [Ms. Lucas], ethnically diverse minor characters

★ 1.5 stars ★

First things first: I'm sure the authors, or really everyone who worked on this book, had great intentions. But I think a lot of the messages got lost somewhere along the way, and I honestly don't see this as a good model for student activism.

Despite using the word "intersectional" a few times, the feminism/womanism portrayed here isn't actually intersectional. Jasmine's experiences as a fat Black girl are perhaps the most poignant parts of the novel, but the social-justice focus is limited to sexism, racism, and fatphobia (as separate entities). It ignores classism, ableism, and queerphobia (in fact, the MCs sometimes use trans-exclusive language, such as slogans based on female biology) — let alone how all these identities intersect and affect each other, which is the central concept of intersectionality. Not, as Chelsea implies at one point, just being inclusive of multiple communities.

But we can also talk about inclusivity and community. I'm genuinely confused that Chelsea and Jasmine didn't even consider recruiting other people to join their club until

Spoiler

after it was shut down

, not even the "art-ivist" friends who end up helping with a lot of their ideas (and don't get due credit for their efforts). In fact, they call Isaac an "honorary feminist," as though boys can't be "real" feminists, even though it's mentioned that Jasmine's dad calls himself one.

It does, however, align with the way they position themselves as the can-do-no-wrong heads of a movement. They speak over each other and their allies and their opponents alike. They shut down discussions in favor of preaching at those who disagree even slightly. Their us against the world/school attitude is alienating, and I find it incredibly difficult to believe that writing a few blog posts and yelling at school faculty/admin for not conforming to your ideals of activism would recruit not just classmates but students from other schools to join your cause.

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They gain an active, vocal following literally as soon as they publish their first blog post, which contains on-point but not uniquely insightful commentary. How tf even.

Along the way, some of the adults present valid feedback (such as

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a throw-flyers-all-over-campus campaign creating extra work for custodians, or the fact that "sticking it to the principal" shouldn't be the focus of your activism

) but it seems to be totally brushed off as the main characters escalate their efforts. They don't seem to consider others' viewpoints, and in fact by the end

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these same adults are apologizing to them for not supporting them wholeheartedly

.

And the hypocrisy. Holy hell. There's an excruciating amount of girl-on-girl hate (particularly towards the girl that one of the love interests is "seeing"), and a lot of judgment cast on women who genuinely like cooking, makeup, and other "girly" activities. At one point one of the MCs judges an ally for offering advice "like she's giving us a speech" when they themselves have spent so much of the book doing just that.

At times I felt like the narrative structure was just a bit confused — sometimes it's an ensemble cast and sometimes it's focused on just one of the two narrators. The subdivision by months also felt awkward, but that might just be a personal issue with the pacing. And not to be insensitive, but I don't think the parent-with-cancer subplot (which is literally the focus of the opening scene) really added anything; it could've had potential, in changing the way the protagonists think about life and activism and empathy and whatnot, but instead it just led to narrative tangents and detours.

The romantic subplots just don't work for me at all. Neither Chelsea nor Jasmine really addresses the conflict between having a crush and wanting to be a "strong independent woman who don't need no man" (a conflict that my activist-minded friends and I have discussed extensively, and which I've seen discussed by others as well). Chelsea aggressively ships Jasmine and Isaac despite Jasmine's protests, wanting them to get together for her own vindication, which was highly uncomfortable to read. And Chelsea knows from the beginning of the novel that her crush

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has a girlfriend, yet it's only towards the end that she realizes she should have more self-worth than to settle (to say nothing of the hurt she might've caused said girlfriend)

.

To be quite honest, I only finished this because I didn't want to qualify this review with the disclaimer that maybe my critiques are addressed/improved upon in the part of the book that I didn't read — and since I have, I can say that unfortunately they weren't.

>> Recommended by Fictionally Sam — check out Sam's review for thoughts from someone who loved this book!

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CONVERSION: 4.13 / 15 = 1.5 stars

Prose: 3 / 10
Characters & Relationships: 2 / 10
Emotional Impact: 1 / 10
Development / Flow: 3 / 10
Setting: 5 / 10

Diversity & Social Themes: 2 / 5
Intellectual Engagement: 1 / 5
Originality / Trope Execution: 1 / 5
Rereadability: N/A
Memorability: N/A