Began reading: 4.9.2016
Completed reading: 5.9.2016
Overall rating: 4.3 stars
Gone were the days when you lived in fear of what someone could do to you. Now you lived in fear of your worst mistakes being paraded around the globe to take you down.
Jasmine Lovely has it all - the looks, the grades, the friends.
But when a house party spins out of control, Jazz discovers what can happen when your mistakes go viral...
Trigger warning: this book contains rape, suicide and self-harm.
Saving Jazz by Kate McCaffrey is a realistic fiction novel that appeals to young adult readers. I’m so happy that I picked this book up – it was so good! I read it so quickly, and couldn’t get enough.
The book was well-written, with no errors to be found. I thought that the structure was great, especially beginning with a prologue before re-telling the story. It set up the dramatic aspect of the plot. I found the blog post format to be irritating at first, but as I went along, I came to like it. As well as structure, format and writing, there were really good quotes, such as:
‘This world is a bitch and people are even bitchier. As nice as you are, you’re not going to be able to save everyone’ (p. 55).
Gone were the days when you lived in fear of what someone could do to you. Now you lived in fear of your worst mistakes being paraded around the globe to take you down (p. 95).
Sometimes optimism has no place in this world (p. 95).
…most things are hard to comprehend, until it’s you (p. 108).
The one thing you can be sure about haters is that they love to hate. And give them something out of the norm – they’ll find a way to hate it more (p. 114).
‘It’s so beautiful,’ Aunty Jane murmured.
‘What is it?’ I asked…
‘Life,’ Aunty Jane said. ‘I know it’s easy to get down, but remember, at the end of the day, there is still a lot of good, a lot to look forward to’ (p. 180).
…sometimes your biggest weaknesses can become your greatest strengths (p. 297).
…what are we if not the sum total of all we experience? (p. 297).
I found the plot to be very interesting and relatable, so I found it difficult to put the book down. I just have one question: why isn’t it in the English curriculum for high school students? I would have loved to have studied this over Lord of the Flies. I would definitely recommend this to high school students, as many experience cyber-bullying (I know I have).
Character development played a significant role in the book, which was interesting. I enjoyed seeing how Jazz learned to distance herself from the bullying, while (although I didn’t enjoy reading it) Jack went from Jazz’s friend to someone she barely recognised. It gave me chills, just watching it unfold.
Usually in books, there’s a main problem which then branches off into other issues. When something like that happens, I sometimes find it to be a distraction from the main problem. In this book, the main complication was the bullying and the plot focused on it throughout the narrative. Although there were some parts that didn’t really focus on the bullying (such as Jazz meeting Frank), McCaffrey found a way to bring it back, which was really good.
The only thing that bothered me was when Jazz “remembered” a particular event from the party. It bothered me that she didn’t include this in her first recount, and later said “oh, by the way, I did this, this and this to my best friend”. In her first recount, she never mentioned that she blacked out and couldn’t remember what happened after taking Annie to bed. I thought that she should have brought that up when she was re-telling the story so we got the whole picture the first time around.
My favourite character was Jasmine, also known as Jazz. She was sweet, sassy, loyal (most of the time) and relatable. Her thoughts were very similar to that of an average teenage girl, especially around body image. I loved that she was a loyal friend to Jack, Annie and Casey. I just couldn’t believe that she did what she did to Annie at the party. While I was reading, I expected Aunty Jane to be my favourite character, as she proved to be supportive and played the role of Jazz’s “mum” really well! For that, she is a notable character.
I definitely did not like Tommy, Jack or Jazz’s parents for a multitude of reasons. Tommy was a sleazy little sh*t, and I’m with Jazz when she says that she doesn’t think it’s fair that his life improved more than that of Jazz or Jack. He didn’t deserve to have such a comfortable life after what he did to Annie. As for Jazz’s parents, what the hell? They reminded me of my parents, and I think their reaction to Jazz’s actions would be similar to my parents’. How could they abandon Jazz the way they did? She did do some horrible things, but she didn’t deserve to lose them. I’m grateful that Aunty Jane was there for her.
*WARNING: SPOILER* I also felt so bad for Annie – she didn’t deserve to have brain damage. It hurt when we found that she would have the mindset of a nine-year-old. It’s just so tragic, and this is why I think that this book should be studied by high school students. The consequences of alcohol and drug abuse, as well as bullying, can be devastating.
My favourite part of the book was the house party, despite all of the drama that occurred. This part of the book was the climax of what happened and what set everything in motion. It was interesting to see all of the students interacting, and then being totally unaware of what was going on in the bedroom. It was a very insightful part of the book, as we got to be there when Jazz tried to help her friend.
Recommendation time! If you like Fake by Beck Nichols, The Perfectionists saga by Sara Shepard, Pretty Girl by J.C. Burke, or Signs Point to Yes by Sandy Hall, you will love this book. Also, I recommend this book to anyone who likes Easy A and The Social Network, as well as Destroying Avalon, In Ecstasy, Beautiful Monster and Crashing Down by Kate McCaffrey.
Happy reading!
Like and follow!
Instagram: @thebasicbookworm
Twitter: @BasicBookworm
No comments :
Post a Comment