Reviews

Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer

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secondhandpages's review against another edition

5.0

Brigid has an uncanny ability to open your heart up, make you feel, and then violently rip it out, set it on fire, tie it to a brick and throw it over a cliff -- her words, ya'll -- not mine! Call it What You Want was no exception. This review is going to be short, because I feel like if I do I will spill so much of the story and spoil it.

The story centers around Meg and Rob, two kids that really don't interact with each other. Rob, once a popular kid, and Meg, an overachiever who made a huge mistake. The two are thrown together during a school assignment and all that changes.

Kemmerer literally punches you in the face from the first page, making you fall completely into Rob's world. That pace does not slow down when we are introduced to Maegan either. They both are dealing with such tragedies in their lives, whether personally or academically, These characters, and the supporting ones around them - Maegan's sister and friends, Owen - were brilliantly crafted, layered and flawed. They were relatable in a way that I hadn't found connectable in a long time.

Between the writing, the characters, the plot and the OH SO WONDERFULLY satisfying ending - this novel was an easy 5/5!

Thank you Netgalley for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

thehedgiereads's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

louisedavis's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

greenlivingaudioworm's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

“Sometimes when trying to protect the people closest to us, doing the right thing doesn’t always look so clear.”

This book follows two teenagers: Rob, who is a social outcast after his father was found embezzling money from a good percentage of the town, and Maegan, a member of an “appearances are everything” family who is forced to deal with the reality Maegan’s older sister is home from college, pregnant. When Rob and Maegan are paired together for a calculus project, they get more and more involved in each other’s worlds until they can no longer pretend they don’t care about each other.

Things I Liked:
-I’m a big fan of the young adult formula: two kids who feel like they can’t talk to anyone get matched up for a school project and realize they have more in common then they even imagined. This book did that trope really well.
-There ended up being a little bit of a mystery in this book and I wasn’t expecting that! It was a pleasant little surprise and made me feel that much more sympathy for Rob and his family.
-Rob (and Maegan) are classic teenagers: making dumb decisions but often for good reasons. Teenagers need to see this because they too are, more than likely, going to be making some bad decisions. They need to know that things will be ok and it’s not the end of the world when a bad decision is made.
-Once again, another super solid teacher librarian being the one constant adult in a teenager’s life. Why are we punishing librarians for the amazing, incredible things they do on a daily basis that has nothing to do with the books on the shelves?

Things I Didn’t Like:
-I understand Rob’s father did a really terrible thing but holy smokes Maegan’s parents are super strict about them not hanging out. Why are some parents just… the absolute worst sometimes? Kids are not their parents and it would do some adults some good to remember that.
-Samantha’s pregnancy — [SLIGHT SPOILER AHEAD] I know situations like this happen but OH MY GOSH he should never be in front of a classroom ever again. Is he only teaching college because his students would all be legal? It makes my stomach turn and I wanted so much better for Samantha. [SPOILER OVER]
-This wasn’t the best written young adult book. I haven’t read any of Kemmerer’s fantasy books, but I didn’t love this one. In fact, I kind of found myself hate listening to the last 1/4 of the book. I was so invested I had to know what happened to the characters but I really wanted the story to be over. As with all reviews, this is my personal opinion and the next reader may think this book is the easiest 5 stars they’ve ever given out. It just dampened my enthusiasm for this book.

Content Warnings

befsk's review

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5.0

I found this one super difficult to put down. The chapters just flew by.

This is a book about the grey areas in life. There are interesting moral dilemmas about if it's ever okay to steal, and about whether bad things deserve to happen to people just because of their proximity to bad people. It's about whether people deserve to be judged for the sins of their fathers or for one mistake made under pressure some time ago, and whether the two are comparable.

There are some really strong emotions throughout. Loneliness is a big theme, and one I personally always find easy to connect with. Maegan's rekindling of her relationship with her sister was a strong highlight of her side of the story. Trying to learn to trust again is powerful stuff when used right like it is here.

Both protagonists start the book by being horrible about someone they love and I loved it. Rob about his drooling dad and Maegan about her pregnant sister puking. These two kids aren't necessarily the nicest people in the universe, and this makes them a lot more real. As a result I was more invested in their stories a lot quicker than most other protagonists these days.

Spoiler

I can't think of anything negative to say except that Maegan took a bit of a back seat to Rob, especially in the last quarter of the book, but then Maegan's plot was less interesting than Rob's. Her cheating and the fallout of that had already been dealt with prior to the book beginning. Her sister's pregnancy was something that was happening in her presence but not to her, although I did love the relationship between the two, especially when they confronted David.

I received this ARC through Netgalley.