The Bookish Island's Book Review:
Kens by Raziel Reid
Are there spoilers?
Yes, there are spoilers.
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Disclaimer: This book was sent to me from the publishing company through NetGalley.com in exchange for an honest review.
Title: Kens
Author: Raziel Reid
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Pages: 272
Publisher: Penguin Teen
Publication: September 2018
Genre: Young Adult
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Date Read: July 8 > July 14, 2018
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆
Heterosexuality is so last season: Kens is the gay Heathers meets Mean Girls, a shocking parody for a whole new generation.
Every high school has the archetypical Queen B and her minions. In Kens, the high school hierarchy has been reimagined. Willows High is led by Ken Hilton, and he makes Regina George from Mean Girls look like a saint. Ken Hilton rules Willows High with his carbon-copies, Ken Roberts and Ken Carson, standing next to his throne. It can be hard to tell the Kens apart. There are minor differences in each edition, but all Kens are created from the same mold, straight out of Satan's doll factory. Soul sold separately.
Tommy Rawlins can't help but compare himself to these shimmering images of perfection that glide through the halls. He's desperate to fit in, but in a school where the Kens are queens who are treated like Queens, Tommy is the uncool gay kid. A once-in-a-lifetime chance at becoming a Ken changes everything for Tommy, just as his eye is caught by the tall, dark, handsome new boy, Blaine. Has Blaine arrived in time to save him from the Kens? Tommy has high hopes for their future together, but when their shared desire to overthrow Ken Hilton takes a shocking turn, Tommy must decide how willing he is to reinvent himself -- inside and out. Is this new version of Tommy everything he's always wanted to be, or has he become an unknowing and submissive puppet in a sadistic plan?
The Rating:
My Review:
Kens was something else. I don't know how I read till the last page. Whether it was to torture myself or because I felt bad and felt I had to read the whole book. I seriously don't know but I did.
Here is how I tortured myself by reading this book:
At around page 6 or 8, I knew I wasn't going to like this book.
And at around page 50 I wanted to DNF this book and forget about it.
At around page 120 something I really really wanted to DNF this and never think about it again.
Page 170 something. This is one of the most UGH!!!. I hate this book!
Page 189. At this point, I'm only going to finish this as punishment for not properly reading the synopsis or available reviews for this book. Cause after I read half I went back and read the reviews and they weren't good either.
Page 214. I got so much worse. Who thought this was a good book to publish?
I finished it and not surprisingly I expected what happened.
Kens is a parody of Heathers and Mean Girls but with gay teens. So its supposed to have an edgy comedic style to it. And its also supposed to parody a bunch of bad things. But no matter how much I kept reading I never found myself laughing or even chuckling. To me, it was just not funny. At all. I actually found this super troubling and offensive in all kinds of ways.
The characters were literally plastic and had zero personality except dumb and vicious. I couldn't see myself rooting for these characters. I didn't even understand who was the good guys or the bad guys. Or if there were any.
I also feel like I should make a list of all of the bad things that this book has. Because if you don't like any of the things I will mention then you probably won't like this book because it has a lot of these things going on. So here is my warning (cause it needs one) for anyone who is thinking of giving it a chance.
This book parodies the following things:
Fat Shaming
Rape Culture
Suicide
Copycat suicide
Underage use of Drugs and Alcohol
Bringing Guns to School (it was fake but still)
School Shootings
Black Lives Matter
Satanism
Plastic Surgery
Peer Pressure
Murder
Catfishing
Slut Shaming
Cyberbullying
Real Life Bullying
...And other stuff too.
Most importantly, it's also not a good representation of LGBT+
And on top of it all. The e-arc copy I had been given by Netgalley had a huge watermark across the entire page which confused me when I was reading it. It just ended up mixing the words as I read them and I already have dyslexia so that just made it worse.
I want to say that I am at fault because like I wrote above I should have read the synopsis and thought it through before asking for it. I should have also read the available reviews and thought it through before making the decision. But I just saw the cover and asked for it. Big mistake.
I also want to add that maybe this was all from my experience reading this book and that others may think differently. But I found the humor to be insulting and too much. And that the plot was all over the place with the author trying to take on too many themes at once.
Here is how I tortured myself by reading this book:
At around page 6 or 8, I knew I wasn't going to like this book.
And at around page 50 I wanted to DNF this book and forget about it.
At around page 120 something I really really wanted to DNF this and never think about it again.
Page 170 something. This is one of the most UGH!!!. I hate this book!
Page 189. At this point, I'm only going to finish this as punishment for not properly reading the synopsis or available reviews for this book. Cause after I read half I went back and read the reviews and they weren't good either.
Page 214. I got so much worse. Who thought this was a good book to publish?
I finished it and not surprisingly I expected what happened.
*takes off imaginary glasses, stands up from a comfy sofa and walks over to the window.*
*a book is seen flying from the window through the skies all the way to the Atlantic ocean where it drops and sinks all the way down*
*a dark ominous fish opens its jaws and eats the book, only to spit it out and keep going*
Kens is a parody of Heathers and Mean Girls but with gay teens. So its supposed to have an edgy comedic style to it. And its also supposed to parody a bunch of bad things. But no matter how much I kept reading I never found myself laughing or even chuckling. To me, it was just not funny. At all. I actually found this super troubling and offensive in all kinds of ways.
The characters were literally plastic and had zero personality except dumb and vicious. I couldn't see myself rooting for these characters. I didn't even understand who was the good guys or the bad guys. Or if there were any.
I also feel like I should make a list of all of the bad things that this book has. Because if you don't like any of the things I will mention then you probably won't like this book because it has a lot of these things going on. So here is my warning (cause it needs one) for anyone who is thinking of giving it a chance.
This book parodies the following things:
Fat Shaming
Rape Culture
Suicide
Copycat suicide
Underage use of Drugs and Alcohol
Bringing Guns to School (it was fake but still)
School Shootings
Black Lives Matter
Satanism
Plastic Surgery
Peer Pressure
Murder
Catfishing
Slut Shaming
Cyberbullying
Real Life Bullying
...And other stuff too.
Most importantly, it's also not a good representation of LGBT+
And on top of it all. The e-arc copy I had been given by Netgalley had a huge watermark across the entire page which confused me when I was reading it. It just ended up mixing the words as I read them and I already have dyslexia so that just made it worse.
I want to say that I am at fault because like I wrote above I should have read the synopsis and thought it through before asking for it. I should have also read the available reviews and thought it through before making the decision. But I just saw the cover and asked for it. Big mistake.
I also want to add that maybe this was all from my experience reading this book and that others may think differently. But I found the humor to be insulting and too much. And that the plot was all over the place with the author trying to take on too many themes at once.
