#I wonder if I can keep reading ... she's a major secondary character and I can't avoid her

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

🦇 Didn't See That Coming Book Review 🦇

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

❝ The patriarchy is very far from being smashed. In fact, maybe they're even a little bit worse, because we pretend that the patriarchy is done and we're in a society with gender equality, so we can't even fight it because the fight's over. How do I fight something that's already playing dead but is still very much alive behind closed doors? ❞

❓ #QOTD What are your favorite video games? ❓ 🦇 Kiki Siregar is a badass gamer girl brimming with confidence and sass. She never hesitates to be herself...unless she's online. When she gets harassed as a girl playing a single-shooter game, she decides to recreate herself and anonymously starts playing as a guy. She even makes a friend--Sourdawg, who loves baking so much that he's the human equivalent of a sweet cinnamon roll. When Kiki's parents transfer her to an elite private school her senior year, she learns that the harassment doesn't only happen online. Worse yet: Sourdawg attends the same school. Can Kiki be herself in such a strict school, and uncover Sourdawg's identity in the process?

[ Find my review below. ]

💜 Kiki is FIRE. She's sassy, independent, and refuses to sit silent when the world tries to pre-package her into the pristine image of what men expect her to be. Kiki is perhaps one of the most self-assured, confident YA characters I've encountered this year. Unfortunately, the misogyny and sexism she faces lead to reverse character development, causing Kiki to doubt herself. She's forced to fall in line with ultra-conservative rules that favor boys over girls. Sutanto does a wonderful job of conveying the realities women face both on and offline. Even if you're not a gamer, the messages here are universal. Sutanto is also skilled at creating realistic, likable characters. Did I agree with every choice Kiki made? No, definitely not. Did I feel for her and want to give her a huge, warm hug? Definitely. The interactions between Kiki and supporting characters (namely Sourdawg online and her love interest at school) are the adorable fluff you need to offset the disgusting misogyny she experiences from both GROWN MEN and frustrating teenage boys. Thank you, Sutanto, for not dragging out Sourdawg's identity, either. Every secondary character is a delight as well.

🦇 My only real hangup with this story was the pacing, which does drag a little. However, Sutanto does a wonderful job of demonstrating how a "rebellious" female in a conservative, Asian culture can defy outdated concepts of misogyny and sexism without disrespecting her culture or elders outright. Kiki also defies every stereotype and bias thrown at her as Sutanto demonstrates the reality of our times. Whether in Asia or America, these problems still exist. We're not done fighting for gender equality. It's just playing dead, making the fight all the more difficult.

❝ I guess it's much easier for the school if a harassed girl keeps her head down and learns to accept abuse, but I am done keeping my head down. I'm done swallowing my anger and pretending that everything's okay. I'm not crazy just because I speak my mind. I'm a person with equal rights to those of everybody else here, and I am done staying silent to make boys feel comfortable. ❞

🦇 Recommended for fans of You've Got Mail and Jesse Q. Sutanto's Well, That Was Unexpected. This is a sweet, thought-provoking YA romance with a refreshing perspective on inequality, bullying, and feminism; a worthy read!

✨ The Vibes ✨ 🎮 Gamer Girl / Secret Identity 🕹️ Friends to Lovers 👾 South Asian Rep 🕹️ Down With the Patriarchy 🎮 Contemporary YA Romance

⚠️ Cyberbullying, Toxic Masculinity, Class Differences, Gaslighting

🦇 Major thanks to the author @jesseqsutanto and publisher @randomhousekids @delacortepress for providing an ARC of this book via Netgalley. 🥰 This does not affect my opinion regarding the book. #DidntSeeThatComing #NetGalley

[wouriqueen]

Okay so I’ve been hyping up Kingdom (Yasuhisa Hara’s manga, not the netflix series) to anyone I know for around 7 years now but lately the quality of Hara’s writing has been dropping. Now I wasn’t too mad about the whole unrealistic wins for our hero because that’s just how a shounen is sometimes and I didn’t expect the writing to be perfect for the whole run of such a long story.

But this whole bullshit with Kyoukai ... this whole bullshit ...

HARA decided to write a female character so strong that anybody reading would know she’s actually stronger than the hero Shin. HARA made that choice, so he should have gone all the way with it and allowed her and her unit to break away from the Hi Shin Unit and become truly independent. She’s said already that she wants to become a  Great General of the Heavens too - she can’t do that if she remains Shin’s lieutenant. She knows that so why would she defy her hierarchy’s orders and continue merging her forces with Shin’s and answering to him ??

Obvious : Hara wants to write a slow burn love story AND he does not have a replacement character for her as lieutenant with strength and wits on the same level as her - if she’s replaced and the Hi Shin Unit remains just as strong everybody will call bullcrap. 

But I was like, okay. Guess we can’t expect too much for women in this story. I was quite happy with what I got still because her character, and Karyo Ten’s, were very well explored  and had some serious spotlight from time to time  (at least back then...).

But now. NOW this transparent writing ploy to WEAKEN her .... obviously because it’s time for Shin to be seen as ThE StroNGesT tO Be, even by the readers ! I was already so mad with this whole thing that’s been unfolding, about him dying and her doing some mystical technique to bring him back using her entire remaining  lifespan and sacrificing herself... But when their dead friends shoved her back to life too, after she managed to save Shin, I was really relieved...

And now they’re using this whole thing to explain to her that “ThE AmbERS oF YouR LiFe ArE WeaKer” aka not only will she have a shorter life (I expected that) BUT she ALSO won’t be able to use some techniques anymore, or not as well as before... aka the author weakened her.

He did not kill her because he still wants her to be Shin’s love interest. But he weakened her on purpose so Shin could shine more...

I hate I hate I hate I hate I hate I hate I hate I HATE IT !!!!!