**Spoilers!
First of all, I just want to say this was an amazing book. Besides the ending, which was fine, I just really wanted to Ms. Merritt, the oblivious and frustrating dean of the school, be forced to kick them out, possibly waking her up as well as all the doubters of the Mockingbirds. I really just like the whole mood of the series in general so far. For a seemingly silly topic (a book about a student vigilante group could have easily turned into a cheesy superhero-esque book), Daisy Whitney handled it really well, even with the introduction of a 'villain' organization. It deals with a lot of fresh and important issues for teens today too, like date-rape and academic drugs.
One thing I thought was really great in this book was it's conflict. The conflict tested the main character, Alex. She was a victim in her own case, so she immediately tried to help any other "victims", like Beat (who ended up being a terrible person), or Delaney, and later Theo. But then the supposed criminal was just like her- Theo was an aspiring artist- He loved dancing more than his life. It was his life. Alex could relate to this, as she loved piano. This made it harder for her to believe the terrible things being accused of him. This drove her to make silly mistakes- like not convicting her friend Maia, when she was suspected. I mean, I feel bad about saying this, as Maia was framed, but still, Alex was worrying about being respected as leader, right? She kept making stupid mistakes, and didn't function as a court should, even if it's just a really screwed up private boarding school. Thought this did all lead up to the right perpetrator, she still should have tried to be more professional if she wanted to be taken seriously.
That's one of the few things that annoyed me about the book. Alex messes up multiple times, but it all ends up well, with basically no consequences, and none of the characters care about it. The book is all about justice, but not much justice is done to right the wrongs that Alex did. Everything is just ending up dandy. The whole book is about how if adults were basically taken out of a kids world, how would they function? Even with adults in control of punishment, there is never a perfect ending. It's a disappointing change in a very harsh and realistic book that the book has a fairy-tale ending.
Of course, that is another thing that made the book more realistic, all the mistakes that the main character makes. It makes you relate more to the characters, and feel for them.
And on the note of themes (kind of), I want to talk about a theme in the book. The book really, I think, shows well what kids would do if they didn't have adults to control them. There would be the ones who just cause havoc, and bully, and cheat because they can get away with it. Then there were those that would rise up and try to fight. I kind of noticed this in the Hunger Games, but in a different way. When they didn't have a fit government, the people of Panem rose to the occasion, or specifically one entity/thing did (Distric 13/the separate districts), just like Alex's sister did when she created the Mockingbirds.
Overall, I thought this book was great, and I'm really excited to see if there's another one! (Though I doubt it.)
One thing I thought was really great in this book was it's conflict. The conflict tested the main character, Alex. She was a victim in her own case, so she immediately tried to help any other "victims", like Beat (who ended up being a terrible person), or Delaney, and later Theo. But then the supposed criminal was just like her- Theo was an aspiring artist- He loved dancing more than his life. It was his life. Alex could relate to this, as she loved piano. This made it harder for her to believe the terrible things being accused of him. This drove her to make silly mistakes- like not convicting her friend Maia, when she was suspected. I mean, I feel bad about saying this, as Maia was framed, but still, Alex was worrying about being respected as leader, right? She kept making stupid mistakes, and didn't function as a court should, even if it's just a really screwed up private boarding school. Thought this did all lead up to the right perpetrator, she still should have tried to be more professional if she wanted to be taken seriously.
That's one of the few things that annoyed me about the book. Alex messes up multiple times, but it all ends up well, with basically no consequences, and none of the characters care about it. The book is all about justice, but not much justice is done to right the wrongs that Alex did. Everything is just ending up dandy. The whole book is about how if adults were basically taken out of a kids world, how would they function? Even with adults in control of punishment, there is never a perfect ending. It's a disappointing change in a very harsh and realistic book that the book has a fairy-tale ending.
Of course, that is another thing that made the book more realistic, all the mistakes that the main character makes. It makes you relate more to the characters, and feel for them.
And on the note of themes (kind of), I want to talk about a theme in the book. The book really, I think, shows well what kids would do if they didn't have adults to control them. There would be the ones who just cause havoc, and bully, and cheat because they can get away with it. Then there were those that would rise up and try to fight. I kind of noticed this in the Hunger Games, but in a different way. When they didn't have a fit government, the people of Panem rose to the occasion, or specifically one entity/thing did (Distric 13/the separate districts), just like Alex's sister did when she created the Mockingbirds.
Overall, I thought this book was great, and I'm really excited to see if there's another one! (Though I doubt it.)
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