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The Cruelty #1
The Cruelty
The Cruelty is the first book from a groundbreaking new YA voice: an utterly compelling thriller.
When Gwendolyn Bloom realizes that her father has been kidnapped, she has to take matters into her own hands. She traces him from New York City across the dark underbelly of Europe, taking on a new identity to survive in a world of brutal criminal masterminds. As she slowly leaves behind her schoolgirl self, she realizes that she must learn the terrifying truth about herself. To overcome the cruelty she encounters, she must also embrace it.
When Gwendolyn Bloom realizes that her father has been kidnapped, she has to take matters into her own hands. She traces him from New York City across the dark underbelly of Europe, taking on a new identity to survive in a world of brutal criminal masterminds. As she slowly leaves behind her schoolgirl self, she realizes that she must learn the terrifying truth about herself. To overcome the cruelty she encounters, she must also embrace it.
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
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Shelved as 'no-thanks'
November 25, 2015I'm pretty sure there are plenty morally complicated YA books for me to read, so I won't need this one. So thanks, but no thanks, sir. I suggest you actually try reading a few YA books before you make a statement such as this. I'd be happy to give you a list of morally complicated YA books.
April 7, 2014
This would be a good, solid book with a nice plot and character development, if it weren't about a teenaged girl.
There are no real plot spoilers below, though I do point at some specifics in this review.
It smacks of "first novel", overwritten in some parts (slow in the beginning around things and people that don't end up meaning much in my view, and weirdly descriptive about New York in negative ways that are curious) and jumping from one setting to another in a confusing way--how does the main character get robbed on a train without any description of how it happened when we are supposed to believe she is facile with self defence soon after?
It also seems to need an editor, as the author's presumed gender and age shows through many times. For instance, how could a young woman who never really drinks surmise that a wine is from Argentina and describe it's character in specific terms? By the same token, how does this young woman know so much about so many things in general? Maybe it would have been better in third person of some sort? That way the political and cultural development of cities in the Czech Republic could be exposed more believably, but otherwise how would a 17-year-old know these things?
I believe that if this were about an older person, and male, it would actually be pretty good. I liked the story, and I liked the ideas and the writing in general, but it just isn't believable as it is. It's not about the physical stuff, it's more about the tenor of the thing, would a girl who lost her father be flirting with a boy she doesn't know within the week? It's hard to say I guess, but the setup and the payoff don't seem logical in many places.
The other thing that comes up over and over is a fascination with 'dystopian future novels', the author seems to hate these and takes at least three instances to point out that they exist, with a certain amount of disdain. I am not sure why, is it a dig at the Hunger Games series? If it is, then it's hard to understand why the author is clearly trying to get the same ball rolling with this character--strong girl, discovering herself, besting adults on the way.
Once again we see that women are objects to male writers, in addition, although it seems like the author is trying to make some point about how bad this is. She "transforms" from being a little zaftig into a "lean" fighting machine, which is clearly the desired state for everyone, as she is more successful when she feels she can use her sexuality to get the job done. Is saying it's bad while including some lurid details about human trafficking really avoiding objectifying women? I don't think so. It makes me wonder how old the author is, some of this feels like a boy of 16, gleefully pointing out that guns go boom and cars are fast and women have bodies that are different.
In general, the abhorrent moral choices the author has his main character take notwithstanding, I dont' think I would read a sequel, let alone a series of these.
Maybe an editor would help, or maybe it was originally written for an older male character and the author changed it to catch some of the lightning in a bottle that Hunger Games-type books have struck on with strong, young female characters. Too bad, I think I would read a follow up in this style, but not in this same mold.
There are no real plot spoilers below, though I do point at some specifics in this review.
It smacks of "first novel", overwritten in some parts (slow in the beginning around things and people that don't end up meaning much in my view, and weirdly descriptive about New York in negative ways that are curious) and jumping from one setting to another in a confusing way--how does the main character get robbed on a train without any description of how it happened when we are supposed to believe she is facile with self defence soon after?
It also seems to need an editor, as the author's presumed gender and age shows through many times. For instance, how could a young woman who never really drinks surmise that a wine is from Argentina and describe it's character in specific terms? By the same token, how does this young woman know so much about so many things in general? Maybe it would have been better in third person of some sort? That way the political and cultural development of cities in the Czech Republic could be exposed more believably, but otherwise how would a 17-year-old know these things?
I believe that if this were about an older person, and male, it would actually be pretty good. I liked the story, and I liked the ideas and the writing in general, but it just isn't believable as it is. It's not about the physical stuff, it's more about the tenor of the thing, would a girl who lost her father be flirting with a boy she doesn't know within the week? It's hard to say I guess, but the setup and the payoff don't seem logical in many places.
The other thing that comes up over and over is a fascination with 'dystopian future novels', the author seems to hate these and takes at least three instances to point out that they exist, with a certain amount of disdain. I am not sure why, is it a dig at the Hunger Games series? If it is, then it's hard to understand why the author is clearly trying to get the same ball rolling with this character--strong girl, discovering herself, besting adults on the way.
Once again we see that women are objects to male writers, in addition, although it seems like the author is trying to make some point about how bad this is. She "transforms" from being a little zaftig into a "lean" fighting machine, which is clearly the desired state for everyone, as she is more successful when she feels she can use her sexuality to get the job done. Is saying it's bad while including some lurid details about human trafficking really avoiding objectifying women? I don't think so. It makes me wonder how old the author is, some of this feels like a boy of 16, gleefully pointing out that guns go boom and cars are fast and women have bodies that are different.
In general, the abhorrent moral choices the author has his main character take notwithstanding, I dont' think I would read a sequel, let alone a series of these.
Maybe an editor would help, or maybe it was originally written for an older male character and the author changed it to catch some of the lightning in a bottle that Hunger Games-type books have struck on with strong, young female characters. Too bad, I think I would read a follow up in this style, but not in this same mold.
March 16, 2014
4 STARS
The thing with human trafficking is, it has been glamorized beyond recognition in contemporary romance it has started to sound like an appealing way to meet your one true pair. Such a horrible reality has been fluffed out by exceptionally attractive, kinky and ruthless alpha heroes with a heart of gold in fiction that it has started to become a selling point in books.
This is not that kind of book.
For readers who have seen the film Taken, this is exactly that storyline except it's the daughter who has to find her kidnapped father who turns out to be a CIA field agent. With the help of their former Mossad agent neighbour and a hacker friend, seventeen year-old prep school senior Gwendolyn Bloom discovers the truth about her father who just disappeared after a “meeting” in Paris. The secrets that he harbours sends her on an elaborate chase across Europe, opening her eyes to a world beyond the comforts of the Upper East Side that she loathes, changing her from a bullied introvert to a creature of infinite cruelty in order to save her family.
At its core, The Cruelty should be a five-star, favourite shelf book for me. It’s 4472 kindle pages, with an addictive, easy to latch on narrative dragging Gwendolyn in an impossibly adrenaline pumped, gruelling adventure with Mossad operatives in Paris, prostitutes in Berlin and the Czech Mafia in Prague. It takes you to their seedy underbellies, the world of desperate refugees and runaways. A culture and a civilization away from our own, shrouded in an atmosphere of abandon, hopelessness and decay.
The pace is unrelenting and makes you sorry for that third caffeine cup you had this morning. It has Krav Maga taught by a bacon-eating Mossad agent. Achilles tendons get slashed. Balls get kicked numerous times. Somebody fires a rocket launcher somewhere in the story. I now know it takes two hours to wire transfer money from a Swiss Account, four hours from a bank in Seychelles or Cyprus. North Korea is apparently good in making two things: nukes and rat poison.
It’s that kind of an adventure.
And like any other spy thriller post-Cold War, this used some well-trodden twists, employed complex characters with unreliable motives and alliances that makes you question everything up to the very end. I love the kind of characters this managed to bring to the fore. The bad guys were believably evil but the personality given the foot soldiers brought a new complexity to the story. Everyone sounds like an extra in Jersey Shore! I love it! The Eurotrashiness of it all was fresh and convincing, adding texture to the already decrepit feel of the novel as a whole.
He’s a human trafficker and a sentimental rapist by the way.
The story is told entirely from the POV of Gwendolyn who certainly lived through interesting days but, I found in the end, I had very little emotional investment to start with. Before the story kicked into Robert Ludlum territory, what I know of Gwendolyn is that she speaks five languages, her mom is dead, she likes jazz and she’s getting bullied by her rich classmates for being poor. Oh and she likes her red Doc Martens, because she’s a rebel that way. I had very little sympathy for her cause in finding her father because not much was established about their relationship. The sentimentality is often ephemeral, the emotional foundation of the chase shaky and vague. Such that this missed on capitalizing on certain scenes, failing to give me that scratchy feeling in my throat, that pinch in the feels.
This will also require some suspension of disbelief, some leniency in logic. Certain parts of the story were far too convenient for my tastes, clues were found a little too easily. The day before her father gets kidnapped, she meets a boy from school who just happens to be a hacker. A secret warehouse storage? Of course she’ll search the box where her father left the next clue, right before the authorities come in. She finds a torture chamber? Of course there’s a flashlight handy for her to explore its every corner.
Gwendolyn’s evolution from point A to point B was also a little uneven. A little bit of insta-bad-assery was at play: a three week program where you become as dangerous as an undercover Mossad agent? How much water do I need to add? It was a bit jarring to have that fantastical quality to it juxtaposed with the intense realism of where Gwendolyn finds herself in towards the end that it breaks a bit of the spell this has managed to put me under.
Not that you want the old Gwendolyn back but you have to ask: How did we get here?
The inability to choose your next read, rush hour traffic, that asshole customer service representative you just got off the phone with, that’s our reality. Though far from flawless, this book mirrors a reality so distant from that it’s easier to pretend its all fantasy. Where the trafficker will fall in love with the contraband and take her away from all that horror and into the beautiful sunset and have kinky, but love-filled sex in their HEAs.
So do you want to read this book?
I dunno, you tell me.
ARC provided by JKS Communications thru Netgalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes may not appear in the final edition.
Also on BookLikes.
The hardest part about not believing in God isn’t knowing there’s no heaven.
It’s knowing there’s no hell.
The thing with human trafficking is, it has been glamorized beyond recognition in contemporary romance it has started to sound like an appealing way to meet your one true pair. Such a horrible reality has been fluffed out by exceptionally attractive, kinky and ruthless alpha heroes with a heart of gold in fiction that it has started to become a selling point in books.
This is not that kind of book.
For readers who have seen the film Taken, this is exactly that storyline except it's the daughter who has to find her kidnapped father who turns out to be a CIA field agent. With the help of their former Mossad agent neighbour and a hacker friend, seventeen year-old prep school senior Gwendolyn Bloom discovers the truth about her father who just disappeared after a “meeting” in Paris. The secrets that he harbours sends her on an elaborate chase across Europe, opening her eyes to a world beyond the comforts of the Upper East Side that she loathes, changing her from a bullied introvert to a creature of infinite cruelty in order to save her family.
At its core, The Cruelty should be a five-star, favourite shelf book for me. It’s 4472 kindle pages, with an addictive, easy to latch on narrative dragging Gwendolyn in an impossibly adrenaline pumped, gruelling adventure with Mossad operatives in Paris, prostitutes in Berlin and the Czech Mafia in Prague. It takes you to their seedy underbellies, the world of desperate refugees and runaways. A culture and a civilization away from our own, shrouded in an atmosphere of abandon, hopelessness and decay.
This is the Paris of the Nigerians who wash the visitors’ coffee cups, the Paris of the Arabs who sell them little Mona Lisa magnets from blankets spread out on the curb by the Seine.
The pace is unrelenting and makes you sorry for that third caffeine cup you had this morning. It has Krav Maga taught by a bacon-eating Mossad agent. Achilles tendons get slashed. Balls get kicked numerous times. Somebody fires a rocket launcher somewhere in the story. I now know it takes two hours to wire transfer money from a Swiss Account, four hours from a bank in Seychelles or Cyprus. North Korea is apparently good in making two things: nukes and rat poison.
It’s that kind of an adventure.
And like any other spy thriller post-Cold War, this used some well-trodden twists, employed complex characters with unreliable motives and alliances that makes you question everything up to the very end. I love the kind of characters this managed to bring to the fore. The bad guys were believably evil but the personality given the foot soldiers brought a new complexity to the story. Everyone sounds like an extra in Jersey Shore! I love it! The Eurotrashiness of it all was fresh and convincing, adding texture to the already decrepit feel of the novel as a whole.
”The English phrase is ‘slumming it,’ not ‘slamming it,’” I say over the awful Czech rap blasting through the speakers.
“Fuck do you know? You’re Russian,” he says.
“Can I turn down the music?”
“That’s me. That’s my album. MC Vrah is my name. It means, like, gangster, assassin. Did you know I was a rapper?"
He’s a human trafficker and a sentimental rapist by the way.
The story is told entirely from the POV of Gwendolyn who certainly lived through interesting days but, I found in the end, I had very little emotional investment to start with. Before the story kicked into Robert Ludlum territory, what I know of Gwendolyn is that she speaks five languages, her mom is dead, she likes jazz and she’s getting bullied by her rich classmates for being poor. Oh and she likes her red Doc Martens, because she’s a rebel that way. I had very little sympathy for her cause in finding her father because not much was established about their relationship. The sentimentality is often ephemeral, the emotional foundation of the chase shaky and vague. Such that this missed on capitalizing on certain scenes, failing to give me that scratchy feeling in my throat, that pinch in the feels.
This will also require some suspension of disbelief, some leniency in logic. Certain parts of the story were far too convenient for my tastes, clues were found a little too easily. The day before her father gets kidnapped, she meets a boy from school who just happens to be a hacker. A secret warehouse storage? Of course she’ll search the box where her father left the next clue, right before the authorities come in. She finds a torture chamber? Of course there’s a flashlight handy for her to explore its every corner.
Gwendolyn’s evolution from point A to point B was also a little uneven. A little bit of insta-bad-assery was at play: a three week program where you become as dangerous as an undercover Mossad agent? How much water do I need to add? It was a bit jarring to have that fantastical quality to it juxtaposed with the intense realism of where Gwendolyn finds herself in towards the end that it breaks a bit of the spell this has managed to put me under.
Not that you want the old Gwendolyn back but you have to ask: How did we get here?
The inability to choose your next read, rush hour traffic, that asshole customer service representative you just got off the phone with, that’s our reality. Though far from flawless, this book mirrors a reality so distant from that it’s easier to pretend its all fantasy. Where the trafficker will fall in love with the contraband and take her away from all that horror and into the beautiful sunset and have kinky, but love-filled sex in their HEAs.
”These girls are, you know, too young. I think about it and maybe they have family who miss them. I think maybe that redhead wants to be a schoolteacher or something back in Petersburg, but now we make her a whore.”
“So it does anger you?” I ask, looking for something human in him.
“When I think about it, yes,” Emil smiles. “That’s why I don’t think about it.”
So do you want to read this book?
I lay out the accessories any good princess would take for an evening at a fancy-dress ball:
Dove-gray satin elbow-length gloves made in Paris.
Black beaded clutch made in Milan.
Brownish yellow-capsules of rat poison made in North Korea.
I dunno, you tell me.
ARC provided by JKS Communications thru Netgalley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review. Quotes may not appear in the final edition.
Also on BookLikes.
August 24, 2020
It lost me at the sexist bullshit. Also why can't we have a female protagonist who's "chubby" and does not accept the "patriarchy-imposed standards of beauty"? Why does she have to become standard-beautifully lean throughout her quest? Because god help us if less than perfectly thin women are portrayed as being athletic and physically strong (note: strongmen are all chubby and heavy set -- they're also the strongest humans on earth, because the "chub" serves to protect the inner organs. There is no reason why this couldn't have been applied to the protagonist)
Also, getting cat-called and harassed in the street is romantic, it seems.
Can you tell this was written by a man? Of course you can.
Also, getting cat-called and harassed in the street is romantic, it seems.
Can you tell this was written by a man? Of course you can.
Shelved as 'pass'
November 25, 2015I would rather claw my own eyeballs out.
Read
September 23, 2016DNF at page 100
I was really excited to read this book. I thought the premise sounded interesting and author drama aside, I went into the book with an open mind. Sadly, this wasn't for me.
I couldn't connect with Gwendolyn. She's obviously way smarter than I am, but I am 100% on board with that. Annnnnd at the same time, I think that's where I started to lose interest. The story doesn't read like YA.
I constantly put it down and would take days between picking it back up. At one point, I went to look at other reviews from people who had actually read it. I saw several people say there were scenes of rape and sex trafficking. I don't know if that's true or not {I didn't get to anything like that}, but it is a hard limit and I would immediately DNF at that part.
**Huge thanks to Feiwel & Friends for sending me the arc and super awesome spy name in exchange for an honest review**
Edit 9/23/16: another reader told me that she didn't read any rape scenes, but they were implied.
I was really excited to read this book. I thought the premise sounded interesting and author drama aside, I went into the book with an open mind. Sadly, this wasn't for me.
I couldn't connect with Gwendolyn. She's obviously way smarter than I am, but I am 100% on board with that. Annnnnd at the same time, I think that's where I started to lose interest. The story doesn't read like YA.
I constantly put it down and would take days between picking it back up. At one point, I went to look at other reviews from people who had actually read it. I saw several people say there were scenes of rape and sex trafficking. I don't know if that's true or not {I didn't get to anything like that}, but it is a hard limit and I would immediately DNF at that part.
**Huge thanks to Feiwel & Friends for sending me the arc and super awesome spy name in exchange for an honest review**
Edit 9/23/16: another reader told me that she didn't read any rape scenes, but they were implied.
February 6, 2017
After reading a whole slew of reviews about this book, I've learned two things.
One: bandwaggoners.
Two: Just because someone knocks a genre doesn't mean they don't still enjoy the genre.
Seriously though. The guy's allowed to say that YA is cookie cutter and always neatly walled up, because it is. He even took the opposite approach to this girl's physical appearance--all main character teenage girls in dystopian YA have the same characteristics and mannerisms. There's very few who stray away from this, and it gets old real fast. For example:
-brightly colored eyes and/or hair that makes them stick out like a sore thumb.
-moonlight pale skin to offset whatever striking eye color or hair color they have
-supposedly really really good at something--sometimes proven, sometimes not
-always end up the spokesperson for something. They're never on the fringes.
-a stupid love triangle
-wishy washy about murder; most of the time, if our heroine murders, it's accidental or unavoidable
The Cruelty took that and flipped it on its head. Our girl goes from dyed red hair to a dark color. She purposely tries to blend in, and succeeds. No love triangle. No qualms about murder. The action is absolutely like The Bourne Identity, too. Lots of shoot 'em up action and martyrdom. Plenty of seedy characters who deserve every punch to the crotch that they get. Yes, there are implications of rape. Then our girl beats the shit out of the guys and murders them and all without a second thought.
People are unhappy that she chooses to use her body sexually to get what she needs? A bit silly, considering the whole point of getting rid of any double standard is making it okay for both sexes. A guy can use sex purely for gain, why can't a girl? Because she's young? Please.
I did have some issues with the book, but ultimately the nonstop action and the plot kept me interested. It was severely farfetched to me that she was able to master hand-to-hand combat so quickly and easily. I don't care that you told me it took a couple months; people take those classes for years and never get past the basics. It wasn't realistic enough for me. If anything, I think it would've been better if she'd already had some training growing up.
She was also conveniently good at finding out where to go. All she knows is that her father is related to the Berlin. She buys a train ticket to Berlin, and it just so happens that the first girl she runs into knows how to find gangsters. Shall we add a ribbon atop the pile of deus ex machina?
I just loved that she didn't care about saving any of the bad guys' lives. Human trafficking is especially vile to me, so I take my hopeful dreaming where I can get it. This author wants to write about a teenage girl getting revenge on human traffickers? Hell yeah, I'm on board.
One: bandwaggoners.
Two: Just because someone knocks a genre doesn't mean they don't still enjoy the genre.
Seriously though. The guy's allowed to say that YA is cookie cutter and always neatly walled up, because it is. He even took the opposite approach to this girl's physical appearance--all main character teenage girls in dystopian YA have the same characteristics and mannerisms. There's very few who stray away from this, and it gets old real fast. For example:
-brightly colored eyes and/or hair that makes them stick out like a sore thumb.
-moonlight pale skin to offset whatever striking eye color or hair color they have
-supposedly really really good at something--sometimes proven, sometimes not
-always end up the spokesperson for something. They're never on the fringes.
-a stupid love triangle
-wishy washy about murder; most of the time, if our heroine murders, it's accidental or unavoidable
The Cruelty took that and flipped it on its head. Our girl goes from dyed red hair to a dark color. She purposely tries to blend in, and succeeds. No love triangle. No qualms about murder. The action is absolutely like The Bourne Identity, too. Lots of shoot 'em up action and martyrdom. Plenty of seedy characters who deserve every punch to the crotch that they get. Yes, there are implications of rape. Then our girl beats the shit out of the guys and murders them and all without a second thought.
People are unhappy that she chooses to use her body sexually to get what she needs? A bit silly, considering the whole point of getting rid of any double standard is making it okay for both sexes. A guy can use sex purely for gain, why can't a girl? Because she's young? Please.
I did have some issues with the book, but ultimately the nonstop action and the plot kept me interested. It was severely farfetched to me that she was able to master hand-to-hand combat so quickly and easily. I don't care that you told me it took a couple months; people take those classes for years and never get past the basics. It wasn't realistic enough for me. If anything, I think it would've been better if she'd already had some training growing up.
She was also conveniently good at finding out where to go. All she knows is that her father is related to the Berlin. She buys a train ticket to Berlin, and it just so happens that the first girl she runs into knows how to find gangsters. Shall we add a ribbon atop the pile of deus ex machina?
I just loved that she didn't care about saving any of the bad guys' lives. Human trafficking is especially vile to me, so I take my hopeful dreaming where I can get it. This author wants to write about a teenage girl getting revenge on human traffickers? Hell yeah, I'm on board.
February 25, 2017
When her diplomat father is kidnapped and the U.S. Government is unable to help, 17 year-old Gwendolyn Bloom sets off across the sordid underbelly of Europe to rescue him.
Following the only lead she has—the name of a Palestinian informer living in France—she plunges into a brutal world of arms smuggling and human trafficking. As she journeys from the slums of Paris, to the nightclubs of Berlin, to the heart of the most feared crime family in Prague, Gwendolyn discovers that to survive in this new world she must become every bit as cruel as the men she’s hunting.
The story starts off very slow for 2-3 chapters, and nearly gave up.
She travels to Paris and she meets and works with Yael, the best character in the book.
With the story travelling from New York City, to Europe and through cities like, Paris, Berlin and Prague, seeing the underground areas of these cities.
The book travels through at a reasonable pace, some quite far fetched action scenes, not really much tension, twists or gripping story.
To me just an average pace okay book, nothing special. Not much more you can say. Over hyped about !
Three Stars !
Following the only lead she has—the name of a Palestinian informer living in France—she plunges into a brutal world of arms smuggling and human trafficking. As she journeys from the slums of Paris, to the nightclubs of Berlin, to the heart of the most feared crime family in Prague, Gwendolyn discovers that to survive in this new world she must become every bit as cruel as the men she’s hunting.
The story starts off very slow for 2-3 chapters, and nearly gave up.
She travels to Paris and she meets and works with Yael, the best character in the book.
With the story travelling from New York City, to Europe and through cities like, Paris, Berlin and Prague, seeing the underground areas of these cities.
The book travels through at a reasonable pace, some quite far fetched action scenes, not really much tension, twists or gripping story.
To me just an average pace okay book, nothing special. Not much more you can say. Over hyped about !
Three Stars !
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
September 19, 2016Marked as DNF 9/19/16: I agreed to read THE CRUELTY before I even knew about the author controversy when the publisher asked me if I would be interested! I truly had no idea what had happened with the author and agreed to read the book since an international mystery sounded right up my alley! Still not knowing the drama, I managed to read a few chapters before I got that rude awakening.
I have to say... Finding out that an author who wrote a YA book totally puts down YA books in general did not help my motivation to read. I might have been able to ignore it and just read book but truly... the book wasn't good. Even before I knew about all the drama, I was having a hard time with it. Right off the bat, the tone is just... off. I have zero issues with young adult books that read older (or younger) but this was one of those books that honestly felt like it was written as adult/for an adult audience and then randomly changed to a teenage character to try to fit into a young adult market. And based on the author's comments and general foul attitude towards YA, he clearly doesn't understand how complex it is, how important it is to get characters right, and how easily readers see through poor structure.
I suppose I can't really comment too much about the plot since I didn't make it far enough to judge that but I had the absolute hardest time with the main character. Gwendolyn was such a caricature of a badass female but she wasn't actually a badass female. Everything felt very on-the-surface, easy to see through, and she wasn't a convincing character at all. I felt like the author was trying way too hard to make her come off as strong, confident, and all around kickass but it wasn't a natural feeling. It was all way too stereotypical and lacked the depth that true badass females radiate. Yes, men can write badass women but this just wasn't it. It's like he didn't understand what it really means to be a strong woman and it was all the surface things that you could possibly pick to make Gwendolyn seem strong.
I can't imagine I would have liked much later based on all of the reviews and what seem like unnecessary poor treatment of women and a sex trade plot that probably didn't need to be what it was. BUT that's speculation on my part so I'll stop my comments there.
All of the characters were just totally flat and the little plot that I did read was lackluster as well. Again, it all felt like it was just trying too hard to be awesome and it just seemed so obvious that it just wasn't working. Not to mention the boy she meets and it's like totally random instalove (maybe not love but like insta-trust, which yeah, that's likely considering her dad was just taken....) and it totally didn't work for me.
I did promise to give the book a shot for the publisher but it sat on my counter for weeks at a time and I just couldn't pick it back up. I did give it a fair shot, I think, and it just wasn't working for me. I really cannot make myself push through books because I just end up staring at the pages and even skimming felt like it was taking forever. I promised to give my honest feedback and my honest feedback is a DNF and not just because of author drama (though that didn't help me want to read it).
I have to say... Finding out that an author who wrote a YA book totally puts down YA books in general did not help my motivation to read. I might have been able to ignore it and just read book but truly... the book wasn't good. Even before I knew about all the drama, I was having a hard time with it. Right off the bat, the tone is just... off. I have zero issues with young adult books that read older (or younger) but this was one of those books that honestly felt like it was written as adult/for an adult audience and then randomly changed to a teenage character to try to fit into a young adult market. And based on the author's comments and general foul attitude towards YA, he clearly doesn't understand how complex it is, how important it is to get characters right, and how easily readers see through poor structure.
I suppose I can't really comment too much about the plot since I didn't make it far enough to judge that but I had the absolute hardest time with the main character. Gwendolyn was such a caricature of a badass female but she wasn't actually a badass female. Everything felt very on-the-surface, easy to see through, and she wasn't a convincing character at all. I felt like the author was trying way too hard to make her come off as strong, confident, and all around kickass but it wasn't a natural feeling. It was all way too stereotypical and lacked the depth that true badass females radiate. Yes, men can write badass women but this just wasn't it. It's like he didn't understand what it really means to be a strong woman and it was all the surface things that you could possibly pick to make Gwendolyn seem strong.
I can't imagine I would have liked much later based on all of the reviews and what seem like unnecessary poor treatment of women and a sex trade plot that probably didn't need to be what it was. BUT that's speculation on my part so I'll stop my comments there.
All of the characters were just totally flat and the little plot that I did read was lackluster as well. Again, it all felt like it was just trying too hard to be awesome and it just seemed so obvious that it just wasn't working. Not to mention the boy she meets and it's like totally random instalove (maybe not love but like insta-trust, which yeah, that's likely considering her dad was just taken....) and it totally didn't work for me.
I did promise to give the book a shot for the publisher but it sat on my counter for weeks at a time and I just couldn't pick it back up. I did give it a fair shot, I think, and it just wasn't working for me. I really cannot make myself push through books because I just end up staring at the pages and even skimming felt like it was taking forever. I promised to give my honest feedback and my honest feedback is a DNF and not just because of author drama (though that didn't help me want to read it).
November 26, 2015
Ah yes, you are the chosen one who will elevate the YA genre. I mean it's not like your financial success could have anything with your background as an ad executive or anything.
February 8, 2017
Full review with links to source articles on The Bent Bookworm!
This book has already had a lot of buzz, mainly because of the author’s condescending and inflammatory comments about YA in general. I have a LOT of thoughts on his comments and general attitude, but I tried – I really, really tried – to not let my view of the author color the book. I agreed to the review before knowing anything about all the drama, so I felt like that was only fair. Usually when I try a new author, debut or not, I don’t research a lot about the author. I like to let the book speak for itself. In the end, I feel like The Cruelty (Scott Bergstrom’s debut, releasing in February 2017) mostly did that. I ended up giving it 3/5 stars, in spite of feeling like the author himself probably deserves 2/5. Or maybe 1/5. Because really, sir, you are not special, your book is not going to revolutionize YA, and it’s definitely not going to dazzle long-time readers of the genre. Also, sidenote: even though you’ve already made enough money to be able to quit your advertising executive career, you might want to work more on networking with your fellow writers instead of alienating and insulting them. But enough about Scott Bergstrom. After all, a lot of creative people lack social skills and if their work is dazzling enough we excuse them for it, right? Anyway, that was how and why I approached reading this book. Sadly, overall I felt like Mr. Bergstrom is not genius enough to be excused for his behavior.
So, the positive: the pacing is really spot on. I whizzed through this in a single afternoon/evening. There’s none of the stream-of-consciousness dwelling that bogs down some YA books. Even though there were aspects of the writing and characters that bothered me, I was interested enough in the plot line to ignore everything else I had planned for the day and read it all in one go. Also, the ending left me with enough questions (while not being a true cliffhanger) that, had the sequel been available, I would have picked it up right away. That in itself added the extra half star to me. The suspense and anticipation is definitely the most well-written thing about this book.
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The story takes place in several different countries. In my experience, you can almost always tell when an author is writing about a locale they’ve never personally seen or lived. It just rings false or like they’re ticking off a list, and having lived abroad myself I notice it more than I ever did before. Now, I haven’t been to all of the countries Gwen visits and don’t claim to be any kind of expert, but the descriptions feel very real. I think that Bergstrom has probably visited these countries or he researched very, very well.
Now for the negatives. I’m going to try not to rant on and on about these…but who am I kidding, I’m probably going to rant.
The book starts off REALLY rocky. I almost DNFed it at page 15. We start off with the special snowflake trope (OMG, she speaks French! even thinks in French and accidentally blurts it in class! oops!), followed by much angst. Sigh, page turn, and then –
Let’s start off by throwing rocks at dystopian YA!! Yay!! Because we’re not writing almost the EXACT SAME type of book and calling it special, are we, Precious? *insert much eyerolling* I’m not even that much a fan of the dystopian type books! What I’m NOT a fan of, is generalization – and buddy, you just hit every student in the room with your spitwad. And this wasn’t even the point of the almost DNF.
What the…? I mean…who even talks or thinks that way? It seems totally out of place in the current context and setting, and is just such a jolt of stupid and bad writing that I came *this close* to throwing the book across the room and doing something else with my afternoon. However, I continued. Mostly because I wanted to see if it could really be THAT bad. There were a few similar instances, like this one:
Not quite on the same level as the seventeen-year-old legs quote, but close. Most of the female-specific points or themes in this book sound utterly redonkulous. Like a seventeen-year-old boy was trying to imagine how girls think. Big fat fail. The body image comments really grated on me…like somehow, when the book begins, we’re supposed to see Gwendolyn as overweight…I think? Only she’s an overweight gymnast, which totally makes sense. Also she doesn’t like being looked at but dyes her hair bright red…and then in the grand scheme of changing herself so she can go hunt for her father she has to dye her hair a more unnoticeable shade and become this lean, muscled, martial artist type. Well, I have news for you…that shit doesn’t happen overnight, and not even in the several weeks Gwendolyn has to work on it. If she’s indeed overweight/out of shape as it seems we’re supposed to believe. I don’t know. I’m confused as to what the perception there was supposed to be.
Then, the love interest is lame. A plot device. Gwendolyn needs an ally back home, one with smarts, money, and connections…and suddenly she’s all weak-kneed for this boy she’s barely even looked at before. There was no buildup, just suddenly she runs into him and starts shaking. Sorry, but I have no feels for this at all.
Actually, I pretty much have no feels at all for the entire story, which is really sad. I mostly feel annoyance. I wanted more from the characters. Characters are easily the biggest and most important part of a book, to me. Gwendolyn, her father, even the people that help her, just aren’t generally likable and while yes, Gwendolyn definitely changes through the book, I found the changes a bit far-fetched. She morphs rather quickly from a slightly bitter, spoiled high school girl to a lean, mean, killing machine. Really? But, ok. I’m willing to suspend disbelief a bit – after all, that’s what we do for any book, right? But it’s the author’s job to sell us on it. Sadly, the writing style is such that I couldn’t STAY suspended in my disbelief. I was repeatedly jarred out of it. But I still wanted to know what happened. How’s that for a quandary?
Best line in the entire book, I swear. And it does get ugly, the longer it goes on. It’s like a train wreck you can’t stop watching, as Gwendolyn delves deeper and deeper into the criminal underworld in her search for her father. She develops an amazing poker face and some steel nerves, even in the face of a rising body count and discovering a sex trafficking ring – somehow she manages to stay cool. But at what cost? That’s the real question, and in the end, the question of what was saved and what was lost is still somewhat up in the air.
Many thanks to Feiwel & Friends for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
This book has already had a lot of buzz, mainly because of the author’s condescending and inflammatory comments about YA in general. I have a LOT of thoughts on his comments and general attitude, but I tried – I really, really tried – to not let my view of the author color the book. I agreed to the review before knowing anything about all the drama, so I felt like that was only fair. Usually when I try a new author, debut or not, I don’t research a lot about the author. I like to let the book speak for itself. In the end, I feel like The Cruelty (Scott Bergstrom’s debut, releasing in February 2017) mostly did that. I ended up giving it 3/5 stars, in spite of feeling like the author himself probably deserves 2/5. Or maybe 1/5. Because really, sir, you are not special, your book is not going to revolutionize YA, and it’s definitely not going to dazzle long-time readers of the genre. Also, sidenote: even though you’ve already made enough money to be able to quit your advertising executive career, you might want to work more on networking with your fellow writers instead of alienating and insulting them. But enough about Scott Bergstrom. After all, a lot of creative people lack social skills and if their work is dazzling enough we excuse them for it, right? Anyway, that was how and why I approached reading this book. Sadly, overall I felt like Mr. Bergstrom is not genius enough to be excused for his behavior.
So, the positive: the pacing is really spot on. I whizzed through this in a single afternoon/evening. There’s none of the stream-of-consciousness dwelling that bogs down some YA books. Even though there were aspects of the writing and characters that bothered me, I was interested enough in the plot line to ignore everything else I had planned for the day and read it all in one go. Also, the ending left me with enough questions (while not being a true cliffhanger) that, had the sequel been available, I would have picked it up right away. That in itself added the extra half star to me. The suspense and anticipation is definitely the most well-written thing about this book.
[image error]
The story takes place in several different countries. In my experience, you can almost always tell when an author is writing about a locale they’ve never personally seen or lived. It just rings false or like they’re ticking off a list, and having lived abroad myself I notice it more than I ever did before. Now, I haven’t been to all of the countries Gwen visits and don’t claim to be any kind of expert, but the descriptions feel very real. I think that Bergstrom has probably visited these countries or he researched very, very well.
Now for the negatives. I’m going to try not to rant on and on about these…but who am I kidding, I’m probably going to rant.
The book starts off REALLY rocky. I almost DNFed it at page 15. We start off with the special snowflake trope (OMG, she speaks French! even thinks in French and accidentally blurts it in class! oops!), followed by much angst. Sigh, page turn, and then –
I pull a book out of my backpack and lean against the door as the train shoots through the tunnel under the river toward Queens. It’s a novel with a teenage heroine set in a dystopian future. Which novel in particular doesn’t matter because they’re all the same. Poor teenage heroine, having to march off to war when all she really wants to do is run away with that beautiful boy and live off wild berries and love.
Let’s start off by throwing rocks at dystopian YA!! Yay!! Because we’re not writing almost the EXACT SAME type of book and calling it special, are we, Precious? *insert much eyerolling* I’m not even that much a fan of the dystopian type books! What I’m NOT a fan of, is generalization – and buddy, you just hit every student in the room with your spitwad. And this wasn’t even the point of the almost DNF.
Guys out on the sidewalk in front of the shops whistle and catcall after me. They love this – the school uniform, the flash of seventeen-year-old legs.
What the…? I mean…who even talks or thinks that way? It seems totally out of place in the current context and setting, and is just such a jolt of stupid and bad writing that I came *this close* to throwing the book across the room and doing something else with my afternoon. However, I continued. Mostly because I wanted to see if it could really be THAT bad. There were a few similar instances, like this one:
He uses as his tools reason and facts, a whole orchestra of them. But in the end, they bounce off the armor of my stubbornness.
Not quite on the same level as the seventeen-year-old legs quote, but close. Most of the female-specific points or themes in this book sound utterly redonkulous. Like a seventeen-year-old boy was trying to imagine how girls think. Big fat fail. The body image comments really grated on me…like somehow, when the book begins, we’re supposed to see Gwendolyn as overweight…I think? Only she’s an overweight gymnast, which totally makes sense. Also she doesn’t like being looked at but dyes her hair bright red…and then in the grand scheme of changing herself so she can go hunt for her father she has to dye her hair a more unnoticeable shade and become this lean, muscled, martial artist type. Well, I have news for you…that shit doesn’t happen overnight, and not even in the several weeks Gwendolyn has to work on it. If she’s indeed overweight/out of shape as it seems we’re supposed to believe. I don’t know. I’m confused as to what the perception there was supposed to be.
Then, the love interest is lame. A plot device. Gwendolyn needs an ally back home, one with smarts, money, and connections…and suddenly she’s all weak-kneed for this boy she’s barely even looked at before. There was no buildup, just suddenly she runs into him and starts shaking. Sorry, but I have no feels for this at all.
Actually, I pretty much have no feels at all for the entire story, which is really sad. I mostly feel annoyance. I wanted more from the characters. Characters are easily the biggest and most important part of a book, to me. Gwendolyn, her father, even the people that help her, just aren’t generally likable and while yes, Gwendolyn definitely changes through the book, I found the changes a bit far-fetched. She morphs rather quickly from a slightly bitter, spoiled high school girl to a lean, mean, killing machine. Really? But, ok. I’m willing to suspend disbelief a bit – after all, that’s what we do for any book, right? But it’s the author’s job to sell us on it. Sadly, the writing style is such that I couldn’t STAY suspended in my disbelief. I was repeatedly jarred out of it. But I still wanted to know what happened. How’s that for a quandary?
“Justice isn’t some abstract thing, Gwendolyn. What your did tonight, that’s what it looks like. Ugly and mean.”
Best line in the entire book, I swear. And it does get ugly, the longer it goes on. It’s like a train wreck you can’t stop watching, as Gwendolyn delves deeper and deeper into the criminal underworld in her search for her father. She develops an amazing poker face and some steel nerves, even in the face of a rising body count and discovering a sex trafficking ring – somehow she manages to stay cool. But at what cost? That’s the real question, and in the end, the question of what was saved and what was lost is still somewhat up in the air.
Many thanks to Feiwel & Friends for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review!
September 3, 2021
Pe scurt: "Taken" inversat. Adica nu tata pleaca dupa fata ci fata pleaca dupa tata.
Pe lung mi s-a parut un roman de actiune destul de reusit, scris in ritm alert, cu scene de lupta corp la corp, cu arme, cu tot felul de traficanti si mafioti si cu o eroina bine conturata, amuzanta si simpatica.
Iata ca de data aceasta, spre deosebire de alte dati, sunt dulce si nu 'salty' la adresa unui roman apartinand genului Young Adult.
In ceea ce priveste actiunea o avem in prim plan pe Gwendolyn Bloom, unica fiica a unui diplomat detasat la Natiunile Unite. Aceasta a avut o copilarie grea, vazandu-si mama ucisa sub proprii ochi si fiind supusa frecventelor mutari ale tatalui vitreg dintr-un stat in altul. Fiind inscrisa la un liceu elitist nu reuseste sa se integreze si colegii ei o ranesc de cate ori au ocazia. Asadar are multa experienta in suferinta pentru o adolesenta si romanul nici nu a inceput bine. Lucrurile incep sa devina complicate cand tatal ei este trimis intr-o delegatie la Paris si dispare in niste imprejurari misterioase. Atunci Gwendolyn afla ca tatal ei era de fapt spion si nu diplomat si decide sa plece in cautarea lui. In drumul ei va fi ajutata de diversi oameni printre care si o spioana Mossad, care o va invata sa lupte in stilul Krav Maga.
Romanul mi-a placut, am savurat scenele de lupta, joaca de-a spionii "a la James Bond", descrierile oraselor Paris, Berlin, Praga - pe unde trece eroina in cautarea tatalui ei si m-am regasit in gandirea ei de "a face haz de necaz" chiar si in cele mai imposibile situatii. Singurul semn de intrebare ramane legat de credibilitate... Este posibil ca o fata de 17 ani sa plece de capul ei trecand prin aeroporturi, avioane, gari, trenuri, orase etc si nimeni sa nu o ia la intrebari? Este credibil ca ea sa se lupte parte in parte cu diferiti traficanti, mafioti, proxeneti etc si sa si castige aceste lupte?
In ceea ce priveste titlul, nu consider romanul crud sau socant, mi s-a parut o carte obisnuita de actiune ce implica bataie, sange, cutite etc. (Oricum, simturile mele sunt oarecum anesteziate de romanele japoneze).
In incheiere subliniez ca pentru mine romanul de fata intra in categoria "asa da Young Adult" si atasez cateva citate care mi-au atras atentia:
"Asta inseamna razboiul. Gloante si greseli cu care trebuie sa traiesti pana la sfarsitul vietii tale."
"Se vor agata de fiecare vorba a ta. Ii vor vana pe cei pe care ii iubesti. Daca trebuie sa spui ceva, spune doar minciuni. "
"Voiam sa spun ca o femeie are nevoie de un barbat cum ar avea nevoie de o esarfa Hermes. E draguta sa o porti, dar, daca o pierzi, mare paguba, e doar o esarfa. (Eu zic ca la Hermes nu putem face mofturi; nu fiti neglijente si pastrati tot ce gasiti de la ei :D)
Pe lung mi s-a parut un roman de actiune destul de reusit, scris in ritm alert, cu scene de lupta corp la corp, cu arme, cu tot felul de traficanti si mafioti si cu o eroina bine conturata, amuzanta si simpatica.
Iata ca de data aceasta, spre deosebire de alte dati, sunt dulce si nu 'salty' la adresa unui roman apartinand genului Young Adult.
In ceea ce priveste actiunea o avem in prim plan pe Gwendolyn Bloom, unica fiica a unui diplomat detasat la Natiunile Unite. Aceasta a avut o copilarie grea, vazandu-si mama ucisa sub proprii ochi si fiind supusa frecventelor mutari ale tatalui vitreg dintr-un stat in altul. Fiind inscrisa la un liceu elitist nu reuseste sa se integreze si colegii ei o ranesc de cate ori au ocazia. Asadar are multa experienta in suferinta pentru o adolesenta si romanul nici nu a inceput bine. Lucrurile incep sa devina complicate cand tatal ei este trimis intr-o delegatie la Paris si dispare in niste imprejurari misterioase. Atunci Gwendolyn afla ca tatal ei era de fapt spion si nu diplomat si decide sa plece in cautarea lui. In drumul ei va fi ajutata de diversi oameni printre care si o spioana Mossad, care o va invata sa lupte in stilul Krav Maga.
Romanul mi-a placut, am savurat scenele de lupta, joaca de-a spionii "a la James Bond", descrierile oraselor Paris, Berlin, Praga - pe unde trece eroina in cautarea tatalui ei si m-am regasit in gandirea ei de "a face haz de necaz" chiar si in cele mai imposibile situatii. Singurul semn de intrebare ramane legat de credibilitate... Este posibil ca o fata de 17 ani sa plece de capul ei trecand prin aeroporturi, avioane, gari, trenuri, orase etc si nimeni sa nu o ia la intrebari? Este credibil ca ea sa se lupte parte in parte cu diferiti traficanti, mafioti, proxeneti etc si sa si castige aceste lupte?
In ceea ce priveste titlul, nu consider romanul crud sau socant, mi s-a parut o carte obisnuita de actiune ce implica bataie, sange, cutite etc. (Oricum, simturile mele sunt oarecum anesteziate de romanele japoneze).
In incheiere subliniez ca pentru mine romanul de fata intra in categoria "asa da Young Adult" si atasez cateva citate care mi-au atras atentia:
"Asta inseamna razboiul. Gloante si greseli cu care trebuie sa traiesti pana la sfarsitul vietii tale."
"Se vor agata de fiecare vorba a ta. Ii vor vana pe cei pe care ii iubesti. Daca trebuie sa spui ceva, spune doar minciuni. "
"Voiam sa spun ca o femeie are nevoie de un barbat cum ar avea nevoie de o esarfa Hermes. E draguta sa o porti, dar, daca o pierzi, mare paguba, e doar o esarfa. (Eu zic ca la Hermes nu putem face mofturi; nu fiti neglijente si pastrati tot ce gasiti de la ei :D)
March 8, 2017
I would like to thank the publishers for sending me The Cruelty in paperback to review. The story is a little heartbreaking. Gwendolyn Bloom's mother was killed the official cause of death was with fourteen stab wounds to chest and neck. After her mothers death she started gymnastics. When her diplomat father is kidnapped, Gwendolyn seems to be the only one with the will and determination to find him. I did find this book hard to get into. The book is designed well in a bright red cover and when the book is closed it has eye catching red edging to the pages.
September 12, 2016
Hmm what to say about this book... I received it from the publisher in exchange for an honest review and I agreed to read it before I found out about all of the controversy surrounding this author and his comments about YA. When an author writes a YA novel and proceeds to throw the entire genre under the bus, it's hard to not take that personal as a reader who loves YA. Despite this, I tried to go in with an open mind. The premise sounded intriguing and reminded me of a reverse Taken. That being said... This book was just blah. Everything felt extremely flat, especially when it came to the main character, Gwendolyn. The author portrays her as the plain Jane who thinks she is unattractive, but as she begins her quest, she gets fit and fierce. The dangerous scenarios that Gwendolyn finds herself in resolve themselves quickly and easily. Certain events and settings were overexplained, while others left me wondering what the heck was going on.
There are just too many things working against this book, including the fact that it's just not a good book.
There are just too many things working against this book, including the fact that it's just not a good book.
May 13, 2017
Trigger warnings: murder, human trafficking, attempted rape, violence. Lots and lots of violence.
This book was...not at all what I expected. I mean, it *WAS* what I expected in that it's about a teenage girl whose diplomat father is kidnapped and she runs off to Europe to try and find him.
What I *didn't* expect? How fucking dark this was going to be.
Like... This is a young adult book. And yet in it, the main character:
- Runs away to Europe
- Learns Krav Maga
- Stabs some people
- Murders a bunch of people
- Is nearly raped at least once
- Moves in with a couple of sex workers
- Ends up working for an underworld mob boss type
- There's human trafficking involved
- Like...how is this a young adult book?
Don't get me wrong, it was a decent spy thriller. It just read far more as new adult than young adult. And I wished there'd been a liiiiittle more character development (beyond stabbing faces off) for Gwendolyn.
This book was...not at all what I expected. I mean, it *WAS* what I expected in that it's about a teenage girl whose diplomat father is kidnapped and she runs off to Europe to try and find him.
What I *didn't* expect? How fucking dark this was going to be.
Like... This is a young adult book. And yet in it, the main character:
- Runs away to Europe
- Learns Krav Maga
- Stabs some people
- Murders a bunch of people
- Is nearly raped at least once
- Moves in with a couple of sex workers
- Ends up working for an underworld mob boss type
- There's human trafficking involved
- Like...how is this a young adult book?
Don't get me wrong, it was a decent spy thriller. It just read far more as new adult than young adult. And I wished there'd been a liiiiittle more character development (beyond stabbing faces off) for Gwendolyn.
September 12, 2016
2.5 stars
There are two types of 3 star ratings for me. One is "this was nearly brilliant, but had a few elements that dragged it down". The other is "this is ho-hum, might work for someone else, didn't really appeal to me." The Cruelty is definitely the second type.
It's…fine. There's no real mystery, so don't let the Dragon Tattoo comp fool you; this is Taken essentially, complete with ridiculous action sequences, villainous sex traffickers, and a Mary-Sue protagonist. Gwendolyn speaks five languages, can pass as a native Russian, is irresistible to a series of men, codified as so different from all her plebeian students because she can speak French and read The Stranger, and wears Doc Martens, and after about two weeks of martial arts training can fight off whole groups of men. The Cruelty is fine if you're into that sort of stuff, but I'm probably not, especially when I found the whole endeavour so limp and pointless.
I did despise Gwendolyn though. I get that that whole "improbably good" protagonist is a genre standard. I really do. But in the book she exists within, I found it both insulting and, at times, unfortunately boring. Gwendolyn is immersed in a world which is full of sex traffickers. As a result of this, she is frequently groped, threatened with becoming somebody's "pet", and forced to undress. She also wanders into dungeons where she sees naked, beaten girls. This walks a line which is frankly uncomfortable, and not in an interesting "boundary-pushing" way: it wants to both have its cake and eat it. Perhaps because S. Bergstrom is male (I'm not saying exclusively, and for anything else you might throw at The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I did feel Stieg Larsson avoided this adeptly), or perhaps because the book is YA (that's not my limit), The Cruelty too often veers close to being a parody of the sex-trade-thriller.
Because Gwendolyn is designated as a Badass, she never seems, or feels, victimised by the men, in spite of the fact that a) there are a lot of them, and b) Bergstrom is impressively accurate (perhaps a little kinder, but really not much) in depicting the real insults she would have thrown at her. Like I said, she's repeatedly threatened with assault, both verbally and physically, but it all just seems too easy; it never gets [i]that[/i] close. Despite the fact that she is an otherwise normal teenage girl - her mother was raped and murdered in Algeria, but Gwendolyn's upbringing seems to have been reasonably standard of diplomats' kids - she adjusts too quickly to this newly dangerous, awful world around her. I could believe her detective journey, but I couldn't believe her lack of feeling threatened. Do a month of martial arts training, even serious martial arts training, protect you against ever feeling victimised?
I appreciate that the rape-and-revenge novel might've been just as easily come off as "problematic", that forever-ruined buzzword. The problem was, I felt that there was never much of an arc. Other women - women we didn't know - were raped, beaten, and paraded around naked in shipping containers. Gwendolyn, whether she was observing these particular horrors or being threatened with them herself, was just too good for any of that; she jumped so quickly to "I must kill them", and there was never any doubt that she would succeed, aside from perhaps that single scene where Marina confronts her after she beats Leo up, which was genuinely a great scene.
Ultimately, that did damage my enjoyment of the book, though. Gwendolyn repeatedly reminds us (in quotable gobbets) that "the hardest part of not believing in God isn't knowing there's no Heaven. It's knowing there's no hell." Yet in his determination to write of a girl's pursuit to the dark side, Bergstrom seems to forget the two most important components: the girl she was before (who I didn't like, and who seemed to go away too quickly, thus leaving the whole book feeling like it was about the activities of a cardboard badass), and the actual feelings of implications of hell. Gwendolyn doubted very briefly, and occasionally not at all, and in Bergstrom's self-importance over what he was depicting, I felt he lost track of the actual arc. There was a particularly odd moment, very early, where Gwendolyn contemplates abandoning her entire raison d'être because her father lied to her, and his dangerous job maybe (definitely) got her mother killed.
There was too much confidence, too much swagger, and not enough actual sheen. This is perhaps the most utilitarian book about a journey from New York to Berlin to Paris to Prague I've ever read. I'm not going to pretend this is a bad book. I enjoyed it - lots of it, in fact. I sped-read to the end because I wanted to know what was going to happen. I liked Marina and Rozda, and I loved Yael. But ultimately I would say the problem with The Cruelty is it doesn't really commit. It aspires to be more than a B-movie (B-story?) about a badass who kills a bunch of paper-thin men between here and Hungary, but it just doesn't feel like Bergstrom cares enough.
There are two types of 3 star ratings for me. One is "this was nearly brilliant, but had a few elements that dragged it down". The other is "this is ho-hum, might work for someone else, didn't really appeal to me." The Cruelty is definitely the second type.
It's…fine. There's no real mystery, so don't let the Dragon Tattoo comp fool you; this is Taken essentially, complete with ridiculous action sequences, villainous sex traffickers, and a Mary-Sue protagonist. Gwendolyn speaks five languages, can pass as a native Russian, is irresistible to a series of men, codified as so different from all her plebeian students because she can speak French and read The Stranger, and wears Doc Martens, and after about two weeks of martial arts training can fight off whole groups of men. The Cruelty is fine if you're into that sort of stuff, but I'm probably not, especially when I found the whole endeavour so limp and pointless.
I did despise Gwendolyn though. I get that that whole "improbably good" protagonist is a genre standard. I really do. But in the book she exists within, I found it both insulting and, at times, unfortunately boring. Gwendolyn is immersed in a world which is full of sex traffickers. As a result of this, she is frequently groped, threatened with becoming somebody's "pet", and forced to undress. She also wanders into dungeons where she sees naked, beaten girls. This walks a line which is frankly uncomfortable, and not in an interesting "boundary-pushing" way: it wants to both have its cake and eat it. Perhaps because S. Bergstrom is male (I'm not saying exclusively, and for anything else you might throw at The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, I did feel Stieg Larsson avoided this adeptly), or perhaps because the book is YA (that's not my limit), The Cruelty too often veers close to being a parody of the sex-trade-thriller.
Because Gwendolyn is designated as a Badass, she never seems, or feels, victimised by the men, in spite of the fact that a) there are a lot of them, and b) Bergstrom is impressively accurate (perhaps a little kinder, but really not much) in depicting the real insults she would have thrown at her. Like I said, she's repeatedly threatened with assault, both verbally and physically, but it all just seems too easy; it never gets [i]that[/i] close. Despite the fact that she is an otherwise normal teenage girl - her mother was raped and murdered in Algeria, but Gwendolyn's upbringing seems to have been reasonably standard of diplomats' kids - she adjusts too quickly to this newly dangerous, awful world around her. I could believe her detective journey, but I couldn't believe her lack of feeling threatened. Do a month of martial arts training, even serious martial arts training, protect you against ever feeling victimised?
I appreciate that the rape-and-revenge novel might've been just as easily come off as "problematic", that forever-ruined buzzword. The problem was, I felt that there was never much of an arc. Other women - women we didn't know - were raped, beaten, and paraded around naked in shipping containers. Gwendolyn, whether she was observing these particular horrors or being threatened with them herself, was just too good for any of that; she jumped so quickly to "I must kill them", and there was never any doubt that she would succeed, aside from perhaps that single scene where Marina confronts her after she beats Leo up, which was genuinely a great scene.
Ultimately, that did damage my enjoyment of the book, though. Gwendolyn repeatedly reminds us (in quotable gobbets) that "the hardest part of not believing in God isn't knowing there's no Heaven. It's knowing there's no hell." Yet in his determination to write of a girl's pursuit to the dark side, Bergstrom seems to forget the two most important components: the girl she was before (who I didn't like, and who seemed to go away too quickly, thus leaving the whole book feeling like it was about the activities of a cardboard badass), and the actual feelings of implications of hell. Gwendolyn doubted very briefly, and occasionally not at all, and in Bergstrom's self-importance over what he was depicting, I felt he lost track of the actual arc. There was a particularly odd moment, very early, where Gwendolyn contemplates abandoning her entire raison d'être because her father lied to her, and his dangerous job maybe (definitely) got her mother killed.
There was too much confidence, too much swagger, and not enough actual sheen. This is perhaps the most utilitarian book about a journey from New York to Berlin to Paris to Prague I've ever read. I'm not going to pretend this is a bad book. I enjoyed it - lots of it, in fact. I sped-read to the end because I wanted to know what was going to happen. I liked Marina and Rozda, and I loved Yael. But ultimately I would say the problem with The Cruelty is it doesn't really commit. It aspires to be more than a B-movie (B-story?) about a badass who kills a bunch of paper-thin men between here and Hungary, but it just doesn't feel like Bergstrom cares enough.
July 3, 2017
Have you seen the movie Taken with Liam Neeson? Because if you have, and you love it, then by all means, read this book. But if you have, and you hated it, then there’s no point in reading this book. The book is quite similar to the movie, only the roles are reversed with an angry daughter flying to Europe and taking on crime bosses, human trafficking and drug dealers to rescue her father. (Strangely enough, this is the third book that I have read in a month where the child goes to rescue their father.)
I will give Bergstrom credit where credit is due, the pacing of this book is fast moving and really well done. But unfortunately my praise ends there. The drug use, mention of sex and violence were too much for me. And the language was even worse. Now I have to be honest, I ended up skimming large portions of the book. Violence and foul language should not be used as substitutes for well developed characters.
I don’t have a problem with anti-heroes or even, to paraphrase the author, morally complex characters. I do have a problem with a main character who talks about catcallers loving her teenage legs at the very beginning of the novel. A few pages later she is flustered by a quick peck from a boy—is this the same character who was so obviously aware of her sexuality just a minute ago? Then not half a book later she contemplates prostitution as a means to an end—wait wasn’t she just flustered by some innocent affection? I don’t think Bergstrom had a very good grasp of what it means to be a 17 year-old girl. Nor does he have a very good grasp of his audience. I felt like I was reading a novel version of an action movie. And I’m sorry, but excessive use of the f-bomb does not adequately portray anything other than a poor mastery of the English language.
Now, the novel has been optioned by Paramount and Jerry Bruckheimer and I honestly think it could make a really good action movie. But it certainly wasn’t a very good YA novel.
I will give Bergstrom credit where credit is due, the pacing of this book is fast moving and really well done. But unfortunately my praise ends there. The drug use, mention of sex and violence were too much for me. And the language was even worse. Now I have to be honest, I ended up skimming large portions of the book. Violence and foul language should not be used as substitutes for well developed characters.
I don’t have a problem with anti-heroes or even, to paraphrase the author, morally complex characters. I do have a problem with a main character who talks about catcallers loving her teenage legs at the very beginning of the novel. A few pages later she is flustered by a quick peck from a boy—is this the same character who was so obviously aware of her sexuality just a minute ago? Then not half a book later she contemplates prostitution as a means to an end—wait wasn’t she just flustered by some innocent affection? I don’t think Bergstrom had a very good grasp of what it means to be a 17 year-old girl. Nor does he have a very good grasp of his audience. I felt like I was reading a novel version of an action movie. And I’m sorry, but excessive use of the f-bomb does not adequately portray anything other than a poor mastery of the English language.
Now, the novel has been optioned by Paramount and Jerry Bruckheimer and I honestly think it could make a really good action movie. But it certainly wasn’t a very good YA novel.
April 26, 2017
Un thriller tenebroso, adictivo y muy interesante que acaba cayendo en clichés y con un personaje con el que es difícil de conectar. Si la protagonista hubiera sido otra quizás la historia hubiera sido mejor.
Reseña completa en THE BEST READ YET BLOG
Reseña completa en THE BEST READ YET BLOG
Shelved as 'stricken'
November 30, 2015YA author opines on YA category without seemingly having ever read any YA.
July 25, 2017
Another 'unputdownable' books! Love the plot and storyline. I love the way the author portrays the protagonists, not soppy or weak. I like that she is practical and strong, can adapt and survive. I love her tenacity and courage to do what needs to be done. Not as kick-ass as Angelina Jolie in Salt, but hey, this is a YA Thriller genre, not a full-fledged Fiction Thriller! I am a little bit crushed by the ending but hey, there's always Book 2.
June 22, 2017
Hello, my name is Jess and I like stabby books.
The stabbier the better IMHO.
The Cruelty follows Gwendolyn Bloom after her father goes missing and the CIA stops their search for him, albeit prematurely. It begins as a girl just searching for her father and becomes a "I will destroy anyone who gets in my way" book. The people she encounters are scary people. Bad people. Horrible people. Justice is best served cold.
Gwen begins as a fairly timid girl, even allowing the school bully to humiliate her in the hallways without standing up for herself or fighting back. By the end, Gwen/Sophia/[insert alias here] is almost completely unrecognizable. She is harder. Tougher. Meaner. And more unforgiving than ever.
HIGHLY recommend.
A note of what I did not like (cause there is almost always something, right?): the "romance". It began WAY too quickly. Out of almost nowhere. Then she opens up immediately to this guy when she goes on the run. She keeps in contact with him. It would have been an almost perfect book without this Trevor (Travis? Terrence?) guy. I don't even remember his name, and I don't really care to look it up. This book did not need romance. In fact, I think it would have been better without it.
Also, I listened to the audiobook via Audible (my sweet, sweet love, Audible). If you love to listen to stabby-ness, I would recommend you get this book. You may purchase the book here: The Cruelty.
Have you read this book? If so, let me know what you thought in the comments!
The stabbier the better IMHO.
The Cruelty follows Gwendolyn Bloom after her father goes missing and the CIA stops their search for him, albeit prematurely. It begins as a girl just searching for her father and becomes a "I will destroy anyone who gets in my way" book. The people she encounters are scary people. Bad people. Horrible people. Justice is best served cold.
Gwen begins as a fairly timid girl, even allowing the school bully to humiliate her in the hallways without standing up for herself or fighting back. By the end, Gwen/Sophia/[insert alias here] is almost completely unrecognizable. She is harder. Tougher. Meaner. And more unforgiving than ever.
HIGHLY recommend.
A note of what I did not like (
WARNING!
This book does address such issues as human trafficking and an attempted rape scene. It is not glorified in any way. But it is presented.
Also, I listened to the audiobook via Audible (
Have you read this book? If so, let me know what you thought in the comments!
February 17, 2017
Was tust du, wenn du erfährst, dass dein Leben eine Lüge war? Ein starkes, spannendes Debüt. Bitte mehr davon.
New York: Am 10. Todestag der ermordeten Mutter verabschieden sich Gwen und ihr Vater, da dieser am nächsten Tag geschäftlich nach Paris reist, während Gwen sich in der Schule quält, wo sie tief verletzendem Mobbing ausgesetzt ist, das sie irgendwie erträgt. Als am nächsten Tag zwei CIA-Agenten vor der Tür stehen und ihr von der mutmaßlichen Entführung ihres Vaters erzählen, bricht für Gwen eine Welt zusammen, denn ihr Vater hatte ihr stets erzählt, er würde im Auswärtigen Amt nur Papiere hin und her schieben und jetzt behaupten die geheimnisvollen Besucher er sei ein Agent der CIA.
Die CIA stellt die erfolglosen Ermittlungen bald ein und Gwen sieht sich gezwungen eigene Ermittlungen anzustellen. Sie folgt einer Spur nach Paris und steht bald im Zentrum eines gefährlichen Konstrukts aus Waffenschiebern, Drogendealern und Menschenhändlern. Sie weiß, sie kann nur gewinnen, wenn sie so kalt und grausam ist wie die Täter. Gwen wird erwachsen.
Der Autor:
Scott Bergstrom arbeitete jahrelang als Texter und Creative Director in einer der größten und renommiertesten Werbeagenturen in Manhattan und entwickelte Print-, Fernseh- und Onlinekampagnen für namhafte Firmen wie Ford, Boeing, Chase sowie für das Auswärtige Amt der USA. Bergstroms Essays und Artikel über Architektur und urbanes Leben wurden in den USA und Europa breit publiziert. Sein Interesse gilt besonders den vernachlässigten Gegenden beliebter Touristenmetropolen – die er in «Cruelty» düster und anschaulich beschreibt.
Reflektionen:
Anfangs hatte ich ein Gefühl von naiv angewandter Sprache, bis mir bewusst wurde, dass die in der Ich-Erzählweise beginnende Story, die Worte der siebzehnjährigen Gwendolyn Bloom waren. Gwendolyn ist ein Diplomatenkind, dass bereits den gesamten Globus mit ihrem Vater bereist hat, doch nirgends konnte sie Freunde finden, nirgends fühlte sie sich zu Hause und so lebt sie die Rolle einer Einzelgängerin. In der Privatschule, die nur von Kindern betuchter oder prominenter Eltern besucht wird, ist sie ein graues Entlein das gegen den Strom schwimmt und das gemobbt wird. Wie sehr Gwen darunter leidet hat Autor Scott Bergstrom emotional sehr berührend und sehr authentisch in seinem Debüt erzählt.
Als Gwen erfährt, dass ihr Vater verschwunden ist und die CIA bald darauf die Ermittlungen eingestellt, kriecht sie langsam aus der Haut eines Teenagers heraus. Während des Lesens entwickelt sich nicht nur die temporeiche Handlung weiter, sondern ganz besonders Gwendolyn selbst. Aus dem kleinen Mädchen wird eine junge Frau die erkennt, dass sie die Entführer ihres Vaters nur finden kann, wenn sie selbst ebenso skrupellos und gewaltbereit durchs Leben geht wie sie.
Die Entwicklung der Hauptfigur Gwendolyn ist Scott Bergstrom sehr gelungen. Er lässt ihre Entwicklung langsam in die Geschichte einfließen, obwohl sie mit äußerster Brutalität vorangetrieben wird, denn Gwen trifft auf die taffe Yeal, die sie körperlich und mental trainiert. Unter großen Schmerzen und unter scheinbarer emotionaler Kälte formt Yeal Gwen mit einer Härte, die mich manches Mal den Atem anhalten ließ.
Gwen bewegt sich in einer Umgebung die von Waffenhandel, Drogengeschäften und Menschenhandel geprägt ist. Die Figuren dieses Milieus sind düster und sie unterstreichen die dunkle Stimmung und knisternde Spannung. Scott Bergstrom gelingt es spielend Verbrechen zu inszenieren, die die Suche nach den Entführern für Gwen erschweren. Auch als Leser fällt es mir schwer zu erahnen, wer die Täter sein könnten, denn die intelligenten Verstrickungen von Verbrechen und Figuren lassen sich bis zu Letzt nicht einfach entschlüsseln.
Scott Bergstrom schreibt in einem hohen Tempo, das perfekt auf die rasanten Geschehnisse der Geschichte zugeschnitten ist. Sein Sprachstil ist klar und schnörkellos. Er lässt sich angenehm flüssig lesen. Besonders gut ist es ihm gelungen, die Sprache und den Ausdruck der Figur Gwen entsprechend ihrer Entwicklung glaubwürdig zu kreieren.
Die Figuren sind entsprechend ihrer Funktionalität in der Geschichte charakterstark und intensiv gezeichnet, sodass sie autark agieren. Scott Bergstrom scheut sich nicht Protagonisten und deren Verbrechen mit äußerster Brutalität darzustellen. Zart besaiteten Lesern, könnte die Gewalt und Grausamkeit von Cruelty deutlich too much sein.
Fazit:
Ein starkes, spannendes Debüt mit Tempo. Bitte mehr davon. Leseempfehlung.
New York: Am 10. Todestag der ermordeten Mutter verabschieden sich Gwen und ihr Vater, da dieser am nächsten Tag geschäftlich nach Paris reist, während Gwen sich in der Schule quält, wo sie tief verletzendem Mobbing ausgesetzt ist, das sie irgendwie erträgt. Als am nächsten Tag zwei CIA-Agenten vor der Tür stehen und ihr von der mutmaßlichen Entführung ihres Vaters erzählen, bricht für Gwen eine Welt zusammen, denn ihr Vater hatte ihr stets erzählt, er würde im Auswärtigen Amt nur Papiere hin und her schieben und jetzt behaupten die geheimnisvollen Besucher er sei ein Agent der CIA.
Die CIA stellt die erfolglosen Ermittlungen bald ein und Gwen sieht sich gezwungen eigene Ermittlungen anzustellen. Sie folgt einer Spur nach Paris und steht bald im Zentrum eines gefährlichen Konstrukts aus Waffenschiebern, Drogendealern und Menschenhändlern. Sie weiß, sie kann nur gewinnen, wenn sie so kalt und grausam ist wie die Täter. Gwen wird erwachsen.
Der Autor:
Scott Bergstrom arbeitete jahrelang als Texter und Creative Director in einer der größten und renommiertesten Werbeagenturen in Manhattan und entwickelte Print-, Fernseh- und Onlinekampagnen für namhafte Firmen wie Ford, Boeing, Chase sowie für das Auswärtige Amt der USA. Bergstroms Essays und Artikel über Architektur und urbanes Leben wurden in den USA und Europa breit publiziert. Sein Interesse gilt besonders den vernachlässigten Gegenden beliebter Touristenmetropolen – die er in «Cruelty» düster und anschaulich beschreibt.
Reflektionen:
Anfangs hatte ich ein Gefühl von naiv angewandter Sprache, bis mir bewusst wurde, dass die in der Ich-Erzählweise beginnende Story, die Worte der siebzehnjährigen Gwendolyn Bloom waren. Gwendolyn ist ein Diplomatenkind, dass bereits den gesamten Globus mit ihrem Vater bereist hat, doch nirgends konnte sie Freunde finden, nirgends fühlte sie sich zu Hause und so lebt sie die Rolle einer Einzelgängerin. In der Privatschule, die nur von Kindern betuchter oder prominenter Eltern besucht wird, ist sie ein graues Entlein das gegen den Strom schwimmt und das gemobbt wird. Wie sehr Gwen darunter leidet hat Autor Scott Bergstrom emotional sehr berührend und sehr authentisch in seinem Debüt erzählt.
Als Gwen erfährt, dass ihr Vater verschwunden ist und die CIA bald darauf die Ermittlungen eingestellt, kriecht sie langsam aus der Haut eines Teenagers heraus. Während des Lesens entwickelt sich nicht nur die temporeiche Handlung weiter, sondern ganz besonders Gwendolyn selbst. Aus dem kleinen Mädchen wird eine junge Frau die erkennt, dass sie die Entführer ihres Vaters nur finden kann, wenn sie selbst ebenso skrupellos und gewaltbereit durchs Leben geht wie sie.
Die Entwicklung der Hauptfigur Gwendolyn ist Scott Bergstrom sehr gelungen. Er lässt ihre Entwicklung langsam in die Geschichte einfließen, obwohl sie mit äußerster Brutalität vorangetrieben wird, denn Gwen trifft auf die taffe Yeal, die sie körperlich und mental trainiert. Unter großen Schmerzen und unter scheinbarer emotionaler Kälte formt Yeal Gwen mit einer Härte, die mich manches Mal den Atem anhalten ließ.
Gwen bewegt sich in einer Umgebung die von Waffenhandel, Drogengeschäften und Menschenhandel geprägt ist. Die Figuren dieses Milieus sind düster und sie unterstreichen die dunkle Stimmung und knisternde Spannung. Scott Bergstrom gelingt es spielend Verbrechen zu inszenieren, die die Suche nach den Entführern für Gwen erschweren. Auch als Leser fällt es mir schwer zu erahnen, wer die Täter sein könnten, denn die intelligenten Verstrickungen von Verbrechen und Figuren lassen sich bis zu Letzt nicht einfach entschlüsseln.
Scott Bergstrom schreibt in einem hohen Tempo, das perfekt auf die rasanten Geschehnisse der Geschichte zugeschnitten ist. Sein Sprachstil ist klar und schnörkellos. Er lässt sich angenehm flüssig lesen. Besonders gut ist es ihm gelungen, die Sprache und den Ausdruck der Figur Gwen entsprechend ihrer Entwicklung glaubwürdig zu kreieren.
Die Figuren sind entsprechend ihrer Funktionalität in der Geschichte charakterstark und intensiv gezeichnet, sodass sie autark agieren. Scott Bergstrom scheut sich nicht Protagonisten und deren Verbrechen mit äußerster Brutalität darzustellen. Zart besaiteten Lesern, könnte die Gewalt und Grausamkeit von Cruelty deutlich too much sein.
Fazit:
Ein starkes, spannendes Debüt mit Tempo. Bitte mehr davon. Leseempfehlung.
October 20, 2019
Определено не бях подготвена да получа толкова много от "Жестокост"! Посегнах предпазливо към книгата, но тя се оказа жестока! Ако търсите тийнейджърски трилър - е, то тази книга е за вас.
Действието в "Жестокост" се развива в САЩ, Франция, Германия и Чехия, но тези държави са само фон на напрегнатата и много опасна "игра", в която се въвлича главната героиня - Гуен (а по-късно - София). Игра, чиято крайна цел е да открие доведения си баща, отгледал я от малка. В големите европейски столици - Париж, Берлин и Прага, Гуен се потапя в опасния свят на кървави престрелки, проституция и трафик на хора. А за да премине успешно през изпитанията на този свят, ѝ се налага да влезе в образ, в който самата тя не би се познала...
Книгата ме спечели най-вече със стила, в който беше написана - достатъчно, но не и отегчително описателно - точно толкова, колкото да те "вкара" в образа на Гуен и атмосферата, от която героинята ѝ беше обградена. А самата Гуен е една противоречива личност, която само прочелите книгата ще могат да опознаят.
Действието в "Жестокост" се развива в САЩ, Франция, Германия и Чехия, но тези държави са само фон на напрегнатата и много опасна "игра", в която се въвлича главната героиня - Гуен (а по-късно - София). Игра, чиято крайна цел е да открие доведения си баща, отгледал я от малка. В големите европейски столици - Париж, Берлин и Прага, Гуен се потапя в опасния свят на кървави престрелки, проституция и трафик на хора. А за да премине успешно през изпитанията на този свят, ѝ се налага да влезе в образ, в който самата тя не би се познала...
Книгата ме спечели най-вече със стила, в който беше написана - достатъчно, но не и отегчително описателно - точно толкова, колкото да те "вкара" в образа на Гуен и атмосферата, от която героинята ѝ беше обградена. А самата Гуен е една противоречива личност, която само прочелите книгата ще могат да опознаят.
Shelved as 'kill-it-with-fire'
September 12, 2016There is an episode of Family Guy where Brian is annoyed that his first book hilariously and obviously flopped. In a fit of anger, after looking at The NY Times bestseller list, Brian starts to mock self help books. He calls out the entire genre, authors, and the "idiots" who read them. He does all of this and then, as a JOKE, decides to write a self help book. As a J-O-K-E he writes a book to prove that any idiot can write that kind of book, and any idiot will buy it. And do you know what happened? His self help book hits the NYT bestseller! He's invited on talk shows, makes a shit ton of money, even becomes famous.
So you see, The Cruelty is like that episode of family guy. We have a pompous asshat who completely disrespected an entire genre and all of the people who buy, read, and love that genre, and now has gotten rich off the same thing he so blatantly disrespected, disregarded, and rudely spoke down on. So. The Cruelty and anything else by Bergstrom can have a seat on this shelf. He won't lose sleep over it. He won't lose money over it. But I, being a small brained YA lover, will most certainly sleep better knowing my money was spent on something even my simple minded self could truly enjoy in that little genre known as YA.
So you see, The Cruelty is like that episode of family guy. We have a pompous asshat who completely disrespected an entire genre and all of the people who buy, read, and love that genre, and now has gotten rich off the same thing he so blatantly disrespected, disregarded, and rudely spoke down on. So. The Cruelty and anything else by Bergstrom can have a seat on this shelf. He won't lose sleep over it. He won't lose money over it. But I, being a small brained YA lover, will most certainly sleep better knowing my money was spent on something even my simple minded self could truly enjoy in that little genre known as YA.
May 19, 2017
Reseña en el blog: http://librosdelcielo.blogspot.com.es...
April 28, 2014
I read for a living, and I was hooked from the first paragraph. This is a remarkably well written book with a strong, unique, kickass heroine. Thrillers that successfully incorporate artful word choice and keen human observation are few and far between; this one masterfully incorporates both into a well-paced, compelling plot. You're never quite sure where Gwendolyn will go next, but you know you want to be there.
June 24, 2017
Een hele sterke YA thriller. Een Amerikaans CIA-verhaal, en het is goed uitgewerkt. Echt een Bourne/Mission Impossible-sfeertje. Stoer hoofdpersonage, spannend voor jongens en meiden. Ik heb zo een YA CIA-verhaal nog niet eerder gelezen en het was goed spannend, dus 4*!
May 23, 2017
Tenía una gran curiosidad por este libro por todo el tema de las agencias de inteligencia, las infiltraciones y la búsqueda desesperada de una hija para encontrar a su padre, la premisa era buena y aunque el libro no ha estado mal no ha sido lo que esperaba cuando lo empecé. Es una trama que empieza de manera lenta, explayándose en los detalles y las personalidades, luego va mejorando poco a poco, aunque nunca llega a haber esa explosión que termine de enganchar... termina quedándose un tanta plana la trama, puede que por los tópicos, porque hay cosas que no tienen mucho sentido o que pasan de forma muy gratuita. La cuestión es que se queda un poco coja y no ayuda precisamente que la protagonista sea tan distante e insoportable, aunque también puede ser una percepción mía, porque las novelas tan desalmadas no terminan de convencerme y está es violenta y descarnada. [...]
Pero no todo es malo, sino no le habría puesto un tres. Me gusta la combinación que tiene, resulta novedosa entre tanta novela juvenil edulcorada, porque el autor no se corta un pelo en describir cualquier tipo de escena (aunque a mí no me gusten sí que lo aprecio porque no todos se atreven) o tocar temas peliagudos. Tiene partes que resultan atrayentes y el ver hasta dónde está dispuesta a llegar una persona por salvar a un ser querido es increíble, además tiene giros bastante buenos a lo largo de toda la novela, que en ciertos momentos te ponen en tensión.
Por último, avisaros de que no es un libro auto conclusivo, en una trilogía y con el final de The Cruelty queda demostrado porque más abierto no podía ser.
Reseña completa: http://letraslibrosymas.blogspot.com....
Pero no todo es malo, sino no le habría puesto un tres. Me gusta la combinación que tiene, resulta novedosa entre tanta novela juvenil edulcorada, porque el autor no se corta un pelo en describir cualquier tipo de escena (aunque a mí no me gusten sí que lo aprecio porque no todos se atreven) o tocar temas peliagudos. Tiene partes que resultan atrayentes y el ver hasta dónde está dispuesta a llegar una persona por salvar a un ser querido es increíble, además tiene giros bastante buenos a lo largo de toda la novela, que en ciertos momentos te ponen en tensión.
Por último, avisaros de que no es un libro auto conclusivo, en una trilogía y con el final de The Cruelty queda demostrado porque más abierto no podía ser.
Reseña completa: http://letraslibrosymas.blogspot.com....
March 1, 2017
The Cruelty...
Oh what can I say about this book...
To be totally honest with you, I read this book months ago... And I have kept putting this review off.
Kind of one purpose.
Why? Because I have mixed feelings about this book.
On one hand, I did like it. On the other hand, I didn't.
The Cruelty is about a girl named Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn's father is a diplomat. He has worked for the U.S. Government for years. And he gets kidnapped. So, naturally, Gwendolyn sets off to go rescue her father.
And the road to rescuing him is not pretty at all. She finds herself in a dark world. Human trafficking, drugs, murder, arms smuggling, etc. It is a dark world that she has found herself in, in Europe, that she must navigate to find and rescue her father.
To be honest, the premise of this book is what really pulled me in. I thought it sounded exciting and that it was going to be a really great story.
I also thought, that since it was marketed as a YA read, that it was going to not be too dark.
And that was my bad.
It was dark and at times pretty horrible. I was a lot darker than I thought it would be for a YA read. Scott Bergstrom didn't really spare his readers from the harsh reality of the world Gwendolyn has to navigate in The Cruelty.
And there were many times I wanted to give up on the book, but I kept picking it back up determined to finish it. I have nothing against a dark book. I will willingly read them all the time. But for the longest time I had a hard time accepting that The Cruelty was meant for the YA reading crowd.
I did eventually flip to the back cover and see it was recommended for ages 17+ and that helped me get past some of my prejudices. So there is that. But I would really not recommend this book for the younger/more immature crowd. As mentioned before - it traverses the dark underbelly of Europe. Sex trafficking and arms dealing are probably the most prominent topics. And there are definitely triggers for that and for other things.
It is these issues that have stuck with me the most since I have finished reading The Cruelty.
And yet, all that said, I still found myself occasionally able to enjoy the story and I did finish it. Will I continue with this series? That is a maybe leaning towards a no. I might though. I wouldn't mind seeing where this series is going and I wouldn't mind (hopefully) seeing Scott Bergstrom growing as a writer.
This review is based on a copy provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone.
Find more of my reviews here:
http://readingwithcupcakes.blogspot.com/
Oh what can I say about this book...
To be totally honest with you, I read this book months ago... And I have kept putting this review off.
Kind of one purpose.
Why? Because I have mixed feelings about this book.
On one hand, I did like it. On the other hand, I didn't.
The Cruelty is about a girl named Gwendolyn. Gwendolyn's father is a diplomat. He has worked for the U.S. Government for years. And he gets kidnapped. So, naturally, Gwendolyn sets off to go rescue her father.
And the road to rescuing him is not pretty at all. She finds herself in a dark world. Human trafficking, drugs, murder, arms smuggling, etc. It is a dark world that she has found herself in, in Europe, that she must navigate to find and rescue her father.
To be honest, the premise of this book is what really pulled me in. I thought it sounded exciting and that it was going to be a really great story.
I also thought, that since it was marketed as a YA read, that it was going to not be too dark.
And that was my bad.
It was dark and at times pretty horrible. I was a lot darker than I thought it would be for a YA read. Scott Bergstrom didn't really spare his readers from the harsh reality of the world Gwendolyn has to navigate in The Cruelty.
And there were many times I wanted to give up on the book, but I kept picking it back up determined to finish it. I have nothing against a dark book. I will willingly read them all the time. But for the longest time I had a hard time accepting that The Cruelty was meant for the YA reading crowd.
I did eventually flip to the back cover and see it was recommended for ages 17+ and that helped me get past some of my prejudices. So there is that. But I would really not recommend this book for the younger/more immature crowd. As mentioned before - it traverses the dark underbelly of Europe. Sex trafficking and arms dealing are probably the most prominent topics. And there are definitely triggers for that and for other things.
It is these issues that have stuck with me the most since I have finished reading The Cruelty.
And yet, all that said, I still found myself occasionally able to enjoy the story and I did finish it. Will I continue with this series? That is a maybe leaning towards a no. I might though. I wouldn't mind seeing where this series is going and I wouldn't mind (hopefully) seeing Scott Bergstrom growing as a writer.
This review is based on a copy provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. All thoughts and opinions are mine and mine alone.
Find more of my reviews here:
http://readingwithcupcakes.blogspot.com/
April 14, 2017
Eniten ärsyttää se, että kaikkia mahdollisia ja etenkin mahdottomia kirjoja mainostetaan Nälkäpelillä. Tässä kirjassa ainoa yhteys Collinsiin on se, että päähenkilön kirjahyllystä löytyy kyseinen teos. Tämä on "realismia", nykyaikaa, yhteiskunnallisuutta, mafiaa.
Toiseksi eniten ärsyttää se, että kirjaa kuvataan "kuumottavaksi". Ensinnäkin sana on typerä, tyhjä ja keinoteinimäinen. Toiseksi, tämä kirja on täynnä narkkareita ja siinä kuvataan kohtuullisen tarkasti tappamista, kiduttamista ja alaikäisiin tyttöihin kohdistuvaa ihmiskauppaa ja heidän huutokauppaamistaan sekä massamurhaa. Ei paljon "kuumota".
Mainoskikkojen lisäksi kirjassa vähän ärsyttää se, että se on niin tuhottoman raaka ja päähenkilö lopulta - genrenkin huomioonottaen - vähän turhan ihmenainen, joka voimistelutaustallaan omaksuu krav magan ja muut itsepuolutustus- ja taistelutaidot muutamassa viikossa sekä muuttuu itseäänkin kauhistuttavaksi väkivaltaiseksi pedoksi.
Toisaalta EI ärsytä se, että päähenkilön prosessia kuvataan aika hyvin ja juoni on uskomattomuudessaan sisäisen koherentti. Suorastaan nautin kaupunkikuvauksista, Euroopasta, talojen, ruokien, katujen ja rautatieasemien oikeasta kuvailusta. Pidin todella paljon kerrontatyylistä, koukuttavasta ja vähän raatelevasta - ja erityisesti kielestä, joka toi väkivaltaan runollisuutta ja banaaliin teiniyteen kauneutta.
All in all tykkäsin paljon, mutta vinkkauksissa pitää ottaa huomioon vähän tarkemmin vinkattavien ikä ja kunto. Ei herkkiksille, ei eskapisteille.
Toiseksi eniten ärsyttää se, että kirjaa kuvataan "kuumottavaksi". Ensinnäkin sana on typerä, tyhjä ja keinoteinimäinen. Toiseksi, tämä kirja on täynnä narkkareita ja siinä kuvataan kohtuullisen tarkasti tappamista, kiduttamista ja alaikäisiin tyttöihin kohdistuvaa ihmiskauppaa ja heidän huutokauppaamistaan sekä massamurhaa. Ei paljon "kuumota".
Mainoskikkojen lisäksi kirjassa vähän ärsyttää se, että se on niin tuhottoman raaka ja päähenkilö lopulta - genrenkin huomioonottaen - vähän turhan ihmenainen, joka voimistelutaustallaan omaksuu krav magan ja muut itsepuolutustus- ja taistelutaidot muutamassa viikossa sekä muuttuu itseäänkin kauhistuttavaksi väkivaltaiseksi pedoksi.
Toisaalta EI ärsytä se, että päähenkilön prosessia kuvataan aika hyvin ja juoni on uskomattomuudessaan sisäisen koherentti. Suorastaan nautin kaupunkikuvauksista, Euroopasta, talojen, ruokien, katujen ja rautatieasemien oikeasta kuvailusta. Pidin todella paljon kerrontatyylistä, koukuttavasta ja vähän raatelevasta - ja erityisesti kielestä, joka toi väkivaltaan runollisuutta ja banaaliin teiniyteen kauneutta.
All in all tykkäsin paljon, mutta vinkkauksissa pitää ottaa huomioon vähän tarkemmin vinkattavien ikä ja kunto. Ei herkkiksille, ei eskapisteille.
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