TL;W[on’t]R[read the review]: That ending. I am rage.
Content warnings: murders, panic attacks, death of a child, animal death, unsafe living situation/a teen being kicked out of her home, arson
Summary [courtesy of Goodreads]: The summer is winding down in San Diego. Veronica is bored, caustically charismatic, and uninspired in her photography. Nico is insatiable, subversive, and obsessed with chaotic performance art. They’re artists first, best friends second. But that was before Mick. Delicate, lonely, magnetic Mick: the perfect subject, and Veronica’s dream girl. The days are long and hot―full of adventure―and soon they are falling in love. Falling so hard, they never imagine what comes next. One fire. Two murders. Three drowning bodies. One suspect . . . one stalker. This is a summer they won’t survive. Inspired by The Picture of Dorian Gray, this sexy psychological thriller explores the intersections of love, art, danger, and power.
[Note: This review is based on an eARC from NetGalley and Delacourte Press [Random House Children’s].]
Oh dear…I really, really did not like the end of this book or the messages that the ending reinforced (unintentionally or not).
I had pretty high hopes for this book, since it seemed to feature one of my favorite narrative arcs: obsessive teen friendship shifts into queer relationship. Unfortunately, much of its focus pulled away from the central queer relationship and instead centered around toxic masculinity (without fully calling it out as such).
Also, the sapphic relationship was…problematic as fuck. More in
SPOILER TERRITORY
Ok, so this is ultimately a book about women being tormented by men. I didn’t really want OR need another book about that, particularly a YA book. This book purports to focus on awkward Mick and her growing relationship with manipulative Veronica (more on that in a minute), but really, by the end, this is very much about Nico, a full-on serial killer who has no qualms about lying to or murdering ANYONE, from a random kid at the pool Mick lifeguards at to his compatriots in his eco-terrorist group to his lovers. It’s…a lot.
And really, I would’ve just been miffed at the pulled focus if the book didn’t end the way it did. But it does. So I closed my Kindle incandescent with rage, which is probably an overreaction, but it bothered the hell out of me. Basically, Nico escapes detection after trying to murder Mick and Veronica, and we think he’ll just be stalking them until the end of days (a scary and disturbing enough premise). However, the conclusion decides to escalate things quickly (and ridiculously), and we learn via a series of ‘reveal’ point-of-view chapters (my favorite thing…) that Nico has set in motion a full-on collapse of LA’s entire civic infrastructure. Through a series of manipulations, he’s orchestrated simultaneous fires at ALL larger green spaces in the metropolitan area, along with active shooter threat call-ins at all theme parks, colleges, TV stations, etc., all while taking out much of the city’s power via a bomb. The girls watch on the TV (after the stations get their generators running), and they realize that the coup-de-grace, a series of fireworks in the shape of a rose, are a message for Mick herself [shudder].
In the end, we cut to Nico’s final, brief chapter. He laments that the chaos his terrorism has caused will be undone quickly, but muses that he’s aiming for Manhattan next. In short, we have a full-on MRA-style terrorist here, and we have his unrealistically effectual blueprint spelled out for YA readers. That, to me, is problematic enough, But the book doesn’t quite end there. Instead, we have Nico’s closing words:
“I did that. I molded you [Mick]–a human being–into something else. You’re mine, and you’re glorious.
Eventually, when I get tired of watching your shiny, brand-new life unfold from a distance, I’m sure our paths will cross again. When that happens, it will feel like fate.
I’m so glad I didn’t melt you down with steel and turn you into a lifeless, shining doll. What a waste that would have been. You’re too pretty to burn. [bold mine]”
So not only are the FINAL WORDS of this purported sapphic thriller given to the serial killing straight man, but he gets to originate THE GODDAMN TITLE as well? So the title has been a murderous stalker’s obscene justification for not murdering the protagonist this whole time?? He gets the ‘win’ of having the last word, AND he gets his sick fantasy that Mick is his muse/creation (unintentionally) validated by having his assessment become the title of the book?
I do not like this. I do not like it the fuck at all.
Yes, it’s scary, and yes, it’s threatening. But to me, in a YA novel, and in the good year of our Hell 2021, this kind of stunt ending leaves a wretched taste in my mouth. We don’t need more ‘wins’ for incels or whatever kind of narcissistic edgelord community this character would identify with. I will grant that before the ending, this book does demonstrate the Scream hypothesis (which is not to trust cis white men), but that’s small consolation compared to that goddamn ending.
Aside from Nico, I also wanted to briefly touch on the ‘good’ relationship at the center of the book, between Mick and Veronica. It’s the most unhealthy thing ever, and while the characters partly acknowledge this at first, it’s never fully addressed in a way that would present a clear message to the target YA audience. For instance, Veronica coerces Mick into being photographed, something she’s fully phobic of (enough to have panic attacks) and lies about not putting film in her camera. But Mick forgives her fairly quickly and the pair become lovers. Sure, Veronica is torn up about her own lies, but she keeps doing variations on that pattern, including not really securing consent for some of their makeout sessions. Meanwhile, Mick herself feels a perverse form of progress in her mental health by going through the fear and pain of being coerced. And this is to say nothing about Mick’s own escalating lies as she’s manipulated by Nico to assist him in his protesting-but-really-eco-terrorism work. It’s all toxic, and by the end Mick and Veronica are just a ‘happy,’ albeit extremely traumatized, couple. This sends a terrible message to ANY reader, but particularly a younger reader who has yet to navigate relationships of their own.
So, in conclusion, major yikes, do not recommend.
Copaganda rating: Meh (there are so many problems with this novel that this isn’t that big of one. And though the cops DO help the girls after they rescue themselves from Nico, they’re powerless at stopping the man himself.)