Tag Archives: Sapphic

[Blog Tour] Review for Death by Society by Sierra Elmore

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Somehow, it’s September again, which means the fall semester, which means I’m drowning in schoolwork. But in the midst of my busy schedule, I made time, as I always do, for a blog tour post (as soulless as it may seem from an outsider perspective, signing up for these blog tours is the most effective way of ensuring that I’m still regularly reading and reviewing books that aren’t required reading for school throughout the year). Thanks to Paola at Noveltindie for hosting and inviting me to the tour, and congratulations to Sierra for self-publishing her debut! You can find more information about the tour at the launch post.

Book Information

  • Title: Death by Society
  • Author: Sierra Elmore
  • Release Date: September 13th, 2022
  • Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Synopsis:

MEAN GIRLS meets IT’S KIND OF A FUNNY STORY when two teenage girls’ worlds collide when one attempts suicide to avoid toxic popularity.

Carter Harper may have created an award-winning app and have a 3.93 GPA, but her successes are overshadowed by brutal bullying, depression, and loneliness. Tired of being treated as the popular girls’ plaything, Carter thinks her only choice is to die by suicide.

Abby Wallace is one of the most popular girls in school, subordinate only to Kelsey, her best friend with benefits. The ambitious poet destroys reputations without care to prove how cool, cruel, and strong she is, all while pushing down her past trauma and secret guilt.

Carter and Abby’s tumultuous relationship comes to a boiling point when Abby stops Carter from attempting suicide. But what happens when they have to protect one another from Kelsey’s harmful antics? If Carter and Abby can stand each other for more than three minutes, they can stop Kelsey from hurting more girls—and maybe become friends in the process.

In the tradition of Courtney Summers and Laurie Halse Anderson, DEATH BY SOCIETY questions how far we’ll go to gain power over our lives—and what happens when we use our voices for both good and to harm others.

Review

Trigger/content warnings: Death by Society and my review of the book discuss and mention bullying, anxiety, depression, suicide, and sexual assault.

Death by Society is one of those books that hits super close to home for me because it addresses bullying and suicide, which are both things that I have personal experience with. Although Carter’s specific experience of bullying is pretty different in nature from my own, the depiction of her social anxiety, low self-esteem, and depression really resonated with me. In particular, the guilt over how her severe depressive episodes affected her mother and the tendency to hide what she was going through were a little too real.

Additionally, there’s a part of the book where Carter freaks out over the fact that she’s recovering because the change, despite being a positive one, leads her to question her entire existence, having attached so much of her sense of self to the depression. Death by Society is one of the few fictional books on mental health and depression I’ve read that has depicted that angst and fear of getting better and captured it so well. Because as much as it sounds bizarre to anyone who hasn’t been there before, wanting to live after wanting to die is fucking scary! You’re not running away from your problems anymore, and you have to confront them and deal with them in a constructive way. You have to change your shitty coping mechanisms, and it’s hard to do that when you’ve been this way so long that you don’t know how to be otherwise. I learned in therapy that even positive change is stressful, and Carter’s life post-suicide attempt reflects that in many ways.

One of the things that felt refreshingly honest about Death by Society is how it makes room for the complex and messy aspects of humanity by giving a voice and narrative POV to Abby, who is both a victim of sexual violence and a bully to Carter for much of the story. As tempting as it can be to view violence and harm as things done exclusively by people who are fundamentally horrible in every conceivable way, by people who are simply unfeeling monsters beyond redemption, the reality is that so much harm is enacted by everyday people playing into toxic social systems (whether they realize it/intend to, or not), and even victims of violence (past or present) can also perpetuate violence toward others when they have the power to do so. Abby’s character exemplifies that truth, and it was interesting to watch her come to terms with the harm she inflicted and choose a different path.

Another way this book felt Super Real was the overall incompetence of most of the adults in Carter’s life at doing a damn thing about the bullying: the lip service paid to cultivating a welcoming environment at school, the reactionary and performative measures from administrators meant to convince themselves that they’ve done something when they don’t meaningfully addressing the root issues… It’s been a little over 10 years since I’ve graduated high school (holy shit I’m old), but it still feels like society is stuck in the same bullshit when it comes to [failing to address] bullying. Rather than making her feel better, Carter’s interactions with the school administrators mostly just re-traumatizes her because they aren’t actually putting her needs first, they’re protecting themselves and coddling the parents of the other girls. Reading this book really made me contemplate the question of what actually helps? What is proven to be effective in preventing bullying and addressing the harm after the bullying has occurred? Because suspension and a lukewarm assembly with PowerPoint slides certainly are not.

While my commentary on this book so far may make Death by Society seem like a supremely SeriousTM book (which it is, in a lot of great ways!), it’s also actually ridiculously funny as well. I lost count of the number of times I laughed out loud while reading my ARC. There’s some morbid humor (because it is about heavy topics) but also some irreverent jokes. Not only do individual characters get dragged, our broader social institutions and norms get roasted and indicted as well. Death by Society is one of those gems that skillfully blends humor and social commentary and can make readers laugh without making light of the important issues involved, which is why I found it so cathartic of an experience to read.

Book Links

Add Death by Society on Goodreads!

Purchase a copy of Death by Society.

About the Author

Sierra Elmore writes YA contemporary and thriller novels about girls wreaking havoc while fighting trauma. Her work has won the YoungArts merit award and was selected for the Author Mentor Match program.

Elmore earned a BA in Sociology from Arcadia University. She’s conducted research on the representation of mentally ill women in media, as well as relational aggression amongst adolescent girls.

Elmore lives in New York City, where she explores independent bookstores, volunteers for the Crisis Text Line, and goes to as many concerts as possible.

Visit Sierra’s website at https://sierraelmore.com.

[Blog Tour] Review for Dauntless by Elisa A. Bonnin

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Hello again, everyone! Last time I posted I had just finished up my spring semester, and now suddenly here I am having finished my summer term as well (more or less, with the exception of a final paper…). While recovering from an amazing but exhausting 2-day weekend conference on children’s literature, I had the chance to dive into the soon-to-be-released Dauntless for this blog tour hosted by Kate at Your Tita Kate.

Book Information

  • Title: Dauntless
  • Author: Elisa A. Bonnin
  • Publisher: Swoon Reads, an imprint of Macmillan
  • Release Date: August 2nd, 2022
  • Genre: Young Adult Fantasy, Adventure

Synopsis:

“Be dauntless, for the hopes of the People rest in you.” 

Seri’s world is defined by very clear rules: The beasts prowl the forest paths and hunt the People. The valiant explore the unknown world, kill the beasts, and gain strength from the armor they make from them. As an assistant to Eshai Unbroken, a young valor commander with a near-mythical reputation, Seri has seen first-hand the struggle to keep the beasts at bay and ensure the safety of the spreading trees where the People make their homes. That was how it always had been, and how it always would be. Until the day Seri encounters Tsana. 

Tsana is, impossibly, a stranger from the unknown world who can communicate with the beasts – a fact that makes Seri begin to doubt everything she’s ever been taught. As Seri and Tsana grow closer, their worlds begin to collide, with deadly consequences. Somehow, with the world on the brink of war, Seri will have to find a way to make peace.

Review

Dauntless is a book that really made me go, “wow, what a ride” after I turned the last [digital] page. As the bold title and cover illustration suggest, it is a story packed with action and adventure, but it holds much more than that.

One of the things that stood out to me as I was reading is the thoughtfulness of the worldbuilding. Sure, there are aesthetically and conceptually cool aspects, such as the magical armor made from slain beasts that literally molds itself to the owner, the large human settlements built on giant trees, and so on, but what I found most compelling was the thematic messages embedded in the worldbuilding decisions. Seri’s and Tsana’s respective cultures have very different ways of viewing not only human-beast relations but also intra-human relationships, and I like that both have strengths and flaws that are addressed by the narrative through the experiences of the major characters. I also liked the commentary on history and historiography and the ways those shape a person’s worldview for better or for worse. I can’t say too much more without spoiling parts of the story, but I definitely enjoyed learning more about the world and watching the different pieces come together.

One aspect of the book that surprised me at first but I appreciated later is the alternating narrative viewpoints, split three ways between the primary protagonist Seri, who is a reluctant fighter for various reasons; Seri’s love interest Tsana, who feels torn between competing loyalties; and Seri’s mentor, Eshai, who is only a few years older than Seri but is already a seasoned warrior and has been hailed as a hero by their society for an incredible feat she accomplished at a young age. Seri, as the protagonist, has a lot of learning and growing to do over the course of the story, and it was satisfying to see her gradually clarify her values and commit to fighting for what she believes in despite her initial reluctance to be a fighter at all. Tsana’s point of view helps heighten some of the romantic tension and overall narrative conflict while also offering insight into the culture of a different people from Seri’s. I found Eshai’s perspective (which is the one I wasn’t expecting to find in the story) fruitful for exploring the concept of heroism and how being placed on a pedestal as a symbol of hope for an entire society at a young age can affect the person in question. Her perspective also serves as an interesting foil to Seri’s because unlike Seri, she has established her identity and is used to taking on the mantle of leadership. I also loved that the platonic bond between Seri and Eshai was emphasized and given similar weight to the romantic bond between Seri and Tsana.

As mentioned earlier, Dauntless is an action-packed story, and frankly I spent a lot of the time Very StressedTM because I wasn’t sure how various fights/battles would play out and be resolved. While certain characters (e.g. the protagonist) tend to have a bit of plot armor ensuring their survival (especially in YA), that wasn’t a guarantee for everyone, and there are potentially devastating outcomes that don’t involve death. I felt the weight of those possible outcomes in each fight/battle scene. Great for the storytelling, not great for my blood pressure!

Conclusion: Dauntless, at its core, is a story about three flawed but fierce young women who are forced to make tough decisions and fight against seemingly impossible odds, and how they are able to find the strength to carry on in the face of everything. Come for the epic fight scenes, stay for the character growth arcs, sweet sapphic romance, and thematic food for thought!

Book Links

Add Dauntless on Goodreads!

Purchase a copy of Dauntless:

About the Author

Elisa A. Bonnin was born and raised in the Philippines, after which she moved to the United States to study chemistry and later oceanography. After completing her doctorate, she moved to Germany to work as a postdoctoral scientist. A lifelong learner, Elisa is always convinced that she should “maybe take a class in something” and as a result, has amassed an eclectic collection of hobbies. But writing will always be her true love. Publishing a book has been her dream since she was eight years old, and she is thrilled to finally be able to share her stories. Dauntless is her first novel.

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