Smash It! by Francina Simone
My rating: 1 of 5 stars
Thank you to the publisher, Inkyard Press, for providing me with an ARC of Smash It! in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The Gist
A few months ago I saw a book promotion for the upcoming Fall publications and Smash It! got a lot of attention.
I checked it out and hoped I would have enough time to read it once it was published.
One could only imagine how lucky I felt when I found out Smash It! is one of the books included in the Fall Reads Blog Tour I’m participating in.
Based on the book blurb, Smash It! meant to become a sure hit with me. I mean you’ve got a spirited young woman of a minority group, ready to make some positive changes in her life.
Now that I have read it, I’m sitting here with a heavy heart and a hankering for tacos, trying to find the right words to express how I feel about this story.
The Details
The protagonist is proactive and has a good head on her shoulder. I liked her attitude: she doesn’t like something, so she is going to fix it.
Unfortunately, the story went a bit sour for me.
I understand that at the beginning the protagonist might feel a little defeated, unmotivated or even sarcastic. I get it. We have all been there.
But there is a fine line…ok, maybe not that fine a line, but there is a difference between funny, sarcastic comments and cynicism. Add a side of massive judgement to her cynical attitude and the product is something that doesn’t go down easy for me.
The protagonist, also the narrator, made some quite nasty comments regarding other characters.
In addition to that, the reader has to deal with a stream of consciousness writing style. The problem with such a writing style is that at some point the information starts to just wash over the reader.
Little details get lost in the run-on sentences; the very detailed and winding descriptions to the point that I lost my focus.
Another downside of the stream of consciousness writing style is nuances and details that are important have a tendency of disappearing among the long paragraphs.
I had to read a section three times to myself and once out loud to make sure I understood a point correctly. The story included jokes, but the more I paid attention to it, the clearer it got that they were actually offensive and should not have been said.
These bad jokes, together with the cynical and very judgemental attitude made for a highly uncomfortable reading experience.
The promising premise could not save this story for me. It got lost among the many attempts at being…funny? Badass? I’m not sure what the author tried to do here.
The Verdict
Overall, I could have really used a story that showed some fierce girl power. A portrayal of taking matters into her own hands and making positive changes. Going for it, making her mark.
Sadly, Smash It! had the exact opposite effect on me. Sorry, but this one wasn’t for me at all.
About the Author
Francina Simone believes in one thing: authenticity. She writes YA stories full of humor andhard life lessons with sprinkles of truth that make us all feel understood. Her craft focuses onstories about girls throwing caution to the wind to discover exactly who they are and what itmeans to love. Francina is also known for her BookTube channel, where she discusses controversial topics in books.
