Scan barcode
candaceallison's review
challenging
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
katielibrarylady's review
4.0
James Baxter is getting his second chance, he needs to prove that he's more than his mistakes. Jules Devereaux is trying to make her senior year mean something, so she can go to the college she wants. What they don't know at the beginning of the school year is, they have a lot more in common than most of the students at Fullbrook Academy, a private institute known for it's good old-boy outlook. They're both just trying to survive, get out, and never look back. When Jules & Bax become friends, along with a couple other school outcasts, and things begin to spiral out of control, they realize that Fullbrook's "traditions" are rooted in hate, misogyny, and privilege. They have to do whatever it takes to stop the excuses and bring the traditions down, even if that means losing it all in the process.
Brendan Kiely proves himself over and over again in his books. He is not afraid to tackle tough subjects. Tradition fires back at toxic masculinity, rape culture, & white male privilege that can be found everywhere, but especially in the traditions that are the foundation for so many social circles and societies. Seeing the struggle and enlightenment of both characters was compelling and it gave a realness to the story. I think this book's message will continue to provide teaching moments for the youth of the world and I think everyone can learn a little from Jules & Bax, two people who are willing to risk everything to bring down the traditions that cause so much hurt to so many of their classmates.
Brendan Kiely proves himself over and over again in his books. He is not afraid to tackle tough subjects. Tradition fires back at toxic masculinity, rape culture, & white male privilege that can be found everywhere, but especially in the traditions that are the foundation for so many social circles and societies. Seeing the struggle and enlightenment of both characters was compelling and it gave a realness to the story. I think this book's message will continue to provide teaching moments for the youth of the world and I think everyone can learn a little from Jules & Bax, two people who are willing to risk everything to bring down the traditions that cause so much hurt to so many of their classmates.
genieinanovel's review
3.0
I'm usually all for boarding school novels, that's why I picked this one up. Especially since there are students, Jules and new student Jamie, that want to just survive this year of school as well as expose the academy's dirty secrets and traditions.
There are hints right away as to what some of the major 'traditions' are at Fullbrook Academy, which oozes with toxic masculinity across campus. The culture on campus basically normalizes treating girls like sex objects and even rape culture. It's a subject that definitely needs to still be tackled in young adult fiction, and I applaud the author for doing so. While the topic was approached sensitively, I feel like the story still fell short.
The story is very slow paced and hard to stay interested. The real content of the story doesn't even begin until at least halfway through the book, which leaves not as much time to develop the aftermath of what happens. There's not much emotional depth to what happens with the character who was assaulted and honestly after something like that there should be more than what there was. For a little while there's something, a mini-spiral of sorts, but I just feel like there would have been more given what was also being said on campus. Because of the slow pace and lack of emotional development, I didn't really get too invested in the characters like I usually do, which made it hard to connect with them on any level.
I do like that they and their friends decide to stand up against the tradition of the Senior Send Off, even if it seemed a little soon after what happened. They take a stand against the privileged white males of the school to try to show them they can't get away with it.
Again, I do admire the author tackling this topic as it's so important and shouldn't be ignored, but I feel like if the story had been at a quicker pace and there was more character depth, it would have been better and I personally would have been more invested.
Rating: 2.5 stars
There are hints right away as to what some of the major 'traditions' are at Fullbrook Academy, which oozes with toxic masculinity across campus. The culture on campus basically normalizes treating girls like sex objects and even rape culture. It's a subject that definitely needs to still be tackled in young adult fiction, and I applaud the author for doing so. While the topic was approached sensitively, I feel like the story still fell short.
The story is very slow paced and hard to stay interested. The real content of the story doesn't even begin until at least halfway through the book, which leaves not as much time to develop the aftermath of what happens. There's not much emotional depth to what happens with the character who was assaulted and honestly after something like that there should be more than what there was. For a little while there's something, a mini-spiral of sorts, but I just feel like there would have been more given what was also being said on campus. Because of the slow pace and lack of emotional development, I didn't really get too invested in the characters like I usually do, which made it hard to connect with them on any level.
I do like that they and their friends decide to stand up against the tradition of the Senior Send Off, even if it seemed a little soon after what happened. They take a stand against the privileged white males of the school to try to show them they can't get away with it.
Again, I do admire the author tackling this topic as it's so important and shouldn't be ignored, but I feel like if the story had been at a quicker pace and there was more character depth, it would have been better and I personally would have been more invested.
Rating: 2.5 stars
lightfoxing's review
5.0
Damn, son.
The highest praise I can offer Brendan Kiely is that Tradition reminds me in all of the best ways of Exit, Pursued by a Bear (E.K. Johnston). Different, but the same. Tackling the same topic in different ways. Where E.K. Johnston explores rape and its aftermath, subverting the narrative of rape victim as weak, as in need of rebuilding, providing us instead with a willful and determined Hermione who puts herself back together with the help of her community, Brendan Kiely explores this, but also examines the cultural constructs that make situations like Johnston's Hermione, like Brock Turner, like like like possible. He examines rape culture, machismo cultures, locker room talk, and he tears them down through the strength of Bax, of Jules, of Aileen, of Javi. There may not be a more important book published this year, in terms of the #metoo movement, not for teenagers, maybe not for adults. Bax, Jules, Aileen, Javi are all incredible, important, delightful, even delicious characters in their differences, their similarities, their strengths and their weaknesses. The supporting cast is convincing. We've all known a Mr. Patterson, a Hackett, a Freddie, a Gillian. They help breathe life into the world he's created at Fullbrook.
Thank you, Brendan Kiely. I said no, too, but in a world where people whispered the aftermath instead of feeling empowered to discuss it out loud. Your contributions to that empowerment are important.
The highest praise I can offer Brendan Kiely is that Tradition reminds me in all of the best ways of Exit, Pursued by a Bear (E.K. Johnston). Different, but the same. Tackling the same topic in different ways. Where E.K. Johnston explores rape and its aftermath, subverting the narrative of rape victim as weak, as in need of rebuilding, providing us instead with a willful and determined Hermione who puts herself back together with the help of her community, Brendan Kiely explores this, but also examines the cultural constructs that make situations like Johnston's Hermione, like Brock Turner, like like like possible. He examines rape culture, machismo cultures, locker room talk, and he tears them down through the strength of Bax, of Jules, of Aileen, of Javi. There may not be a more important book published this year, in terms of the #metoo movement, not for teenagers, maybe not for adults. Bax, Jules, Aileen, Javi are all incredible, important, delightful, even delicious characters in their differences, their similarities, their strengths and their weaknesses. The supporting cast is convincing. We've all known a Mr. Patterson, a Hackett, a Freddie, a Gillian. They help breathe life into the world he's created at Fullbrook.
Thank you, Brendan Kiely. I said no, too, but in a world where people whispered the aftermath instead of feeling empowered to discuss it out loud. Your contributions to that empowerment are important.
kori_krc's review
4.0
TW// sexual assault, homophobia I really liked this book. I was skeptical of picking up a book about this subject matter written from a male author, however, Brandan Kiely did a wonderful job handling it. I loved James' character so much simply because it was a teenage boy who took the time to understand his female friends and align himself with their fight - whether that be normalizing tampon use or being there for his friends who have been assaulted. He understood his own demons and worked through them. He also had no tolerance for his teammates being sexist and disgusting toward his female peers. I was just really happy to see the allyship. I also was very pleased with how open the story was about the privilege these kids had. The characters were aware of it, and while some used it to their advantage, others tried to use their privilege to fight against the disgusting "traditions" of this private boarding school. Points on race, LGBTQ+, sexual assault, and sexism were all hit in this book and done very, very well. I only really took off a star for the ending. I really wanted more justice for both Jules, Javi, and Aileen. Overall, very good read.
krissyronan's review
4.0
Fierce takedown of privilege and rape culture in a wealthy private school where tradition means more than anything. Told from 2 characters perspectives. Maybe more of a 3.75, but overall I liked it a lot.
zoediane's review against another edition
2.0
Heart-breaking, gut-wrenching, real look at high school and 'he said, she said culture' from the point of view from both boy and girl. Made me sad, wished for a happy ending, although this is probably truthful, there very rarely is.
heisereads's review
5.0
A powerful, emotional, and important book. With the dual POV, it adds another layer to the conversations around assault and consent that we should be having with all of our adolescents of any gender.
Add this to a text set starting with Speak, and including any of the titles around assault and consent and power that you can find to reach our kids. This is a must add title for every high school classroom library.
Add this to a text set starting with Speak, and including any of the titles around assault and consent and power that you can find to reach our kids. This is a must add title for every high school classroom library.
beautynherbooks's review
DNF @ 51%
I really tried to get into the book (I mean, I made it half way), but I just couldn’t get myself into the story. Towards the end, I was skimming so bad I read barley a sentence per page.
Maybe this book is just not for me...
I really tried to get into the book (I mean, I made it half way), but I just couldn’t get myself into the story. Towards the end, I was skimming so bad I read barley a sentence per page.
Maybe this book is just not for me...
necromanticfemme's review
2.0
Tradition is a very well-meaning novel that tackles very important and presently relevant topics of rape culture and toxic masculinity and how they're entrenched in institutions. For as much as I like what it attempts to say, the book just didn't quite land with me.
I appreciated the dual perspective, for as much as it was a straight romance, I think the male/female perspective helped it a lot. However, I think the author could do with a bit more practice at writing female protagonists. I could tell very quickly that the book was written by a man from reading a single page of Jules' perspective. Her plot is really relevant to the modern demonization of feminism and the whole 'feminazi' narrative, but it all felt a bit ingenuine because her character and actions were so caricatured at times, and there was no development with her realizing more effective methods of activism than putting tampons on her desk.
The pacing was sort of weird, and I feel like there was a lot left unaddressed. Cray Cray was purely a plot device that got no explanation. The videos didn't get satisfactorily solved, and I was quite disappointed that it wasn't the principal who was implicated as I thought it might be headed to. Bax's past was less of a component than I would've liked, and I feel like the author forgot it was there sometimes.
Overall, I think it was just on the below average side of mediocre. I would probably recommend it more for younger teens than me if not for the explicit rape elements. I think it would be a really important read for a lot of the male athletes I encounter at school, who would likely have a lot less petty nitpicks as me, but would also never voluntarily pick the book up and read it in most cases. A good attempt.
I appreciated the dual perspective, for as much as it was a straight romance, I think the male/female perspective helped it a lot. However, I think the author could do with a bit more practice at writing female protagonists. I could tell very quickly that the book was written by a man from reading a single page of Jules' perspective. Her plot is really relevant to the modern demonization of feminism and the whole 'feminazi' narrative, but it all felt a bit ingenuine because her character and actions were so caricatured at times, and there was no development with her realizing more effective methods of activism than putting tampons on her desk.
The pacing was sort of weird, and I feel like there was a lot left unaddressed. Cray Cray was purely a plot device that got no explanation. The videos didn't get satisfactorily solved, and I was quite disappointed that it wasn't the principal who was implicated as I thought it might be headed to. Bax's past was less of a component than I would've liked, and I feel like the author forgot it was there sometimes.
Overall, I think it was just on the below average side of mediocre. I would probably recommend it more for younger teens than me if not for the explicit rape elements. I think it would be a really important read for a lot of the male athletes I encounter at school, who would likely have a lot less petty nitpicks as me, but would also never voluntarily pick the book up and read it in most cases. A good attempt.