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A review by necromanticfemme
Tradition by Brendan Kiely
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.