Series: None ~~ Release Date: 05/07/2013
Source: NetGalley
FTC Disclosure: I received this e-galley free of charge from the publisher and received no compensation
for my fair and honest review.
From Goodreads:
First it was SLUT scribbled all over Lizzie Hart’s locker.
But one week after Lizzie kills herself, SUICIDE SLUT replaces it—in Lizzie's looping scrawl.
Lizzie’s
reputation is destroyed when she's caught in bed with her best friend’s
boyfriend on prom night. With the whole school turned against her, and
Angie not speaking to her, Lizzie takes her own life. But someone isn’t
letting her go quietly. As graffiti and photocopies of Lizzie’s diary
plaster the school, Angie begins a relentless investigation into who,
exactly, made Lizzie feel she didn’t deserve to keep living. And while
she claims she simply wants to punish Lizzie’s tormentors, Angie's own
anguish over abandoning her best friend will drive her deep into the
dark, twisted side of Verity High—and she might not be able to pull
herself back out.
PREFACE:
The premise of
The S-Word intrigued me immediately. When I saw it up on
NetGalley, I had to request it and luckily got approved. I was expecting an intense story and a bit of mystery and is that what I got?
Yep. This story is heavy.
WRITING:
Pitcher tells this story from the first person perspective of Angie, a high school senior who's lost a lot in her final weeks of school. I was expecting the intensity of the story but not the directness of the main character. Pitcher writes almost bluntly, and I loved it. She structures the writing in a way that makes Angie's thoughts and feelings come across in a way that was not poetic or sentimental but hard and coarse because that is where Angie is mentally.
SETTING:
I can't tell you exactly where in the US this story takes place, but it really doesn't matter. This story could have taken place in any town almost anywhere. Setting is not a huge thing to me (unless the author is trying to make it a huge thing) and Pitcher did well to let the locations be a backdrop to the story. We get a sense of Angie's multi-home life, and other than the school and Lizzie's room, where a lot of the major events take place, Angie's homes seemed the only other necessary location to require more attention.
CHARACTERS:
Angie is all kinds of messed up. I can't say I loved her exactly, but I definitely felt for her and understood a lot of her thoughts, feelings, and actions. She was suffering and found a way to deal with it, albeit an unhealthy way. She was tenacious and I did love that about her, because once she was committed, she stayed committed and was even willing to lose whatever else she might have left. I also loved that she called herself out when she was lying to others and to herself. She had that kind of biting snark I recognize in self-loathers, so her inner dialogue really rang true to me.
Lizzie, though only seen through her diary entries and the words of those she left behind, was a character I felt I understood from the outset. She was a devoted friend but had her secrets. She also had her own way of self-hate by not seeking out help or trying to bridge the gap between herself and Angie. I felt sad for her and wished, almost like she was a real person, that she hadn't died.
Angie and Lizzie weren't the only complicated ones; the majority of the characters were complicated, Jesse and Kennedy especially. Like Angie, I was prepared to hate all of them, but little by little Pitcher peels the layers off of everyone and reveals more of what is truly going on.
There were a couple things that bugged me though. Jesse seemed to be this suffering saint and the angel on Angie's shoulder, and with the rampant flaws from everyone else, he didn't quite feel genuine. He also seemed a bit slippery in his early relationship with Angie. It probably seemed that way because he was confused and scared, but something about it made him not seem trustworthy.
Drake was another issue. From the very beginning I disliked Drake, but unlike all the other characters, he was the one who seemed hardly developed, like there was really nothing more to him than his actions and what was expected of him based on his label. There is a single sentence near the end that indicates something might have gone on in his past to affect who he was in the novel, but we never find out if this is true or just conjecture on Angie's part. I don't think I would have minded this if everyone had been developed on the same level, but their development surpassed Drake's by a lot in my opinion, even when some of those characters had much less page time.
What eventually happens with Drake was satisfying, but another character deserved equal treatment and didn't get it in the book. There is a mention that this person might also get what is coming to him/her, but we don't see that happen in the story so it feels like a loose thread to me and bothers me.
DOWNSIDE:
Other than issue of unevenness with the characters, my only other point of bother was with the tone of the story for the first third or so of the book. The novel starts out with this feeling of heart-brokenness and regret, then turns into a
noir mystery, with Angie playing the part of the private eye. It seems weird because the first impression doesn't fit what follows. As the story goes along, both tones settle together and become intermingled, and it works just fine, but I was thrown off by it for the first chunk.
COOL STUFF:
This story is messy. The characters are messy. The actions and consequences are messy. I loved it.
There was a twist I saw coming right from the beginning, but luckily this wasn't held out as the BIG twist, so knowing it didn't bother me. I also loved the references to
The Children's Hour. If you have no clue what that is,
don't look it up until after reading
The S-Word. After that, go read the play (written by Lillian Hellman) or watch the movie (starring Audrey Hepburn and Shirley Maclaine).
The true twist I did not see coming, but I liked it too. There were lots of secrets and revelations along the way in addition to the twists, and this book kept me reading wanting to find out everything. I also wanted to see how far down the spiral Angie would go and what would happen when she reached the bottom.
Without being spoilery, I think this book is extremely important and timely considering a lot of recent events. I think it can shed insight into how certain people are treated and the consequences of that treatment, and also, what should be done should someone find out about that treatment. If anything, I hope it serves to create more empathy and embolden people to take the action necessary should they experience or become aware of real life events that mirror what takes place in the novel.
VERDICT:
This book is messy in all the best ways. While I did have problems with unevenness in some aspects, overall this was a book I wanted to finish. It got me thinking about lots of issues and how complicated people are and how you never really know a person or what he or she is going through. I think this is a wonderful if intense book about what all the ways words and actions that are seemingly innocuous can have consequences beyond the control of those involved. If you like novels about secrets, tough subjects, complicated characters, and ultimately, hope, you should read this book.
