XVI by Julia Karr (2011)

[cyranothe2nd]

My synopsis (no spoilers):

XVI is a dystopian novel about Nina, a girl who is afraid to turn 16. This is because when a girl turns 16 (or "sex-teen" as the book repeatedly calls it), she is tattoed with a 'XVI' that declares her to be of legal age. She's basically fair game. Since the world includes a strictly-govt controlled caste system, upper-

Comments

[tabular_rasa]

Pity /-: the synopsis alone made me really intrigued. What a waste of a cool idea.

[kellicat]

The fact that this book uses the conceit that it does and engages in slut-shaming? Is enough to ensure that I never want to read this book. Thanks for the warning.

[cyranothe2nd]

Yeah. It's pretty subtle but it's there. When Nina's grandmother said something along the lines of, "Aren't you supposed to be a virgin to get into that program? The way you're dressing tells boys you don't want to be." I was like O_O

[emptysilentlife]

Gross.

[mambo_chocobo]

God, yes. I loathed this book for it's normalization of rape culture and slut-shaming. I wanted to set it on fire a few times. Words cannot accurately describe the rage I felt while reading this book. Ugh. >:(

[garnetice]

I just read this last week and it made me so angry. By the time I read what happened to Sandy, I basically wanted to throw this thing out the window.

[cyranothe2nd]

I didn't get that far before I stopped reading. What happened to Sandy? (Let me guess: she gets raped?)

[garnetice]

By Ed. And then they find her body buried in a ditch, and everyone goes oh well, that's what being a sexteen will get you.

It was probably around one in the morning when I read that. I proceeded to scream obscenities at the top of my lungs.

[cyranothe2nd]

Oh gross. Fuck this book right in the ear!

[demented2468]

I think I still might read it just to get my own thoughts but too shocked considering all the bad young adult novels in the market now .