They Wish They Were Us: Book Review
They Wish They Were Us: Book Review
Me and my partner both read his book and we want to share out joy with y'all! (I was forced to read it by Ice, and I still liked it.)
So, if you haven't read the book/are still reading it, stop reading this post if you do not want spoilers! Besides that, let's begin!
Alright so They Wish They Were Us (or TWTWU for simplicities sake) is a book about teenager Jill Newman who is entering her senior year of high school. She is part of an elite group called the players. They party hard, have all the answer sheets, and a brutal induction process.
About a year before the book starts Jill's friend and fellow player Shalia was murdered and all the blame is on her boyfriend Graham but Jill starts getting messages from Grahams's sister pledging his innocence.
The book also has heavy mentions and examples of sex, drinking, vaping, drugs, and hazing. Consider these things before reading further in this review or picking the book up for yourself. [Especially if you can't handle subjects like these.]
So! *Handclap* that was the summary from my partner, now. Let's talk about what we thought of the book. I'll go first!
So, as a person who doesn't really read, I was recommended the book by my partner when she was reading it in class. (I do this a lot) So, when I went to Indigo! to pick a copy up and read it. I must say, I would recommend it too!
Jessica Goodman's writing style is legible and has a bit of a lower reading level. But it makes the flow of the book smoother, so audiences can follow along better.
I can doubly agree! Even as someone who often times prefers books written for an older audience, this book continued to engage me with it's twists and turns. Even though I was never part of an elite high school group, I felt like I was truly there with Jill and experiencing the chaos for myself.
One of my favourite parts of the book is seeing Jill slowly realize that the players aren't that great. One way this is done is by showing flashbacks of Jill and Shalia's induction process where they were pressured into drinking, smoking, undressing. Another way this is shown is when Jill's brother Jared is joining the players and Jill see's how it changes him for the worse.
The book also shows that as much as Jill disagrees with what the players do, she feels like she can't leave because of her scholarship. She needs to keep her grades up to stay in the school and the players give her an answer sheet so she can't fail.
Besides that! What about the flaws? Not all books are perfect after all!
They Wish They Were Us, besides the long title. There are a LOT of flashbacks. Not bad, but sometimes they get in the way of the last 30 pages of the book. Although they are usually really important to the plot and the storyline. Also, I understand that the Players were a huge group in the book, but it felt like there were too many characters to remember, and I sometimes get them mixed up. Also, just generally if you accidentally stop paying attention to the page [Especially earlier and later in the book.] you get confused. Then you have to re-read that paragraph. (Not sure if it's just me though.)
And, the Paper-back edition of the book has worse durability than a McDonalds' play-place trampoline. So, if you tend to bend, chip or peel up the covers of your book, take the hardcover... Even if it has a weird slide-off cover. j us t t a ke the ha rd c ov er. (I had the paperback, and my partner had the hardcover.)
Last thing to mention on my half, THE BOOK IS IMPOSSIBLE TO FIND IN STORES HALF OF THE TIME, MY COPY WAS THE LAST COPY IN THE ENTIRE INDIGO! Other than that,
amazing job Jessica Goodman! you got me into reading again :D
I mean my biggest issue with the book was a plot line that got brought up then completely dropped. After an issue that leads Jill to not having answer sheets anymore, teachers start noticing her declining performance. Jill meets with her principal who kinda sorta threatens the safety of her scholarship. This never comes up after the chapter ends. Most of the issues that Air had didn't really apply to me but I'm just a weirdo who remembers like everything I read so *shrugs*.
But let's stop focusing on the negatives and talk about favourite scenes! One of my favs is when Jill takes part in the Road Rally. It's basically a giant scavenger hunt used as a way to weed out the pussies. With challenges like vaping with teachers and stealing, it places character morals in jeopardy.
Another one of my favourites was a flashback (sorry Air) [Awe come on man :( ] where Shalia takes a bullet for Jill and chugs some QuEsTiOnAbLe Alcohol. It shows both the irresponsibility of the players and how good of a friend Shalia is! Okay, my turn to talk about my favourite bits of the book.
My favourite scenes is whenever Nikki is in it, doing something crazy. Same with on the last few chapters of the book. Jill fighting Adam. Although it wasn't intense, it was still interesting either way. Same with the final scene, when everything about The Players goes up in flames. I JUST REALLY LIKED THEM, NO REASON, I LI K E D TH E M.
So, what have we learned? TWTWU was a phenomenal book (though does have a few issues plot wise, as all books do!)
I hope you enjoyed reading our humble review and maybe consider adding They Wish They Were Us to your personal reading list! That's all folks! Hope you have a great rest of your day! And... Happy Reading!
More Posts from We-arent-married and Others
Analyzing Pokémon Design Trends: Poison Type Trainers!
Now I love Pokémon, and I love character design so I put them together and got this! While this may seem like a random start to this series but who cares about that.
So throughout the whole of Pokémon there had been a total of seven notable trainers that specialize in Poison types. Three are Gym Leaders, two belong to evil teams, and two belong to miscellaneous categories.
(Yes I know that Klara is technically a Gym Leader, but we never fight her as one so she doesn't count)
So one trend that immediately jumps out is ninja's, with Koga, Janine, and Atticus. There is historical evidence that ninja's did use poison as a weapon, specifically cyanide found in almonds. Weapons such as darts, arrows, and swords being dipped in the toxin as a way to kill or incapacitate their target.
The connection may also come from Poison types being used by evil teams early on, such as Rocket, Magma, Or Aqua. Ninja were historically assassins' which is kind of evil depending on who you ask.
And now we can loop back around with the evil connection to having two notable specialists being evil team admins (Plumeria and Atticus). This has less of a real life connection to poison and likely just goes back to Poison being mostly relegated to evil teams in the beginning.
Now Klara likely has the connection to Poison types due to her personality. Laziness, willingness to cheat, and lying are all usually considered to be discouraged behavior in a lot of cultures. Someone who exhibits these traits may be considered toxic.
Now Melli has similar connections to the Poison type as Klara, personality. Being cocky and self centered are considered negative traits which could also be considered toxic. The typing might also give him connections to Jupiter of Team Galactic with using similar Pokémon.
Roxie has the least amount of connections to poison at a glance but there's honestly a lot if you know what to look for. Roxie is a rock singer and rock music is considered evil or devilish to some people. This may seem more indicative of the dark type, but she got Poison instead.
Also where her gym is located may be a factor. You battle her in a basement hat she appears to hold concerts in and while the basement itself looks remarkably clean, there could also be traces of dirt in there making it unclean. Concerts that also be a place to exchange illicit drugs.
Whoo, now we got the individual trainers out of the way and can focus on larger scale trends.
PURPLE!. Oh boy do Poison trainers love their purple. This can be traced back to roots of purple being heavily used in colour palettes of villains, but also some naturally occurring substances are coloured purple. Deadly nightshade, wolfsbane, and some species of poison dart frogs use purple as a way to ward off predators.
Bright colours are also used in these designs like yellow, cyan, and pink. Again some species of animal have bright colours or markings to symbolize that they are toxic and not to eat them.
And there we have it. Are there more trends and connections to make? Yes, yes there are. Will I cover them in this posts? No, no I wont.
If you have anymore connections and trends you want to discuss, then I fully welcome you to do it! I'm usually happy to talk. Also you can absolutely request any ideas you want me to do in this series.
Why Do People Hate Cars 2?
Like Cars 2 seems to get a lot of hate and I don't get it. Sure it's not the best Pixar film of all time but it certainly ain't the worst.
Is it because it's a sequel? Did people just not like the concept as a whole? I know other Pixar films also get some hate (like Brave, The Good Dinosaur, and probably some other one). I thought Cars 2 was a fun film and don't understand the distaste.
If you have any reasoning why you don't like it let me know! Any way you fell comfortable because I honestly just really want to know and hear some other perspectives.
Ice: Ooblek Bitch
Air: Ghoul Butch
(Wasn't expecting it, but god fucking dammnit)
from now on your tumblr nickname is whatever you get from this sexual identity generator ☆
Just a little doodle in Aseprite.
The time machine showing more of a wishful past or future could possibly feed into obsession.
Imagine that you've dedicated years to build a time machine and then it not only works, but shows you exactly what you want. It could make you want to keep going back to the time machine to try and prove yourself as much as possible or (specifically for the future) trying to make that perfect future as much as possible because you've already seen it.
Even if that future isn't real, just your wish.
The ability to create a vicious cycle with your wish and constantly trying to make it come true because it feels so real.
That could possibly be an explanation for Sada and Turo ignoring Arven and staying in the lab, an obsession with their wishes.
Obsession comes up a few times throughout Scarlet and Violet. Nemona with her battling, Arven with healing Mabosstiff and the Herba Mystica, and the professors with their research. (obsession might be too strong of a word and Arven and Nemona have solid reasons for theirs)
Like a moth drawn to the flame. That might explain why there are so many moths in Area Zero.
Hello! I have a sv question for you!
(Apologies if you have already answered something similar)
Turo/Sada’s time travel machine came up in conversation between me and a friend, and I mentioned out loud the ‘imagination machine’ theory, and the more we talked about it the more it made sense!
The theory is that rather than being a true link to the past/future, the machine only leads to what the operator wants it to lead to. This would explain why sada and turo’s versions of the machine are visually the same, why all the past/future pokemon have very similar traits (past pokemon all being extra spiky/dinosaur looking and future pokemon all having the same chrome & jointed look), and why there is no mention of hisui/hisuian pokemon in Sada’s research. It also explains why the pokemon seem to fit very well into the environment (too well, but the paradox pokemon aren’t on the bad end of that) and why all versions of the pokemon are found in a wacky occult magazine.
Please keep in mind we haven’t seen masters or dlc content, but if anything in there supports/denies the theory please do not hesitate to share!!
Also I apologise for the length of this ask, but Thankyou for reading!!!
No worries abt the length! Half my posts are under a readmore bc I'm longwinded so I get it haha. Anyway, totally agreed, there is no way in hell it's an actual time machine
Like you said, the time machines function identically and seem to have pokemon based on modern fictional interpretations rather than actual prehistoric pokemon. They resemble scifi costumes or children's dinosaur drawings more than actual genuine creatures, and I think that goofiness is supposed to be a clue that these are made from the professor's ideas of paradise rather than a genuine time machine
Not only that, but the whole game seems very centered around wishes moreso than time. It does have a lot of components of legacy, and you do get dialogue about "the future of Paldea" and whatnot, but most of the dialogue seems focused around treasure, wishes, and wants rather than time. It also makes more sense when you think about Terapagos-- it seems way more like a wish pokemon than a time pokemon, and since the tera crystals are powering the time machine anyway, I would hazard a guess that the entire thing is a wish granting machine. I also think that would elevate the themes of the professor's storyline-- hunting for treasure and wishes gone wrong, etc etc.
Anyway tldr I'm with you, I don't think it's a time machine I think it's a wish machine. DLC might contradict this so we'll see! Masters can suck it tho that game means nothing to me
Pokepinion-tober: 1, 2, and 3
Yes I know that it's the third. shush.
Every day of this month I'm gonna randomly generate a Pokémon and give some thoughts on it.
1: Dragalge
I like it enough. The whole idea of a literal sea dragon is pretty neat, same as Kingdra. I like that despite it being aquatic it's not a water type. Also a not overly draconic dragon is good, unlike many I prefer the less draconic dragon types y'know? They feel more creative.
Colours are nice. The shiny is really cool too because it ads a splash of green to it which makes it pop quite a bit. Strong without being too overpowered.
And this funky little dude photosynthesizes. Read this dex entry from Shield.
Dragalge generates dragon energy by sticking the plume on its head out above the ocean’s surface and bathing it in sunlight.
How could it get any cooler?
7/10. Not my favourite dragon type or poison type, but a very solid design that makes me happy.
2: Skuntank
Be honest, when was the last time any of y'all thought about Skuntank?
I mean, it's a skunk. There isn't that much I can honestly say about it. It deviates enough from an average skunk to still be interesting but it's still just a skunk
A skunk that can make flamethrowers. I get that Pokémon is a fantasy game but, like, why? I know that you can light your farts on fire but why can skunk do that?
Why can it also learn explosion? Can farts explode?
*quick google search later*
Ok so apparently you can, but it's not easy.
5/10. It's just kind of a skunk.
3: Cramorant
Just look at this idiot and say that you hate him. I dare you. You can't.
Like sure it's really average design and stat wise, but it's so goofy. Loom at the wide eyed stare, the stupid wing position, how close the feet are.
Also the shiny form literally references a real story of a pigeon that got covered in curry. That's so silly.
And it's ability! Like sure the Arrokuda reference is fine and funny and all,
BUT
When he gets to low HP, this dumbass starts choking on a Pikachu
9/10. SO SILLY. I can't hate it. Every time I see a Cramorant I want to smile because the little lad it so funny to me
Every time I've announced that I'm Aro/Ace in a friend group or a crowd, 3 more Aro/Aces pop up. They end up being some of the best people I've ever met and I hope this tells everyone;
Even if you feel like you're alone, there's always a new friend or an amazing person in the crowd.
Google Play search for E-Play free music software
We don't own this... Google Play...
