Book Review: Sad Girls by Lang Leav

I am so happy that I am finally going to make my very first book review on my blog. I'm still new to reviewing things and I hope you like this one in some way.

I would like to start by saying that we all have different opinions on different things. My opinion is based on my experience and my thoughts regarding the book. You are free to like and not like a certain book and so am I. Having different opinions and interests makes this community more diverse and open. Happy reading!

Title: Sad Girls

Author: Lang Leav
Genres: Fiction, Romance novel, Bildungsroman, Coming-of-Age Fiction, New adult fiction

Paperback: 368 pages

Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing

Date published: May 30, 2017

Language: English

• ISBN-10: 1449487769
• ISBN-13: 978-1449487768

Sad Girls is Lang Leav's very first novel and was published in the 30th of May 2017. Since then, I have read and seen so many people on the internet (specifically Twitter) who loved the book. Lang Leav is one of my most favorite authors and she greatly inspired me in engaging more into poetry. Hence, I thought I really have to have the book as soon as possible. The book costs Php785 ($15.49) and I have to admit, it really has a pretty high price point for a paper back book. Moreover, the book has an average rating of 3.49 from 3, 507 ratings on Goodreads.

Your first love isn’t the first person you give your heart to—it’s the first one who breaks it.

School is almost out for Audrey, but the panic attacks are just beginning. Because Audrey told a lie and now her classmate, Ana, is dead. Just as her world begins to spin out of control, Audrey meets the enigmatic Rad—the boy who could turn it all around. But will their ill-timed romance drive her closer to the edge?

Source: Goodreads

Firstly, I would like to admit that I have high expectations with this book. I am a fan of Lang Leav and her works but I think this isn't one of her works I will recommend everyone to read. 

To be honest I had mixed feelings for this book. I was filled with different emotions by every page and I don't mean that in a good way. It was a bit triggering to me. There were times when I had to put the book down because I can't breathe normally or just cry, worrying about things I should not be worrying about. I know it sounds like I'm exaggerating but it really is that bad for me. 

I can't tell how many times I intend to stop reading this because every page, the story and its characters become more and more underwhelming. Another page became more awful than the previous one and I wanted to stop reading it but thinking about how expensive this book is, I just kept on going. Every page is every hope that maybe it will get better but most of it were just a big disappointment to me.

I think let us start with the things I don't like and then with the things I adored in this book just so we could at least end with a good note.

Characters

I didn't see that much character development. Probably the only characters that received development  are Audrey and Rad, which are the two main characters of the story. There are more characters left in the book that should have had received much attention but, to me, just became some characters to fill in the spaces. The other characters aside from them were just there to add a pinch of history for the main characters and nothing more. There's this part of me wanting to know more about the characters because the story is too centered between Rad and Audrey (mostly Audrey) that it almost felt like I am just reading about a selfish brat's point of view and not the whole story. The bottomline is, the characters are stupid and I did not learn from them aside from not being stupid and to not make egocentric decisions that is obviously going to ruin future events. 

Plot

THE PLOT. I DESPISE IT.

I hate the way the book portrays everything. 

Firstly, let me start by the thing I don't like the most: CHEATING. I would like to clarify that I don't support couples who were built from cheating. It feels not right. Basically, the story revolves around a selfish brat, Audrey, who cheats with her boyrfriend, Duck, by going secretly and alone with another boy named Rad without thinking what her boyfriend might feel and how the situation could ruin everything. Unsurprisingly, it did ruin everything. Being so related and connected with someone does not justify in cheating in a relationship. You can talk to someone because there is nothing wrong making friends but going out somewhere secretly at midnight with someone you just met for only a few days is not normal at all. 

Secondly, I know how Audrey hated her mother that it could have been portrayed better. If she doesn't like her mother, then there other ways to show it. I don't like the way Audrey talks to her mother just because she cheated on her father years ago. At the end of the day, she is still her mother and she deserves respect. No matter how much I despise the idea of cheating, people make mistakes and regret commiting those wrongdoings and Audrey's mother did. But she uses it to blackmail her mother. I don't like teenagers to be portrayed like that.

Thirdly, I really don't understand why the root cause of everything occurred. Like, why? Why spread a   false and horrible rumor just because you are bored with your life? I still don't get the idea. It would be more justified with other reasons other than being bored. You can't just ruin someone's life (which caused someone to end her life) for the reason that nothing much is happening with your life.

Lastly, I'm not contented with the ending of this book. Instead of "oh, okay so that really happened," it turned to "so what about [insert a character's name here]? how did they expect to just bury [the past] just like that?" I have to give credit that I had some kind of connection with the characters in a way that I cared for them a little but in the end I was not able to get the closure I wanted with them. It's just disappointing how unrealistic and terrible it was for both Rad and Audrey to not to face the dreadful act they committed aka murdered someone and just forget it as easy as that.

Here are just a few things I liked in this book: I learned a few different things, not with the story but of what was mentioned, specifically Saturn Returns and the Schrodinger Cat which I have no idea of it before if it wasn't for this book. Plus, the writing somehow reminds me of Lang's other works. She still wrote the book like a novel without losing her poetic side. There are good quotes and metaphors I liked and I wish I annotated but didn't.

I gave this book two stars for the reason that, yes, I don't like the book and I don't recommend spending that much money just to get it. There are much better books to buy at that price point or even lower than that. But, this is Lang Leav's first novel and not all author's first books are great enough to be appreciated and loved by many. Will I recommend this book? The answer is no for its high price point and unworthy plot. However, I do recommend  to just stick with Lang's other works because I think those are masterpieces and I read those poetry books from time to time. Will I ever read her novels/books in the future? Probably, yes. But next time, I will lower my expectations.

If you still want to buy Sad Girls by Lang Leav:

Physical Copy: National Book Store, Fullybooked, Lazada, Amazon, Book Depository

Kindle: Amazon

Have you read Sad Girls by Lang Leav? If yes, what do you think about it? Did you like it? Why or why not? I'd love to hear from you. 😊

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