Unscripted
Series: None
Author: Nicole Kronzer
Published April 21st 2020 by Amulet Books
Goodreads Synopsis
A funny and timely debut YA about the toxic masculinity at a famous improv comedy camp
Seventeen-year-old Zelda Bailey-Cho has her future all planned out: improv camp, then Second City, and finally Saturday Night Live. She’s thrilled when she lands a spot on the coveted varsity team at a prestigious improv camp, which means she’ll get to perform for professional scouts—including her hero, Nina Knightley. But even though she’s hardworking and talented, Zelda’s also the only girl on Varsity, so she’s the target for humiliation from her teammates. And her 20-year-old coach, Ben, is cruel to her at practice and way too nice to her when they’re alone. Zelda wants to fight back, but is sacrificing her best shot at her dream too heavy a price to pay?
Equal parts funny and righteous, Unscripted is a moving debut novel that Printz Award winner Nina LaCour calls "a truly special book, written at exactly the right time."
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
Laughter and improv is all Zelda Bailey-Cho has ever wanted, and when the 17 year old gets the chance to take part in a prestigious two week summer camp, with hopefully the opportunity to perform in front of big wigs in the industry, she can’t wait. However, when she arrives at the camp, she’s one of only 5 girls, and the only one to make the Varsity team. Facing all manner of toxic masculinity, sexist jokes, and even humiliation and abuse from her 20 year old coach, Zelda might discover that improv is a difficult place to get a foot in.
This book made me so unbelievably angry! That’s not to say it was a bad book; rather, it’s a book that is so important, and relevant, but the content of it was horrific at times. Admittedly, I went into the book with no expectations. I have a number of books on my kindle app that I’ve yet to read/review, and I’m going through them at random at the minute. I vaguely remembered requesting this one, but thought it would be a nice, cute summer read, all about comedy and improv, and was thrown off by the hard hitting material. Zelda was amazing! She was funny, and caring, and so strong. She deserved her place at the camp, and on the varsity team, but apart from one of the other team members, everyone else was a ‘bro’, who made dead prostitute and sexy secretary jokes about her, and if she commented on it, she was a bitch. Even worse than it all, was the coach, 20 year old Ben. He was charismatic in private, but harsh and neglectful in public. He tried to brush it off by saying he was helping Zelda toughen up, but he abused his position of power, and kissed and assaulted her without her consent. He honestly terrified her, and even foresaw her going to the inept camp leaders, Paul and Paul, and said she had a crush and was being hysterical. When Zelda finally got the strength to go to the two Paul’s and tell her truth, they said she should reconsider and not press charges when the police became involved, or she’d be kicked out of camp. I wanted to jump into the book and throttle them all! I felt for Zelda so much, and was grateful she had her brother and his boyfriend, the other Gilda’s, and even Jesse and the Boy Scouts to help and support her. As difficult as it is to say I enjoyed a book with this content, I did, and can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.
Dates Read:
April 5-6, 2021
Rating
4 Stars
Series: None
Author: Nicole Kronzer
Published April 21st 2020 by Amulet Books
Goodreads Synopsis
A funny and timely debut YA about the toxic masculinity at a famous improv comedy camp
Seventeen-year-old Zelda Bailey-Cho has her future all planned out: improv camp, then Second City, and finally Saturday Night Live. She’s thrilled when she lands a spot on the coveted varsity team at a prestigious improv camp, which means she’ll get to perform for professional scouts—including her hero, Nina Knightley. But even though she’s hardworking and talented, Zelda’s also the only girl on Varsity, so she’s the target for humiliation from her teammates. And her 20-year-old coach, Ben, is cruel to her at practice and way too nice to her when they’re alone. Zelda wants to fight back, but is sacrificing her best shot at her dream too heavy a price to pay?
Equal parts funny and righteous, Unscripted is a moving debut novel that Printz Award winner Nina LaCour calls "a truly special book, written at exactly the right time."
Goodreads
Review
I received an Advance Reader Copy from the publisher via NetGalley. This in no way impacted on my view.
Laughter and improv is all Zelda Bailey-Cho has ever wanted, and when the 17 year old gets the chance to take part in a prestigious two week summer camp, with hopefully the opportunity to perform in front of big wigs in the industry, she can’t wait. However, when she arrives at the camp, she’s one of only 5 girls, and the only one to make the Varsity team. Facing all manner of toxic masculinity, sexist jokes, and even humiliation and abuse from her 20 year old coach, Zelda might discover that improv is a difficult place to get a foot in.
This book made me so unbelievably angry! That’s not to say it was a bad book; rather, it’s a book that is so important, and relevant, but the content of it was horrific at times. Admittedly, I went into the book with no expectations. I have a number of books on my kindle app that I’ve yet to read/review, and I’m going through them at random at the minute. I vaguely remembered requesting this one, but thought it would be a nice, cute summer read, all about comedy and improv, and was thrown off by the hard hitting material. Zelda was amazing! She was funny, and caring, and so strong. She deserved her place at the camp, and on the varsity team, but apart from one of the other team members, everyone else was a ‘bro’, who made dead prostitute and sexy secretary jokes about her, and if she commented on it, she was a bitch. Even worse than it all, was the coach, 20 year old Ben. He was charismatic in private, but harsh and neglectful in public. He tried to brush it off by saying he was helping Zelda toughen up, but he abused his position of power, and kissed and assaulted her without her consent. He honestly terrified her, and even foresaw her going to the inept camp leaders, Paul and Paul, and said she had a crush and was being hysterical. When Zelda finally got the strength to go to the two Paul’s and tell her truth, they said she should reconsider and not press charges when the police became involved, or she’d be kicked out of camp. I wanted to jump into the book and throttle them all! I felt for Zelda so much, and was grateful she had her brother and his boyfriend, the other Gilda’s, and even Jesse and the Boy Scouts to help and support her. As difficult as it is to say I enjoyed a book with this content, I did, and can’t wait to see what’s next from this author.
Dates Read:
April 5-6, 2021
Rating
4 Stars
