The S Word

Although her best friend has just committed suicide and betrayed her with her boyfriend, Angie never exhibits any outward anger, grief, or trauma. Instead of her narration reading like that of a friend who is mourning her childhood companion, it reads more like a mystery than anything else, which took away from the overall impact of this story. Moreover, the dialogue veered on the border of highly unrealistic at times. When Angie interviews her classmate, either her responses or theirs often made me question the soundness of the phrasing. For some reason, it simply didn't flow, proving to be rather choppy.

Even Lizzy's diary entries, which are scattered between every few chapters, read more like the thoughts of a middle school student than a high school girl gearing for college. All in all, it was simply so tough to grasp this story because of the distance first placed by the narrator and later the unrealistic dialogue that marred the situations throughout this book. Yet, even more than that, I was sad to find that the ultimate message of this book, although important in thought, was never properly conveyed.

Granted, Pitcher did have a fabulous idea for her debut, one that could have changed the thought-processes of many readers, but as a whole, her book fell short of that much-needed impact. You see, despite focusing on the injustice of branding girls as a slut, especially when the boy involved gets away without even one form of bullying, The S-Word never felt as if it preached to a universal audience of girls. Prior to Lizzy's betrayal, she had always been known as a goody-two-shoes type of girl who had no interest in boys or sex.

Thus, when Angie defends her friend, she continually emphasizes the fact that Lizzy was a good girl and, as such, didn't deserve the label of a slut. In this manner, Pitcher makes us feel sympathy for Lizzy instead of immediately hating her for her actions as so many of her classmates did, but isn't this simply a double standard? What about the girls who get labeled sluts every day and aren't a carbon copy of Mandy Moore from A Walk to Remember?

What about those girls who are just normal, flawed beings with their fair share of "enemies" in high school? Do they deserve to be labeled a slut, then? No, of course not. Chelsea Pitcher manages to get into the mindset of this fictional school and these fictional characters, but her messages about slut-shaming are restricted to her novel and aren't nearly as universal as I hoped.

Nevertheless, I must admit that The S-Word is a novel with very good intentions. It set out to show readers that we are quick to judge and label, especially in a world that continually objectifies women. Although we live in societies where women are given their basic freedoms - voting, abortion rights, independence - they are still subject to so much more than their ancestors never were.

While The S-Word didn't work to impact me in any way, I certainly hope that other readers will find it to be the thought-provoking novel I hoped it would be. Even if it lacks a lot, idea certainly isn't one of them. But, then again, isn't the point of a novel to execute a good idea well? View all 5 comments. Apr 16, Sandra rated it it was amazing Shelves: I've seen the not so favorable reviews, stating clunky dialogue, cliches and hard to read writing style, but to me the writing style actually reinforced the anger and pain contained in this book, the anger and pain the protagonist goes through.

Yes, the author used cliches but to me, a cliche is based on real life. And the events described in the book - they do happen in real life. Isn't the purpose of a book also to open our eyes to the bad things? It can't all be flowers and chocolates all the I've seen the not so favorable reviews, stating clunky dialogue, cliches and hard to read writing style, but to me the writing style actually reinforced the anger and pain contained in this book, the anger and pain the protagonist goes through.

It can't all be flowers and chocolates all the time, right? Chelsea Pitcher covers a few hot topics in her book, slut shaming only one of them, with much grace and completely unashamed. This was a hard book to read, no doubt. The angry voice of the protagonist is heartbreaking in its pain, and the book's topics are all too based in reality. Angie and Lizzie have been best friends for a very long time. Their friendship comes to an abrupt stop when Angie catches Lizzie in a compromising position with Angie's boyfriend Drake, in their hotel room on Prom night.

Immediately, the scarlet letter is put upon Lizzie, only it's not an A, but an S. The word appears on her locker repeatedly, the rumors float and she is shunned by everyone she knows. Tormented and bullied, Lizzie becomes a social outcast overnight, while Angie, angry and hurt, stands by and allows the bullying to happen, feeling secure and justified in her anger for Lizzie having gone after Drake. After a couple of months of the onslaught, Lizzie climbs onto the roof of the school and jumps to her death.

The book opens with Angie in school after Lizzie's death and funeral. The words Suicide Slut are discovered on Lizzie's locker, and creepily seem to be in Lizzie's own handwriting. Then pages of Lizzie's diary start showing up in people's lockers, seeming to hint that not all is what it seemed. During her quest to solve the mystery of who's leaving the diary pages and defacing the lockers and walls, the reader can see the deep depression into which Angie is slowly sliding.

The dialogue actually fits the personality changes we are seeing, and really brings across how confused and angry and in pain Angie really is. She's spiraling out of control, willing to hurt other people who stand in her way, just to find out the truth. Lizzie herself plays a rather prominent role in this book, considering that she's dead by the time the narrative begins. We learn about her character, her thoughts and dreams, through the diary entries left in lockers.

The distinctive voice in the diary gives insight into the mind of a suicidal teenager, and with beautiful metaphors alludes to secrets that Lizzie hid so deeply, not even her best friend Angie knew. As the secrets are revealed, and it becomes clear that nothing is as Angie thought it to be, I was glued to the pages through the final conclusion. I cried when Lizzie's secrets were revealed. I cried bitter tears at the end because of what happened, and what the people involved allowed to happen, whether they tried to help or not.

Most were one-dimensional, but this is likely because they only appeared on the sidelines, and were used as catalysts to further the plot. I don't think that's detrimental because the information provided about them was sufficient for their roles in this book. Jessie is fleshed out a bit more, though slowly, as he becomes a friend to Angie and then a love interest. She assumes he's gay because of how he dresses, and because of the rumors floating around. She uses him, ruthlessly at times, but then also comes to see him as more than a friend.

The book covers quite a few hot topics that are all too real and certainly happening in high schools today. It goes beyond slut-shaming, beyond gossip and bullying, and includes rape, child molestation and homosexuality, perceived or real. It accurately describes teenage herd mentality, and the shunning of anyone who dares to break the mold. It describes intrigues and back-stabbing, using someone's strict parent against them. I'm no longer a teenager, true. It is however clear to me that nothing much has changed since my own high school days, and that it seems to only have gotten worse.

Yes, the writing itself is often clunky and chopped, but it accurately reflects the tone of this book and the fragile mind of the main protagonist. This book should be read by teenagers everywhere. It should be required reading early in high school, so it can open the eyes of these teenagers to what bullying and hate and shaming can do.

It should be read to remind us that not all is as is seems, and that people's lives can be much harder than is immediately apparent. That people hide behind public personas to mask the horror and pain in their home lives. That we should consider giving someone the benefit of the doubt and a chance to explain, instead of condemning them from the start. I received a free ARC from the publisher via Netgalley.

A positive review was not promised in return. But despite the not so promising reviews I decided to give it a try to see what it was all about. Angie had been best friends with Lizzie forever, but never spoke to Lizzie afterwards to hear her side of the story. But who is really to blame for this mess? Despite Lizzie no longer being around I liked how Pitcher made her voice come through the story. Through diary entries and other characters reliving situations with Lizzie we were fully able to understand what really happened. I enjoyed the mystery aspect to the story, with Angie acting as detective and having a list of possible suspects of who could be to blame.

Were left to unravel several stories, which showed how horrendous life had become for Lizzie. But she knows nothing will be enough to bring her back, so uncovering who was behind destroying Lizzie in the first place and bringing them down to seems the best place to start. The S-Word was a truly eye opening read in terms of gaining insights into back stories of characters.

But never have I changed my mind about how I felt about a character this many times in a story. I made so many assumptions, but time again Pitcher shocked me with further revelations. It did make my stomach churn and think this was one sick and twisted character. But the way things played out was perfect for me, there was no fancy ending, with everyone being fine and dandy, but Pitcher left us with the most realistic ending which seemed possible. The S-Word was a tough story to get through, with it dealing with issues of bullying, self-esteem, love and peer pressure. There are some really dark scenes too, but sometimes raw and honest stories like this need to be told.

It's not perfect, as my rating shows, but it's very enjoyable.

The S Word () - IMDb

I've given plenty of books an initial 5 star rating and then dropped it to 4 or 3 once I dropped a rating from 5 to 1 star after I thought about it. The beginning of the book was addicting and all around amazing. If I just counted that part of the book, this would be a 5 star read. I began to skim a bit here and there and forget important details. I still enjoyed the book but I felt that I sort of had to push myself just to get to the next chapter. It became a chore to finish the book I had loved so much before.

One that didn't go away after a few pages. It was called "predictability". It was so disappointing and sort of ruined the ending for me, causing me to deduct another star. Characters Angie had a lot of similarities to other main characters in books such as Sam from the heartbreaking and wonderful Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver and Chelsea Knot from the beautiful Speechless by Hannah Harrington. She was the bad girl, that high school bitch who rules the school. She was despicable like these girls started off as. However, she didn't have such an impact on me as Chelsea or Sam did.

Angie was just not a character who really resonated within me like Sam did. I only really felt something at the end where I almost cried. It was just so utterly heart breaking. The only thing I could think after I finished was: If you don't know me, I'm not exactly an emotional person. I get really unexpected feels when reading some books though.

In case any one wants to know why I cried, here it is. I cried when I realized that people thought it was funny. I cried because I knew this would happen in real life.

I cried because I could see that happening at my local school and that was truly depressing. I did enjoy many of them but for some, I just found them less then satisfactory. I can't really name any but there are some characters that I just didn't feel anything for.

Plot and Writing Plot As I stated above, this isn't exactly the hardest book to guess the plot. In fact, someone who is really bad at guessing plots for most books was able to guess the plot of the entire book. The plot wasn't bad really but the best part was really the ending. That really just destroyed me. It was wonderfully done and I applaud Pitcher.

As reviewer Emily May said in her review said quite well: Another point that I didn't like about the writing was the sense of detachment. I didn't really care what was going on during the middle of the book. Likes and Dislikes Likes: Find this review and more at my blog: This book has made a lasting impression on me. First of, the main character, Angie is one heck of a girl!

She caught her best friend sleeping with her boyfriend on prom night and turned her back on both of them. She doesn't seem great? I'll get to the good part. While Angie's ex didn't get much heat, her best friend Lizzie was bullied on every turn. Lizzie was branded a slut while she was a good and gentle girl her whole life. Bullying is not cool people! It make Oh, wow. It makes the victims feel worthless and some of them, like Lizzie find the only way out in suicide.

Sure, there are those who triumph but not everyone can resist attacks from every side. Even though Angie didn't bully Lizzie she still felt responsible. And I would like to give props to the author for writing such a strong and persistent leading lady. Most of the MCs in books about bullying are wimps but in the end they pull through while Angie wouldn't back out and fought to discover what really happened to Lizzie.

She was a fighter and even though she wasn't ready to forgive her best friend right away, or while she was still alive, her strength was inspiring and made me like this book even more. I don't get why does this book has such a low rating on Goodreads. It's embarrassing and preposterous. I've read so many lousy books and this doesn't come close to being one of them. I would recommend The S-Word to those who are looking for a contemporary novel which deals with not only bullying but also about forgiveness, strength and letting others see who you really are This is another proof GR ratings are worthless.

How many times did I start reading an indie NA novel only to be disappointed? This book is so much better than 3. View all 54 comments. This book was a sleeper: I predict this will be a huge hit among the readers who, for example, like myself, loved "The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer. I expecte This book was a sleeper: I expected a too-precious high-school elitism.

I was enraptured immediately, and stayed enraptured throughout the book. As soon as I finished, I wanted to do it all again. She uses a rather unusual method to delineate character: Amazing depths are probed in this novel, and I refuse to give anything away. If you care at all about characterizations, suspenseful plotting, or issues that are very real and very potent, please do yourself a favour and read this incredibly special book.

May 07, Stacia the club marked it as did-not-finish. I finally had to take this off my currently reading after trying on multiple occasions to get into the book and finding that my wind was wandering. The S-Word could very well be a wonderfully written story and I might have missed out.

It just wasn't in the cards or possibly timing for me. View all 8 comments. May 14, Heidi rated it liked it. A tough read that explores the dangers of bullying. Angie sees the words Suicide Slut scribbled across her dead best friend's locker and her heart clenches. She feels responsible because it was her boyfriend that Lizzie was caught with on prom night. Perhaps if she had just tried to understand and forgive things would be different, but now it is too late. When pages from Lizzie's journal start circulating and Suicide Slut begins appearing around the school in Lizzie's loopy handwriti Three stars: When pages from Lizzie's journal start circulating and Suicide Slut begins appearing around the school in Lizzie's loopy handwriting, Angie decides it is time to investigate and punish those who bullied her friend into suicide.

Can Angie make amends for her friend's death? There was just something about the writing and the characters that put me off in the beginning, that being said, I am always reluctant to give up on a read so I plodded on. Once the book picks up and gets going, it gets interesting and there are certainly some astonishing reveals that left me stunned. The stunning plot twists in this one that definitely kept me entertained. If you are a fan of suspenseful mystery reads with lots of twists then try this, but be warned it is it a bit rocky in the beginning. We are all guilty of it, but at no other time in our lives is it as devastating as it is during the teenage years.

This book was a stark reminder of just how cruel and difficult those years are when you must put up with bullying, labeling, prejudice and anything else that is hurtful. Bullying has gone to new levels with the advent of cyber bullying. Once it starts, it is hard to stop and a person can endure only so much. That is the case with Lizze. She is labeled a slut and tormented in such heinous ways that she eventually takes her life. Once Angie starts digging at the truth, she learns some startling things, and realizes how wrong everyone was to torment Lizzie.

This book drives home the point that it is never okay to bully.

The S-Word

You never know what truly is going on with a person and what secrets they are hiding until you have walked in their shoes. Bullying is wrong and we all need to take heed and refrain from this hideous act. Resorting to taunting another to take the spotlight off ourselves or hide our own insecurities is the main reason why people bully, instead we need to focus on improving ourselves and not worry so much about others.

Gossiping and spreading untruths behind someone's back is just as harmful as openly tormenting someone so remember: Easier said than done I know, but we all need to try harder! Though, I can't say that I liked how each one was handled, I did appreciate that the author wasn't afraid to call attention to them. There are numerous discussion questions at the end of the book so it is certainly meant to start a dialogue.

I like that this book is meant to generate discussion. And The Not So Much: It is hard to describe, but there is something about it that is hard to connect with. The author incorporates strange things such as using lower case letters and capital letters in the wrong places and other things that are jarring. There are journal entries from the dead girl that are just completely weird and they don't fit in well with the story. I never understood why the author used the strange lettering and such, I was expecting an explanation but there wasn't one, thus i was left scratching my head wondering wHy i was reading a boOk that had wEIrd letTering.

In fact, I pretty much disliked all of them except Jessie and it took me awhile to warm to him. Angie, the protagonist, is cruel, calculating, manipulative and pretty much a bitch. I did not like her at all, even though I got her. She was obviously hiding her insecurities under a false persona, as were all of the characters. Her main focus is seeking revenge against those who she believed wronged Lizzie, even though she was the biggest culprit. Granted, she hates herself for what happened as well. Who wouldn't knowing their best friend committed suicide because you failed to step up and stop the bullying.

Yes, I got that she was hurt, but once the truth comes out it gets far worse. I hated that the book took the important bullying message and made it all about revenge. I was especially disturbed when Angie ends up encouraging her classmates to taunt another classmate and call him names. Sure, he did something wrong, but that does not mean that you should resort to bullying that doesn't make it right.

Thankfully by the end, Angie finally gets a clue and realizes that bullying is not the answer, unfortunately, by then she has caused a lot of harm herself. I was disappointed, though, to see this troubling issue glossed over. It is barely brushed upon, and it wasn't resolved. The victim never comes forward and the perpetrator isn't punished.

Sexual abuse is horrible and if it is going to be used in the book it should be used in a more appropriate way. I felt like it was utilized in this book for shock value and didn't like the way the author handled it. I would recommend this for sixteen and up. The S-Word is by no means an easy read. It takes on some very challenging topics as it attempts to show the detrimental effects of bullying. Even though I enjoyed the twists and turns and the attention given to bullying, I was a dissatisfied with the handling of some of the issues, and I didn't like the revenge theme.

Revenge and bullying are never the answer. At the very least, this book will hopefully open some new channels for discussion on these touchy topics. Once a caterpillar creeping along the halls unseen. Now a butterfly torn to bits. This school becomes the glass cage from which I cannot escape. All opinions are my own and I was not compensated for this review. Posted Rainy Day Ramblings. Aug 17, Claire Book Blog Bird rated it did not like it. I had such high hopes for this book but it failed to deliver in almost every way. The main problem I had with The S Word was that couldn't connect with the main character, and I find if I can't do that then the book is basically a bust.

She was boring and two dimensional and a right old drama llama. I would have cheerfully punched her at times. Her internal monologue was awful - cliched and whiny and tedious. And you know how Show-don't-tell is a thing? Well this MC did both.

She'd show Oh man. She'd show us how terrified she was and then follow it up by saying 'Wow. I'm totally terrified right now. However instead of DNFing I carried on because with a situation as contentious as the one porrrayed here I thought the author might show some insight or character development or a bit of social critique. Or if it did, it was buried in acres of dull, unrealistic dialogue. It's such a shame because the idea behind this book is excellent. Slut shaming is a perennial topic both in fiction and real life and we need more books and people to be calling out this behaviour.

The book also deals with ease and sexuality although both are shoehorned in at the end and not given enough airtime. This could have been a really important book, but the style of writing let it down. The MC dashes around for the first three quarters thinking she's Dick Tracy, trying to solve the mystery of her best friend's death but it just comes off all wrong. I never got the sense that the two girls were close, there wasn't enough back story to make me care.

This was a big disappointment for me. It read like a first draft and with some decent structural and line editing it could have been a solid book but as it stands it was pretty rubbish. Dec 30, Shayna rated it did not like it Shelves: I think Pitcher meant to write a story about the dangers of bullying; how it affects the victim, and how it affects everyone involved. She touched on it a little bit, but definitely not enough to make for a meaningful story. I felt like the writing was really sloppy and awkward, as I mentioned earlier.

Every time someone spoke, I cringed a little, because the dialogue was just…bad. It always seemed kind of forced and I felt like the voices of the characters were inconsistent. That might make sense for Angie, since she turns out to me mildly insane, but it was still really irritating, especially at the beginning when Angie and Shelby are talking and Pitcher tried for a more sleuthy-sleuth tone. That voice in particular just felt out of place and out of time.

In terms of characters, the majority of them were boring, flat, and one-dimensional. Let me tell you, that twist was absolutely ridiculous. This could have been an interesting twist, if we had had any clue at all that Angie was doing it all along. Besides that, I felt like there was too much else going on for the story to be meaningful in any sort of way. The only part of the book that held any real meaning for me was when Angie discovered Drake had raped Lizzie, not just cheated on her with Lizzie as she had originally thought.

Apr 03, Tanecia rated it really liked it. Ask a hundred people the meaning of that word and you'll hear a hundred answers. It means absolutely nothing. But the moment it is unleashed, it changes me. They look at me differently, all of them. As if I am no longer human. As if I am somehow a monster to be destroyed.

These things I have feared about myself now they are telling me. And still, I sit up in the night, willing the word to rearrange so th "They are speaking for me. And still, I sit up in the night, willing the word to rearrange so that this will have all been a dream. A nightmare from which I can escape. But sitting up only serves to rustle my nightdress, tugging at the blood that dries on my skin. The scabs rip away, awakening fresh wounds. When Angie finds her best friend and boyfriend in a hotel room on prom night everything changed.

She lost her best friend since grade school and boyfriend in one night and doesn't thinks a situation like this can get any worse, that is until the day her ex-best friend decides to take her own life and leaves Angie to pick up the pieces. When I first picked up this read I was like "okay, here goes another suicide-mystery on my hands. And its really fun when I can go into a book expecting one thing and I leave with something utterly different!

The characters were surprisingly fresh,real, and haunting. I loved seeing all their stories play out through the book because all the characters had some serious but real issues. Angie was one of my favorite character's through the span of this book. I related to her character and I was definitely on team Angie when she would scheme and lie to get answer's to who was spreading Lizzie's diaries around school.

I mean yes scheming and lying to get what you want is terrible but I would do all of this for my best friend or sister if it meant bringing the bad guy to justice maybe this is the Sailor Moon fangirl in me. GIFSoup It was refreshing to see Angie's flaws and how she was "coping" with the suicide of her best friend Lizzie in which a few months before she had turned her back on and turned the other cheek when other students would bully Lizzie. I totally got why Angie was so obsessed with catching Lizzies taunters and trying to right her wrongs.

And on Angie's search for justice you can see her spiraling out of control in her own depression and were left wondering will she ever pull out of this dark place? Lizzie's character was the glue to this chaotic plot line. With the diary entries being displayed on over the school and suicide slut still making an appearance on her locker, way after her death her presence is very prominent throughout the book.

It was haunting to read her diary entries. The pages were disturbing yet beautiful with metaphors for us to decipher and clues into her protected life. The author really brought you into the mind of a suicidal teen and I believed it. All in all, the S-word was in no way preachy. By the end of the book the reader is left with an "a-ha" feeling and message that is the whole book ; everyone has secrets, everyone goes through difficult situations,everyone has secrets, and even though you are not the bully you are the just as guilty if you stand by and let bullying happen.

I know that this does sound preachy but I can assure you that throughout the story that this message wasn't so clear in the beginning. All the characters had serious issues from abuse,suicide, and much more. It was interesting how the author fit all these dynamic issues and personality in to one book.

It was brilliant and it rang true to the everyday situations young people go through today. I recommend this books to readers who liked Shine by Lauren Myracle! Feb 05, Katrina Welsh rated it it was ok Shelves: This is going to be one of the great ones. But upon closer inspection, you realize it's just fool's gold and you're pissed because you got played. But, hey, at least have you this pretty shiny thing. You have no use for it, but nothing you can do. I'm not always so keen on reading issue-y books.

The writing can so easily turn preachy. With this type of genre, the writing style is one of the most important things to get right, just like how in fantasy books, the world building better be freaking fantastic or else you might as well just not have tried. There is a line that most authors cross when writing these types of books. And the thing is, the line is so thin that you don't even realize that you've walked across the other side.

You only know that the ground feels different or the air smells staler and there is just something different.

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You don't know when it happened or how, only that you don't like it. That was one of the major problems I had with The S-Word. Pitcher told me how the characters were feeling, how hard their circumstances were instead of making me feel it. No matter how good the moral of your story is, no one is going to listen if you don't deliver it well, especially with the kinds of issues this book tried to tackle. I just felt like I was getting preached at.

It had the contemporary elements but it also read like a mystery novel. Angie is trying to unearth who the vandal is, the one who wrote 'Suicide Slut' on Lizzie's locker. Angie finds pages from Lizzie's diary, each one incriminating a different character as the guilty one. Angie interrogated these 'suspects', trying to see if they had the means and the motive to pass Angie's entry pages around school.

She never really mourned for the death of her best friend- no sadness or grief. She was more focused on finding playing detective than really feeling the loss of her best friend. I don't know if Pitcher did that on purpose, to show Angie's denial and real trauma or just lack of character development. I can't imagine anyone speaking like that, especially someone from high school. Lizzie is already dead by the time the novel starts.

We never get to meet her. We only know her from her diary entries. Lizzie's 'voice' is so stiff and unnatural, even more so since this is supposed to be her diary, her unfiltered thoughts. But the writing isn't all bad. There were actually some really great passages but the awkwardness and stiffness of the whole thing just outshone the good parts. There were plenty of characters to focus on.

The side characters all had their own issues, but to me, that's all they ever seemed like- issues. The only way I could distinguish each character was by remembering what was wrong with them- the pervy nerd, the competitive drama queen, cheerleader bitch Everyone was just screwed up. I know everyone has their own stuff to deal with, but we're not all fucking crazy. I'm sick and tired of authors thinking the only way characters can be 'interesting' is to make their lives horrible. This is such a screwed up book.

With screwed up characters. Can't somebody just be freaking normal? There were some parts that were good. There's a lot about discrimination, being judgmental, seeing past appearances, vengeance, hypocrisy, hate and of course, slut shaming. But Pitcher was just all over the place. I didn't feel like she conveyed any hard hitting messages, just touched on a couple very then quickly moved on to the even more messed up character. The S-Word had very good intentions but Pitcher just didn't know how to execute her ideas well.

Jan 02, Dianne rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is the story of how one innocent girl is tormented to the point of suicide and how her best friend and worst tormentor learns from her own guilt at turning her back on someone who needed her most. Angie caught her best friend, Lizzie in bed with her boyfriend on prom night. At that point, she turned her back on Lizzie, thinking only the worst. As the school bullied Lizzie, Angie went along with it, until she read Lizzie's diary and learned of the life of Remember high school? As the school bullied Lizzie, Angie went along with it, until she read Lizzie's diary and learned of the life of torment that was long hidden.

Angie needed to expose the truth, to avenge Lizzie, to rid herself of her own demons. Although a painful story, the guts and determination shown by the main character were admirable. Getting to the finish line was an intense, well-thought-out journey by the author, highlighting the damages wrought by peer pressure and small-mindedness. A must read for teens!

Jan 18, Kala rated it did not like it Shelves: Kala's Book Blog I've made it halfway through and I just can't continue. This book is bad. Teenage suicide is a big deal. It's a huge problem in the United States that doesn't get the attention it deserves. The S-Word is supposed to be about two best friends, Angie and Lizzie. Angie catches Lizzie having sex with her boyfriend and the two have a falling out for obvious reasons.

Lizzie also becomes somewhat of a social pariah in the school because of sleeping with Angie's boyfriend. Shortly after, Lizzie commits suicide. After Lizzie's death, someone writes "Suicide Slut" on a locker in Lizzie's handwriting and starts passing out Lizzie's journal pages. The novel could have been about Angie trying to figure out what went wrong in her friendship, what happened to make Lizzie destroy it, and what went so terribly bad that Lizzie had to kill herself. Instead, it tries to be funny and amusing as Angie plays "detective" in the most bizarre ways, interviewing classmates in her quest to find out who wrote "Suicide Slut" on the locker.

Angie suddenly turns in to an awful parody of Joe Friday from Dragnet and the book just went completely down hill. One example - Lizzie was apparently in to acting. She had recently gotten the lead part in a play. Angie believes that the drama queen goddess Shelby McQueen who got ousted from her position when Lizzie got the part, might be behind it. She she goes to interview her. Apparently this girl is 'in character' and Angie decides to get 'in character' to talk to her too. Here's an excerpt all typos, formatting errors, and mangled capitalization straight from the book: Drama class is a veritable free-for-all at the end of the year and i've got nothing but time.

Whatever gets the canary to sing. But her attitude says floor-length, slit-up-the-thigh red satin. It continues from there in the awful Dragnet-wannabe style as Angie interviews more kids and pretends to be a hardcore detective. Angie is mildly upset, but mostly because of wondering "Did he use those eyes on Lizzie?

Did he use that voice? Drake, who apparently doesn't give a lick that he's in the bedroom of a girl he just banged who is now dead, uses the time to try and snuggle up on Angie and make out. I'll give Angie credit, she kicks him out, but still. Would this happen in real life? The thing that annoys me most is that from what I've read so far, this isn't about Angie coming to terms with her best friend's suicide. In fact, Angie barely seems affected.

It's about Angie playing Joe Friday to find out who is writing things on the wall in Lizzie's handwriting. It's not like Lizzie was murdered unless there's a twist at the end where she was, but I'll never know. There's also some rambling journal entries of Lizzie's where she gets emo about being called a slut and how no one really knows the meaning of the word slut and blah blah blah. Slut or slattern is a term applied to an individual who is considered to have loose sexual morals or who is sexually promiscuous.

A girl who betrayed her best friend by sleeping with her best friend's boyfriend could definitely meet the criteria of having "loose sexual morals. If this book was trying to show us the difference between men and women, and how a woman who has sex can be labeled a slut while a man is a stud Lizzie had sex with her best friend's boyfriend. In general, when you do that, you'll earn the slut label. Perhaps this author's style just wasn't for me. Actually, I'm positive this author's style wasn't for me. I don't like the lackadaisical approach to suicide that it took.

It could have gotten better towards the end, but if it takes me over a week to struggle through the first half, I'm not going to continue in hopes that it will get better. Because to be honest, I can't think of one example where it has. I also hate to harp on formatting issues in a galley because I know they are not completely edited yet, but this galley was the absolute worst I've ever seen. The majority of the sentences are not capitalized. The majority of the names are not capitalized.

There are constant cases of words in the middle of sentences that have random capitalization mid word. While the formatting wasn't the reason for the 1-star rating that's all the terrible writing and plot , it did make it jarring and even more awkward to read.

Jan 31, Lottie Eve rated it liked it. I had a hard time deciding what I thought about this book. I could tell that Pitcher had good intentions when writing this book but I think that The S-Word could have been so much better if it was put into the hands of an experienced writer. I actually blew through this book in a fairly quick amount of time. I just feel like this book could have been oh so much more than just enjoyable.

Everyone at school is against her and even Angie is to heartbroken to speak to her. People start bullying her, covering her locker with the word SLUT. Finally, the hurt becomes too much and Lizzie commits suicide. Angie decides to capture the culprit and avenge Lizzie but will her hate and grief cause her own self-destruction? Her narration lacked emotion. I was only told that she was filled with grief but I was never really shown it. I felt indifferent to Angie throughout the entire book.

And sometimes her character just seemed a little…off. The side characters were a little better than Angie the main character of the story. I felt that they had more depth. Jesse is a cross-dresser and is known to be gay. He had a certain wit to him and he really cared for the people he cared about. I liked that about him. Kennedy starts out as one of those mean girl characters but when something terrible about her revealed she into a little more than that. I also liked how some of the past bullies redeemed themselves in some parts of the novel. There are many more side characters that I could talk about as this story had a fairly large number of characters but these were the ones that stuck with me the most The Mystery The mystery in The S-Word was the best part for me!

Pitcher skillfully reveals clues in just the right moments, keeping me from becoming impatient but not making me feel like the information was being revealed to quickly. The mystery is very unpredictable with twist and turns. And when the big reveal finally came I was rendered speechless. The Unreliable Narrator Angie is a very unreliable narrator. I thought this was a nice touch. The Sadness Heed my warning: The S-Word has some incredibly sad moments. Some of the bullies in this book are so cruel that I just wanted to throw something—I settled for my pillow.

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Sometimes they were so cruel that tears were rushing from my eyes. I recommend you to prepare a box of tissues when reading this book. The Topics The S-Word addresses many different touchy topics. Bullying, suicide, child molestation, rape, revenge, homosexuality, and cross-dressing to name a few. Sometimes I felt that some of these topics were just shoved in. I believe that The S-Word would have been much better if it just focused on one or maybe two of these kind of topics not as many as this.

This was the area that The S-Word was really lacking in. Some passages were so incredibly awkward and shaky that my mind was kicked right out of the story. The dialogue felt forced often. Though I will say that one of the last paragraphs to this story really struck a chord with me. I touch the petals with my fingers. I feel this electricity go through me, this warmth that is both outside and in. One of the petals breaks away in my hand. A suicide attempt survivor is on a mission to find fellow survivors and document their stories of courage, insight and humor.

Along the way, she discovers a rising national movement transforming personal struggles into action. Enjoy a night in with these popular movies available to stream now with Prime Video. Start your free trial. Find showtimes, watch trailers, browse photos, track your Watchlist and rate your favorite movies and TV shows on your phone or tablet!

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