Monday, March 5, 2018

Review: Chaotic Good by Whitney Gardner

Chaotic Good
Whitney Gardner
Series: n/a
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Knopf
Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Goodreads
Cameron's cosplay--dressing like a fictional character--is finally starting to earn her attention--attention she hopes to use to get into the CalTech costume department for college. But when she wins a major competition, she inadvertently sets off a firestorm of angry comments from male fans.

When Cameron's family moves the summer before her senior year, she hopes to complete her costume portfolio in peace and quiet away from the abuse. Unfortunately, the only comic shop in town--her main destination for character reference--is staffed by a dudebro owner who challenges every woman who comes into the shop.

At her twin brother's suggestion, Cameron borrows a set of his clothes and uses her costuming expertise to waltz into the shop as Boy Cameron, where she's shocked at how easily she's accepted into the nerd inner sanctum. Soon, Cameron finds herself drafted into a D&D campaign alongside the jerky shop-owner Brody, friendly (almost flirtatiously so) clerk Wyatt, handsome Lincoln, and her bro Cooper, dragged along for good measure.

But as her "secret identity" gets more and more entrenched, Cameron's portfolio falls by the wayside--and her feelings for Lincoln threaten to make a complicated situation even more precarious.
The title of this book is a nod to a common character trope. Gardner explains:
Chaotic good ones place a high value on free will: they always intend to do the right thing, even if their methods are haphazard and generally out of sync with the rest of society.  
When Cameron finds herself the target of Internet ire and crosses paths with condescending mansplainer, Brody, she decides to assume the role of a chaotic good character, by masquerading as a boy, in order to prove a point to Brody. However, problems arise when she lets the rouse go on for too long, and she may have woven a web of lies too big to escape.

I really enjoyed this nerdy and rather feminist story.

Cameron was an engaging protagonist, who embodied many chaotic good qualities. She was big hearted and often had good intentions, but didn't always make the best decisions. She was riddled with guilt over hiding her identity, and started to lose herself a little. What I will say, is that she learned from her mistakes and grew a lot over the course of the story.

I felt so bad for Cameron when the Internet attacked. I have never been big on fandoms, and one of the reasons is the negative experiences I have had with members of some fandoms. It's good to be passionate, but some people take it too far, and that is exactly what happened to Cameron in this story. My heart went out to Cam as she tried to battle back against the attacks, but the whole time, I wished she had asked for help or even just support, because she had some fantastic people in her corner.

Gardner assembled such a wonderful supporting cast, and I adored getting to know each and every one of them. I loved Why and all his nerdtasticness, Lincoln and his smooth storytelling skills, and Nana Dotty, who was just so fabulous and a true champion for Cam. Well, that and I have a soft spot for incredible grandmas.

I was really impressed with some of the choices Gardner made for her characters. For instance, Cam's parents were "later in life" parents. I wouldn't say you rarely see almost 60 year old parents in most YA and it was an welcome change. I also loved that the romantic interest was geeky and DID NOT have washboard abs. In fact, Cameron describes him as "soft".  I love this, because in reality, not everyone has washboard abs, and it's nice to see some "average" people featured in stories.

Speaking of the love interest, I was all over this romance. The two were very sweet together, and the way Gardner wrote about Cam's attraction was so adorable and believable. She also incorporated the concept of consent into one of their make-out sessions, which I think we need to see more in books, as it's relevant and important in today's society.

As far as the story goes, I enjoyed being a part of Cam's creative process. My daughter's undergraduate degree is in costume design, so it's a world I am familiar with, and always in awe of. But I had the most fun during the D&D campaigns. I would not say I was a big D&D player, but it was huge when I was teen, and therefore, I dabbled a little. This was a fun walk down memory lane, and I totally found myself engrossed in those segments of the story. Lincoln's storytelling was fabulous, but then Gardner added these amazing illustrations that just elevated it even more.

This book was stuffed with nerdy fun, a strong family focus, and great characters, which amused and entertained me, but also gave me many things to think about with respect to some of the issues exclusive to women.
My name is Cameron Birch. I'm a level 17 Chaotic Good human being. 
**ARC received in exchange for an honest review.









Have you ever played D&D?
Let us know in the comments!

22 comments:

  1. Cam sounds like such a great character and I'm excited about this take on the family and the romance. Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Cam was a character, who had a goal, and I really appreciated her focus. I was glad she finally realized she didn't have to be in her whole mess alone.

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  2. Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us!!! LOVED your review, this one sounds like an amazing book :)

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    1. I enjoyed it. I think Gardner did a good job helping us understand a little bit about sexism in fandoms, and though Cam's approach was very unorthodox, it helped her work through her issues with it.

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  3. I'm looking forward to reading this one. Her debut was a favorite for me last year, and Cam just sounds wonderful. And ahh that romance sounds fabulous. I can't wait! :)

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    1. I really enjoyed the story. It was really geeky and fun and there was some interesting social commentary to boot. You will get frustrated with things that are happening, but in the end (which could have been a little less abrupt), Cam gets to a good place, and that made me happy.

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  4. I haven't been too focused on this because of the cosplay/D&D aspect. It's something that's never really appealed to me, but now that I've read your review I feel like I'm missing out on something great. That's awesome about the older parents, that's definitely something you don't see often, and yay for the realistic, geeky love interest. Great review!

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    1. I always find books that feature the geekiest of fandoms so fun. And YES! The parents were such an different way to introduce diversity, though this book was not lacking in that department.

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  5. I also have zero experience with cosplay or D & D but I was intrigued by this when I was working on my new relase post. Since I did love Geekerella I might try this!
    Jen Ryland Reviews

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    1. Geekerella was a super-fun fandom book. This one looks at it from the ugly side, which interested me, because I have seen a different form of it, but been attacked nonetheless.

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  6. I have seen this book showing up on WOW posts and I was curious. There are a lot of things that draw me to book, like the later in life patterns. I will have to add it to the pile.

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    1. If you are interested in the other side of fandoms or just like to geek out a little, it's a fun and thoughtful read.

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  7. This sounds like an interesting read. I love that the character had such large growth throughout the story. Great review!

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    1. I am hard pressed to think of a YA book, where the characters don't tend to grow. I feel like it's a signature of YA books. Cam had that strengthening through fire that we always hear about, and it was a fun journey to tag along on.

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  8. I wasn't sure I was gonna preorder this one or wait a while but your review may be the nudge I needed because I really want to read now. I mean, feminist story was enough. Really, Whitney Gardener writing it was enough, but seeing a good review for it too makes me certain I need to buy.

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    1. I liked the book. The negatives that keep coming up when I see reviews has to do with some drama with her brother (yes, I thought it was obnoxious, but Gardner was trying to accomplish something there, so it didn't bother me), and people seem annoyed that Gardner doesn't get incorporate the idea of there being a non-binary, but her goal was to explore sexism in fandoms.

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  9. Glad you enjoyed this one! I didn’t pick this one up because I’m not a big fan of the whole masquerading gender trope (because I find it so utterly unbelievable) but it sounds like a fun one. And how interesting that your daughter’s degree is in costume design! What are her goals with that degree?

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    1. I would say I was more interested in why the character was crossdressing, than the actual crossdressing. I like to check in with any book that brings women's issues to the forefront, and I got that with a side of geeky fun.

      My daughter realized she wasn't that cut out for the designer life after attending a seminar, where they talked about how you have to have a job, while you're looking for a job. It's jumping from job to job, and she decided to go to grad school and get her masters in analytics (she already has a job offer too). I hope she'll still hem my pants though. XP

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  10. I was lucky in that my experience with fandom has always been so positive, and why I still have friends because of fandom years later -- BUT, you're right, the dark side of fandom is horrible and can turn people away from it. I hope in some way the book says that in end, despite what Cam goes through?

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    1. When Cam was being trolled and doxed, there were also a lot of people who showed their support for her. There were also other female characters featured, who shared positive fandom stories. I think Gardner showed both sides, and also showed that not all fanboys were sexist.

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  11. you had me a nerdy and feminist! :) And it's about family relationships and the characters are not cookie cutter ! I'll add this one! Great review Sam!

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    1. I thought there were some really special characters in this book, and they would stand out in a YA crowd.

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