A review of "Whistleblower" by Kate Merchant (AKA ToastedBagels).
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Merchant did an excellent job in portraying character depth yet maintaining an easily followable story line. There did not seem to be a lot of character growth (other than main character Bodie changing his views on some things), but there were moments that she let the reader into the characters' thought process in an adorable yet believable way. And it is not entirely bad that there was not further growth or development of the characters because it was a fairly short story.
At the beginning of the story, Merchant cites that it will not be a "bad boy" versus "good girl" trope because she does not think that a guy has to actually be a "bad boy" to have a good story. I have often thought that the guys that are so attractive in books and on screen would make absolutely terrible (toxic and even abusive) boyfriends or husbands. So, while I do love a good "bad boy" story, I absolutely appreciate her perspective on that.
Now, the reason that I would rank it as a "3" (liked, not loved; good, not great) is because of her incessant need to prove that she's so progressive and "in" with the current "diverse" culture. She did make a disclaimer at the beginning of the book and I don't take any issue with the diversity angle or really the feminism, it's more the fact that she can't resist throwing some jibe in every five seconds. Instead of showing that she's supportive, it kind of comes off like she's trying too hard to prove that she's so supportive and it makes it far less relatable than having diversity and a mingling of cultures and ideologies that's fluid and makes sense. It seems our of place when you try to force in a comment on feminism, intersectionality, etc. where it doesn't really make sense to the story or the characters. It's hard for a reader to simply sit back and enjoy the storyline because it feels like you're being force fed her perspective. Every author has some kind of angle, but honey is a far more effective trap than vinegar.
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Book Reviews
RandomA list of books I've read and my two cents about them. This isn't mean as a negative mark against any writers and it's as much for myself (so I can look back and find good books to reread at times) as it is for anyone else.
