Review Detail

This is a book that I want to love, one that I think I should love, but for whatever reason I can’t quite do it. Kody Keplinger wins a lot of awards from me for being open with sex in YA, but then she contradicts herself. And she wins awards for managing to pull off a cute/corny ending without making me gag, but then I remember that her main character’s logic is severely flawed. And, overall, I think there’s just something about Shut Out that doesn’t sit right with me, even though I can’t explain what that is. This is a good book, though, and I’d urge just about everyone to read it for herself.

Shut Out features narrator Lissa, who is tired of inter-school rivalry and decides to do something about it—by going on a sex strike. This sounds like it would be quirky and silly, and it is in a way. I think Keplinger has the unique ability to couple cutesy plotlines with serious pro-sex messages, and it works for her. At the same time, though, I fail to understand Lissa’s logic in instigating the sex strike. So your boyfriend is blowing you off to prank the soccer team and some freshman got hurt. MY first thought would be to talk to an adult about this, or StuCo, or start an awareness campaign or something; MY first thought would definitely not be “no sex.” But, you know, that’s just me.

I think another problem with this book was that Lissa (and Keplinger) made a big deal out of something that wasn’t so major. Yes, this rivalry is stupid and not good, but comparing it to the Peloponnesian War, where people got, you know, killed? Overkill. Overdramatic. Cue eye rolls from yours truly.

Also, as I’ve come to expect from Kody Keplinger novels, there was quite a bit of talk about double standards and teen sexuality going on in Shut Out. On a cerebral level, I agree with just about everything Lissa and her friends argue. There were some great lines in this novel, not going to lie, and I know for sure that Keplinger’s heart is in the right place and that YA needs more authors like her. However, I thought that entire aspect might have been a bit preachy. Basically, Lissa and the other girls sit down and then complain about double standards and talk about sex in a very forced made-for-TV movie kind of way. It’s hard to explain.

But Keplinger does have the amazing ability to set up the most corny romance in the history of corny romances (the love interest’s name is Cash Sterling, for Pete’s sake!), and somehow make it work. The final scene in Shut Out is even more clichéd than The DUFF’s final scene, but it works. I don’t know how, but it did. It was so squishable and cute and agh. I loved it. Stupid name aside, I really did like Cash—genuine, sweet, nice guy.

Altogether, I liked Shut Out. It wasn’t my favorite book, and I had some issues with how Keplinger inserted herself into the text (this is a known problem of hers), and I wasn’t a fan of the narrating protagonist, Lissa.I love that it’s different from other young adult contemporary novels in that it deals honestly with sex and double standards; but I think the vehicle Keplinger used to convey those messages didn’t work too well. At the same time, this book was a lot of fun, it was unique, and I thought the romance was fairly well-done. As I said, this is a recommended read.