Review Detail

What I Liked:
I’d been reserving Shut Out for a rainy day. See, Kody Keplinger is one of those authors where not having any books left to read makes me feel a bit twitchy. What is life without any new to me Rainbow Rowell or Kody Keplinger or Courney Summers in the world? Obviously, this is all in my head and there are always rereads available, but still. Of course, Kody has a middle grade out now, so the time had come to read Shut Out, especially with Debby encouraging me that I really needed to read Shut Out posthaste. That Snuggly Orange can be mighty pushy until she gets her way. Then again, it’s not like you have to twist my arm too hard to make me want to read Keplinger. While I do agree with the majority that Shut Out is her weakest novel of her first three, I also think that’s a bit like saying it’s the least influential Jane Austen novel, because it’s still good.

Shut Out feels like it was written primarily to convey a message and, while I think it could definitely be interpreted as preachy, it’s a message that very much needs to be conveyed. There’s a lot of YA that tackles the unhealthy nature of slut-shaming on the minds of young women, but Keplinger goes many steps further. She considers virgin-shaming too, as well as the shame for those who enjoy sex too much or not enough. Basically, Shut Out is looking into the mess that is American society’s attitude towards female sexuality. You’re supposed to have sex, but not too much and you’re only supposed to enjoy it a certain amount. Have too much and you’re a slut; have too little and you’re a prude. Like it too much and you’re trashy; dislike it and you’re frigid.

Keplinger’s using the Lysistrata-like situation to throw a spotlight on this and to help make people aware that these attitudes really do permeate our lives. Personally, I’ve seen these things in action in my life. Though my eyes have been open to it for a while, I still can’t toss off a lot of the internalized shaming. Shut Out is a very important book and teens should be reading it. If I had the power, I’d probably assign Shut Out and Anatomy of a Boyfriend to all teen Health classes, and do not even think that I am kidding about that. Books like these are crucial, because they show that the reader isn’t alone and isn’t weird. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I always feel like I’m strange and these would have helped teen me immensely.

The romance is pretty swoonworthy, though it’s less the focus of this Keplinger novel than her others. If that’s what you’re primarily interested in, Shut Out might be a bit of a letdown. There are a couple of hot scenes, but it’s more about sexuality and friendship than romance. First off, I hated Randy, but I really appreciated that Keplinger made me understand why Lissa went for him. He’s an ass mostly, but he treats her wheelchair-bound father really well; it would have been easy for him to be all villain, but it’s good to see that even he has nice qualities. Then there’s Cash Sterling, aka Money Money as I affectionately call him. I definitely ship it and he’s great, in spite of his name. Also, love love love that he’s not wealthy and a genuinely good guy helping out his family.

My favorite aspect from a character perspective is the kinship that arises between the girls. As the sex strike happens, they regularly meet up for sleepovers, where they swap stories and realize all of that stuff about sex. They learn to be honest with one another and it’s so beautiful. Even Kelsey, the mean girl of the opening, becomes a true friend and I love that so much. My personal favorite is Chloe, who openly admits her love for sex and that she has absolutely no desire for a relationship; she won’t let anyone bully her out of what she enjoys, which is casual sex with boys. She’s a goddess, basically. There’s some fighting as they get to know one another aside from the reputations, but ultimately a whole lot of supportiveness.

What Left Me Wanting More:
Where Shut Out lacked for me was in the emotional connection aspect. The book verges on preachy and Lissa didn’t really feel like a person so much as a mouthpiece much of the time. She did liven up a bit in her conversations with Cash, who makes her feel more comfortable with who she is, but most of the time I really didn’t have a good sense of who she was. I really liked most of the characters, but they didn’t have the vibrancy that the characters in The DUFF or A Midsummer’s Nightmare did for me; they didn’t become real in my head.

The Final Verdict:
Shut Out is an important read for teen girls (and boys). For adults too, honestly.