Book Review: Chaotic Good by Whitney Gardner

Title: Chaotic Good
Author: Whitney Gardner
Publisher: Knopf
Publishing Date: March 13, 2018
Read: March 26th, 2024
Pages: 256
Audio Length: 7 Hours 7 Minutes
Genre: YA contemporary
TW: Sexism, misogyny, cyber bullying
Series: Standalone
Source: Audio

What it's about:

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.

What I thought:

We all know how much I absolutely love geeky books, if it has role playing, video games, cosplay, anime, movie nerds, etc I am THERE.

I do appreciate as well the way it calls to attention how hard it is to be female in male dominated spaces, while I do think it's slightly over dramatic in the way the guy was towards her in the comic store, I see what the author was doing.

I go to comic stores often and luckily have never seen anything this crazy there, and while I know dudes suck sometimes, I still think it was just a bit dramatic.

HOWEVER, while playing online games if a dude finds out you're a female it's all over. "Girls can't play video games" "Girls don't like comics" "Just another fake geek girl"
I have gotten comments like this, well, most of my teenage and adult life. Not sure what my genitals have to do with my love of all things geek but okay.

Sorry end rant! 

Cover:

I LOVE this cover. I know a lot of people don't like books with characters on the front, but I love them, especially cartoonized characters. And this one fits well and is super cute.

Story:

The story was great in a way that it's relatable and realistic in what women go through, not even just in the geekdom/fandom world but really everywhere in male dominated spaces.

I will tell you it did give me a lot of anxiety, any books, movies, shows where a character is hiding something and can destroy a relationship if the person finds out gives me so much anxiety, even though I know in the end it will probably be okay.

Pace: 

It started just a bit slow, I've tried reading the physical book of this a couple times and never got far, I had to push through in the audio book and I'm glad I did, because once I did it really went.

Writing: 

I like this writing, the author was great at writing not only the story and the characters but the DND and the geek parts too.

Characters: 

I love Cameron and I love her brother Cooper, I love Wyatt most though. 

 

World building: 

Not much world building to be done.

Ending: 

The ending was great and made me smile, it wrapped the book up well.

Narrator:

She did a good job. 

Overall:

This is a fun, geeky read that shows how hard it is to be a female, especially in male dominated areas. It was fun and the references in the book made me smile.

A little Snippet:

“I wish people didn’t call them that. Trolls… They aren’t mythical creatures. You can’t look up how to defeat them in the Monster Manual. There are no critical hits, no saving rolls. They aren’t make-believe. They’re real. And they’re assholes.”

― Whitney Gardner, Chaotic Good

Possible books of likeness:

Author's info:

Whitney Gardner is an author, illustrator, and coffee addict. Originally from New York, she studied design and worked as an art teacher and school librarian before moving to Victoria, BC, where she lives by the Salish Sea with her husband and two pugs. In the rare moment Whitney isn’t writing or drawing, she’s likely to be reading comics, knitting, or roasting her own coffee beans.
Website: http://heywhitney.com
Twitter: heywhitney

Other books I've read by this author: