TheGhostHybrid reviewed Entr@pment by Michael Spooner
Review of 'Entr@pment' on 'Storygraph'
3 stars
While I'm not in love with it, I do enjoy the very streamlined way of reading it.
Two major things stick out for me: the relationship drama and the gender stereotypes. The former I can live with (in small doses), as it can be a very memorable and/or inspiring time in one's life. The latter, however, bugs me to no end. While I don't expect every person to treat every other person with respect, I do expect at least one person to not be a talking stereotype.
Without going off on a rampage, I'll just say this: females aren't all feminine and males aren't all masculine. Even though Annie sticks out as the least "feminine," she still fits way too nicely into the "girl" box with Tamra and Bliss. The same can be said for Johnson, Beau, and Mitch fitting way too nicely into the "boy" box. Not helping matters …
While I'm not in love with it, I do enjoy the very streamlined way of reading it.
Two major things stick out for me: the relationship drama and the gender stereotypes. The former I can live with (in small doses), as it can be a very memorable and/or inspiring time in one's life. The latter, however, bugs me to no end. While I don't expect every person to treat every other person with respect, I do expect at least one person to not be a talking stereotype.
Without going off on a rampage, I'll just say this: females aren't all feminine and males aren't all masculine. Even though Annie sticks out as the least "feminine," she still fits way too nicely into the "girl" box with Tamra and Bliss. The same can be said for Johnson, Beau, and Mitch fitting way too nicely into the "boy" box. Not helping matters is the "trying to be hip/no cooties allowed" tone of the two groups' chat rooms.
To sum it up, the characters are romanticized versions of people, the plot is predictable sitcom drama, and the gender binary is emphasized WAY too much. However, it's not agonizing to read, and the dialogue-only style created by the chat logs makes things go by pretty quickly.
Check it out if you're bored, but don't worry about passing it by. There is much better high school fiction, much better chat room writing, and much better combinations of the two.