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If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say
Winter, a one-time National Spelling Bee Champ, has a bright future ahead of her. That all changes after she haphazardly writes an offensive tweet that she thought was a harmless joke. What unfolds is a barrage of Internet shaming and rejection from her community and closest friends. Winter seeks to redeem herself but first must come to terms with what she wrote and understand why there was so much backlash.
Unknown Binding
First published May 1, 2018
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2442 people want to read
About the author
Leila Sales
21 books944 followersLeila Sales was born in 1984 and grew up outside of Boston, Massachusetts. She graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in psychology in 2006. Now she lives in Brooklyn, New York, and works in the mostly glamorous world of children's book publishing. Leila spends most of her time thinking about sleeping, kittens, dance parties, and stories that she wants to write.
***Please note that I do not respond to messages sent to me via Goodreads mail. I love hearing from readers, but would ask you to email me at leila@leilasales.com, or tweet at me @LeilaSalesBooks. Thank you!
***Please note that I do not respond to messages sent to me via Goodreads mail. I love hearing from readers, but would ask you to email me at leila@leilasales.com, or tweet at me @LeilaSalesBooks. Thank you!
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 175 reviews
May 17, 2018
Before we go any further, I want to make sure you understand this: I am not a good person. If that’s important to you, to only read things by good people and about good people, where all their conflicts are unfair things that happened to them despite their pluck and kindness, then you should stop reading right now. I am not the girl for you.
3 1/2 stars. ^Heed this warning. Seriously. If you are someone who needs to like your protagonist, this book - and Sales's books in general - are not for you. If you need books where bad actions are justly punished and all the right moral lessons are learned, this book isn't for you. This book made me angry, made me pause, think, and question; it is not an easy book to read.
Winter is a privileged white, Jewish girl, National Spelling Bee Champion, and on track to go to a great college. Until one night she posts a racially-offensive joke online - suggesting that it is surprising for a black person to win the Spelling Bee - and it goes viral. In the immediate aftermath, Winter's life is, quite literally, ruined by her actions. She receives death and rape threats, loses friends and (avoiding spoilers) way more than she could believe possible.
Here's the thing, though: Winter is both the villain and the victim of this book, but she is definitely not a perfect version of either. She's kinda an asshole, and one who takes a long time to own up to her own bigotry. She is selfish and deeply flawed. Sales asks if we as the reader can find sympathy for people who fuck-up big time, who are not particularly likeable AND are guilty of that most villainous of all crimes - being privileged.
It’s difficult for me, honestly. Yes, I am white, but I’m also from a poor, working class background. My grandparents grew up in poverty. I was the first person in my family to go to university and I funded my entire course with a student loan. I struggle to sympathize with wealthy, over-educated characters. But I do like that Sales never takes the easy black-and-white road. I can also very easily see why other readers will not.
If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say is undoubtedly a very timely book. I don't know that it was the best choice for a white author to write this particular story and have the central incident be racial because that is going to turn the discussion to race and not what this book is actually about, which is how good intentions can hurt just as much as bad ones, and how the only worthy apology is one that takes responsibility and stops making excuses. This could be about anything - racism, sexism, homophobia, a rape joke, whatever - the main message remains the same.
“I am repentant, though. I feel repentant.”
“You feel guilty,” Kevin told me. “It’s not the same.”
Many characters - both white characters and POC - repeatedly challenge Winter's worldview. Though I never thought she deserved rape threats and to lose what she did, it is still extremely hard to find sympathy for Winter for a lot of the book. There's even a certain sense of satisfaction to be had in her finding out that actions have consequences and you should think before you tweet. She refuses to accept that she did anything wrong, blames others for what happened to her, and offers terrible fake apologies that are all about herself and what she intended. She is called out on her privilege, her prejudices, and her ignorance until she finally learns to acknowledge what she did and the hurt she caused.
It's a book about learning that you don't get to explain what you meant online because that doesn't matter to the people you hurt. Winter just has to say "I'm sorry" and "I was wrong" with no "buts" or explanations after that.
However, this is still mostly about the dark side of call-out culture and internet-shaming. Sales opens a discussion through Winter about what someone who makes a dumb comment online really deserves. At what point does call-out culture become bullying? Is it when thousands of people harass a teenage girl on twitter? Is it when she gets rape threats? What, exactly, is a just punishment for someone like Winter who says something offensive online?
Of course, this book does not offer answers as such. If it did, it would have solved a major issue of our time. It is more an exploration and a discussion than a message.
The book points out that there is no police force regulating online harassment. Anyone can say anything and get away with it. Even outright lies. It exposes the Internet in all its wonderful terrible glory - everything about it that makes it a place to foster discussion, to share ideas and different ways of thinking, also makes it a place where it is easy to bully and harass. The internet is an anarchic society - where freedom and lawlessness rule side by side and vigilante justice is the only kind.
Rating this book is where it gets tricky. The author gives us a lot of food for thought and explores the many grey areas of this timely issue. There is also a lot of diversity with many people of colour, gay characters, and the love interest uses a wheelchair. The MC is nauseatingly unlikable at times but the author makes it clear from the start that she is meant to be - she is not being sold to us as a likable character. BUT I have to say that I absolutely despised the last chapter. Winter's last action of the novel suggests she is sympathizing with someone who . I don't think that was the right way to end this story and it weakened some of the important steps the book had taken.
So I'm going with 3 1/2 stars. But please take it with a pinch of salt-- it's not a perfect representation of my thoughts on this book, though I rarely feel like star ratings are.
TW: racism; homophobia; rape threats; animal abuse.
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May 19, 2018
**UPDATE MARCH 11 2018**
Wow, okay, sorry for bringing this ranty review back onto your feed, but I’ve been giving this book a lot of thought lately and I feel like, now that it’s been awhile since I read it, I need to rearrange my thoughts and criticisms in a more constructive way. To be honest, what has really stood out to me after a bit of thinking, is a major thematic issue in this book (among many): this novel claims to be an observation and critique of “callout culture.”
This book makes the collective Internet (and a good half of the characters of color) the enemy in this story. And though I’m definitely not saying that call-out culture on the internet is perfect, I wish that this book had actually acknowledged the parts of callout culture that are real issues. Mainly, racism and homophobia.
While Marvel fans were calling for a boycott of Black Panther over literally one thing Chadwick Boseman said a year ago, they excuse the constant homophobia/racism/transphobia/slut-shaming of Benedict Cumberbatch, ScarJo, and Mark Ruffalo (I would provide links but honestly?? there is way too much to fit in one review. Google it if you don't believe me lmao).
While people were (and are!) calling for a boycott of Love, Simon because Becky Abertalli is straight, they’re lifting up and publicizing freaking Call Me By Your Name, which is literally a romanticized story of a pedophilic relationship (written by a straight man,,, and also directed by a straight man,,,, and acted by straight guys,,, unlike Love, Simon which has a gay director and an out mlm in the cast).
I would have enjoyed an observation of problems like these. Instead, I got this s***. People calling someone out for saying copious amounts of racist stuff =/= bad or unfair. People ruining someone’s life for literally outing closeted gay men by asking them on fake dates and publishing about it in an online magazine =/= bad or unfair.
My issue isn’t with the idea that this book criticizes call out culture, it’s that its reasons are in the completely wrong place. We should be talking about the ACTUAL victims of call-out culture, not the privileged a-holes who get whiny when they can’t be bigots in peace.
--
Original Review:
Disclaimer: I am white. All my opinions of this book are coming from my white perspective.
Do you ever read something so atrociously god-awful that when you finish it, all you can do is just sit there, stare at your kindle, and think what the hell. WhatthehellwhatthehellWHATTHEHELL and how in the name of all that is good in the world did this book ever get published? how did this not get thrown immediately in the bin of every publishing agency it got sent to?
I try not to swear often, but if any book deserves to be cussed out like a sailor, it’s If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say.
Guess what?? I have N O T H I N G nice to say about this book. ;)))))
I definitely am opposed to burning books, but if anyone ever asked me, “if you could choose one book and you HAD to burn every copy of it that exists, which would you choose?” I would know immediately which book I’d pick. I’d strike the match and this novel would be done for. Goodbye forever. If the entire world were destroyed and the only reading material left was this story, I would never read again. My kindle feels dirty now. I don’t want this thing anywhere near me.
If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say fulfills the wet dream of every person who has unironically said they’re anti-PC, anti-SJW, anti-anti, or anti-whatever else conservatives are calling people that don’t put up with bigotry nowadays. God forbid people, like, call others out for saying racist stuff on the Internet. GOD FORBID there’s actually, like, consequences for the stuff you say. God freaking forbid.
I requested this book without reading the blurb. I saw that the cover was in the same palette as the bi pride flag and assumed that it was a story about a bi girl. It wasn’t.
Instead it was an “observation” of “internet-shaming culture” or whatever the frick that means (disclaimer: yes I know what it means, please don’t try to explain it to me. I know).
If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say is the story of a white girl named Winter, who won the Scripps National Spelling Bee five years ago. After the spelling bee this year, she makes a racist tweet, goes to bed, and wakes up to realize that the tweet has gone viral, she’s been memed, and everyone hates her. I’m not going to state the tweet in this review because I don’t want to type out the words, but suffice it to say, it was bad. Winter (now deemed “White Winter” by the internet) doesn’t know what she did wrong, and refuses to take the blame for her actions. Her world starts to come down all around her. As the book progresses, she does some more blatantly racist stuff, and has a “character arc” where she realizes that: omg! what she said was racist and gross and wrong! (but she barely realizes this. barely.)
Sounds like a pretty daring story to try to write, and idk maybe it isn’t a book that ever SHOULD be written (why are we giving people like this a voice??) but honestly what gets me really in a bend is the fact that the moral isn’t “don’t be racist” it’s “hey, um, maybe you shouldn’t attack people on the Internet :/ even if they’re saying racist, mean things, that doesn’t mean you should be mean back :///”
Which really freaking sucks!!
Listen, there’s a point in the book where one of the characters describes the Internet as a “lawless land.” And when the people of the Internet decide that someone is bad, they crucify them and they don’t ever get redeemed. But listen, even though that may be one of the iffy parts of the “law of the Internet” or whatever you want to call it, the Internet being a “lawless land” is actually a POSITIVE thing. You wanna know why? Because people can educate. People can be educated. I have learned so much more about the privilege that I have as a white person because of the Internet, but instead of this book making it all about white privilege and coming to terms with it and the good parts of the Internet it decided to go with the “uwu all those SJWs getting mad over everything omg just shut up it’s not a big deal :///” and that’s. bad.
The entire book is full of Winter justifying her racist thoughts and actions with "I'm not that bad of a person!!" and "if you knew me you would know I'm not racist!" here's the deal tho: every white person is racist because every white person has systematic privilege. and Winter actively REFUSES to believe this.
We’re expected to feel pity for this Winter girl, but I don’t. She has done nothing to deserve my pity. She has done nothing to deserve the reader’s pity. I don’t feel an inch of pity. I feel disgust.
Another awful thing about this is, hey!! the 2 (two) characters of color are basically stereotypes to help further the white woman’s narrative. Literally from the first scene with Jason, all his character does is fill the role of “black person helping educate their white friend on racism” stereotype. Corey is just there to fill the “see, not ALL black people are angry about this” role. That’s so awful??? Like jfc write a freaking book.
This book is also full of other characters supporting Winter in her racism, saying "hey, it's not that bad." and that's so annoying to read?? like one character says "'But if I had to say? I think what you did is no worse than what a zillion other people do every day... You made the mistake that so many people make online, of thinking you were just talking to your friends.'" This quote effectively makes it seem like the problem is Winter not realizing that social media isn't private, not that she freaking said that racist stuff in the first place. That's so wrong??
We also get a nice dash of homophobia in here too. There's another a****** character that asked out closeted gay people on a gay dating app, only to write articles and publish them online, outing them to the entire Internet. That's awful, awful, awful, and WINTER WRITES A LETTER TO HIM SAYING SHE FEELS BAD FOR HIM. WHAT THE F***.
And listen, I am usually pretty lenient when it comes to characters saying SOME crappy stuff, as long as it’s part of their character arc, but Winter took being problematic way over the line, has no redeeming qualities, and here’s the deal: if you want readers to appreciate the arc, they character has to secretly be a good person on the inside. Which Winter isn’t. She’s just not. And the things she said at the beginning, middle, and end of this book are I N E X C U S A B L E. I literally don't even care about her character arc. Character arcs are my favorite thing in books but she is such an awful human being for the first ~90% of this that I don't even care. She’s a bad person who said bad things and doesn’t want to freaking take the blame. I hate her and if I had a shelf called “worst main characters” she would be top of the freaking list.
People of color don’t deserve to have to see a book like this, with these opinions, in print. It’s bigotry at it’s worst and I can’t believe it’s being published. This entire concept, everything about this is so backwards-thinking that I’m surprised it wasn’t a thing in 2014. Screw this book. I hate that I read this. I hate it so much.
I was provided an eARC copy through NetGalley in exchange for a complete and honest review. All opinions are taken from an unfinished copy.
p.s. thanks to kayla for the awesome review starter sentence lolol
--
Pre-review:
Wow, okay, sorry for bringing this ranty review back onto your feed, but I’ve been giving this book a lot of thought lately and I feel like, now that it’s been awhile since I read it, I need to rearrange my thoughts and criticisms in a more constructive way. To be honest, what has really stood out to me after a bit of thinking, is a major thematic issue in this book (among many): this novel claims to be an observation and critique of “callout culture.”
This book makes the collective Internet (and a good half of the characters of color) the enemy in this story. And though I’m definitely not saying that call-out culture on the internet is perfect, I wish that this book had actually acknowledged the parts of callout culture that are real issues. Mainly, racism and homophobia.
While Marvel fans were calling for a boycott of Black Panther over literally one thing Chadwick Boseman said a year ago, they excuse the constant homophobia/racism/transphobia/slut-shaming of Benedict Cumberbatch, ScarJo, and Mark Ruffalo (I would provide links but honestly?? there is way too much to fit in one review. Google it if you don't believe me lmao).
While people were (and are!) calling for a boycott of Love, Simon because Becky Abertalli is straight, they’re lifting up and publicizing freaking Call Me By Your Name, which is literally a romanticized story of a pedophilic relationship (written by a straight man,,, and also directed by a straight man,,,, and acted by straight guys,,, unlike Love, Simon which has a gay director and an out mlm in the cast).
I would have enjoyed an observation of problems like these. Instead, I got this s***. People calling someone out for saying copious amounts of racist stuff =/= bad or unfair. People ruining someone’s life for literally outing closeted gay men by asking them on fake dates and publishing about it in an online magazine =/= bad or unfair.
My issue isn’t with the idea that this book criticizes call out culture, it’s that its reasons are in the completely wrong place. We should be talking about the ACTUAL victims of call-out culture, not the privileged a-holes who get whiny when they can’t be bigots in peace.
--
Original Review:
Disclaimer: I am white. All my opinions of this book are coming from my white perspective.
"Of couse I wasn't that terrible person. I couldn't be. I was a good girl. [sic] I'd never once gotten detention. I didn't even run in the halls. I was nothing like the person being described online."Before we go any further, I want you to understand this: this is not a good book.
Do you ever read something so atrociously god-awful that when you finish it, all you can do is just sit there, stare at your kindle, and think what the hell. WhatthehellwhatthehellWHATTHEHELL and how in the name of all that is good in the world did this book ever get published? how did this not get thrown immediately in the bin of every publishing agency it got sent to?
I try not to swear often, but if any book deserves to be cussed out like a sailor, it’s If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say.
Guess what?? I have N O T H I N G nice to say about this book. ;)))))
I definitely am opposed to burning books, but if anyone ever asked me, “if you could choose one book and you HAD to burn every copy of it that exists, which would you choose?” I would know immediately which book I’d pick. I’d strike the match and this novel would be done for. Goodbye forever. If the entire world were destroyed and the only reading material left was this story, I would never read again. My kindle feels dirty now. I don’t want this thing anywhere near me.
If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say fulfills the wet dream of every person who has unironically said they’re anti-PC, anti-SJW, anti-anti, or anti-whatever else conservatives are calling people that don’t put up with bigotry nowadays. God forbid people, like, call others out for saying racist stuff on the Internet. GOD FORBID there’s actually, like, consequences for the stuff you say. God freaking forbid.
I requested this book without reading the blurb. I saw that the cover was in the same palette as the bi pride flag and assumed that it was a story about a bi girl. It wasn’t.
Instead it was an “observation” of “internet-shaming culture” or whatever the frick that means (disclaimer: yes I know what it means, please don’t try to explain it to me. I know).
If You Don’t Have Anything Nice to Say is the story of a white girl named Winter, who won the Scripps National Spelling Bee five years ago. After the spelling bee this year, she makes a racist tweet, goes to bed, and wakes up to realize that the tweet has gone viral, she’s been memed, and everyone hates her. I’m not going to state the tweet in this review because I don’t want to type out the words, but suffice it to say, it was bad. Winter (now deemed “White Winter” by the internet) doesn’t know what she did wrong, and refuses to take the blame for her actions. Her world starts to come down all around her. As the book progresses, she does some more blatantly racist stuff, and has a “character arc” where she realizes that: omg! what she said was racist and gross and wrong! (but she barely realizes this. barely.)
Sounds like a pretty daring story to try to write, and idk maybe it isn’t a book that ever SHOULD be written (why are we giving people like this a voice??) but honestly what gets me really in a bend is the fact that the moral isn’t “don’t be racist” it’s “hey, um, maybe you shouldn’t attack people on the Internet :/ even if they’re saying racist, mean things, that doesn’t mean you should be mean back :///”
Which really freaking sucks!!
Listen, there’s a point in the book where one of the characters describes the Internet as a “lawless land.” And when the people of the Internet decide that someone is bad, they crucify them and they don’t ever get redeemed. But listen, even though that may be one of the iffy parts of the “law of the Internet” or whatever you want to call it, the Internet being a “lawless land” is actually a POSITIVE thing. You wanna know why? Because people can educate. People can be educated. I have learned so much more about the privilege that I have as a white person because of the Internet, but instead of this book making it all about white privilege and coming to terms with it and the good parts of the Internet it decided to go with the “uwu all those SJWs getting mad over everything omg just shut up it’s not a big deal :///” and that’s. bad.
The entire book is full of Winter justifying her racist thoughts and actions with "I'm not that bad of a person!!" and "if you knew me you would know I'm not racist!" here's the deal tho: every white person is racist because every white person has systematic privilege. and Winter actively REFUSES to believe this.
We’re expected to feel pity for this Winter girl, but I don’t. She has done nothing to deserve my pity. She has done nothing to deserve the reader’s pity. I don’t feel an inch of pity. I feel disgust.
Another awful thing about this is, hey!! the 2 (two) characters of color are basically stereotypes to help further the white woman’s narrative. Literally from the first scene with Jason, all his character does is fill the role of “black person helping educate their white friend on racism” stereotype. Corey is just there to fill the “see, not ALL black people are angry about this” role. That’s so awful??? Like jfc write a freaking book.
This book is also full of other characters supporting Winter in her racism, saying "hey, it's not that bad." and that's so annoying to read?? like one character says "'But if I had to say? I think what you did is no worse than what a zillion other people do every day... You made the mistake that so many people make online, of thinking you were just talking to your friends.'" This quote effectively makes it seem like the problem is Winter not realizing that social media isn't private, not that she freaking said that racist stuff in the first place. That's so wrong??
We also get a nice dash of homophobia in here too. There's another a****** character that asked out closeted gay people on a gay dating app, only to write articles and publish them online, outing them to the entire Internet. That's awful, awful, awful, and WINTER WRITES A LETTER TO HIM SAYING SHE FEELS BAD FOR HIM. WHAT THE F***.
And listen, I am usually pretty lenient when it comes to characters saying SOME crappy stuff, as long as it’s part of their character arc, but Winter took being problematic way over the line, has no redeeming qualities, and here’s the deal: if you want readers to appreciate the arc, they character has to secretly be a good person on the inside. Which Winter isn’t. She’s just not. And the things she said at the beginning, middle, and end of this book are I N E X C U S A B L E. I literally don't even care about her character arc. Character arcs are my favorite thing in books but she is such an awful human being for the first ~90% of this that I don't even care. She’s a bad person who said bad things and doesn’t want to freaking take the blame. I hate her and if I had a shelf called “worst main characters” she would be top of the freaking list.
People of color don’t deserve to have to see a book like this, with these opinions, in print. It’s bigotry at it’s worst and I can’t believe it’s being published. This entire concept, everything about this is so backwards-thinking that I’m surprised it wasn’t a thing in 2014. Screw this book. I hate that I read this. I hate it so much.
I was provided an eARC copy through NetGalley in exchange for a complete and honest review. All opinions are taken from an unfinished copy.
p.s. thanks to kayla for the awesome review starter sentence lolol
--
Pre-review:
me: 2018 is going to be a great year!!full rtc
also me: *looks at this book* *looks at the 2018 Heathers remake* *looks into the camera like they're on the office*
April 4, 2018
I didn’t like the message of this book. Look I have no problem reading a book about terrible people who never get redeemed. I just feel like this isn’t the message of this book. The message I got from this book is that we are supposed to be sympathetic with people who are “victims” of the call out culture online. No sorry I am more sympathetic with people who are hurt by micro aggressions and racism online. Really disappointed in the book as I usually love her books.
I was provided a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I was provided a copy of the book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
August 4, 2018
4/5stars
I REALLY enjoyed this! I loved the ideas and arguments it brought up, i loved the exploration of self within this novel, and I really enjoyed learning about each of our characters. This book is def not for people who dont like (lowkey) unlikable characters.
And the romance/love interest in this book is THE CUTEST. The last time I cared this much for a hetero romance was in Strange the Dreamer - and before that I can't even REMEMBER the last time I cared about a romance!
Highly HIGHLY suggest especially if you're like me and disgusted with online shaming.
I REALLY enjoyed this! I loved the ideas and arguments it brought up, i loved the exploration of self within this novel, and I really enjoyed learning about each of our characters. This book is def not for people who dont like (lowkey) unlikable characters.
And the romance/love interest in this book is THE CUTEST. The last time I cared this much for a hetero romance was in Strange the Dreamer - and before that I can't even REMEMBER the last time I cared about a romance!
Highly HIGHLY suggest especially if you're like me and disgusted with online shaming.
Read
April 12, 2018I struggled with this book.
Winter, a high school senior, starts out by telling the reader that she is not a good person. Then she explains that she made a remark online about a spelling bee winner, a remark that she claims she didn't intend to be racist. Because Winter was a former spelling bee champion herself, a journalist re-posts the remark and the internet turns on Winter. She gets hate mail and death threats. She posts an attempted apology that only makes things worse.
On the positive side, the book did make me think about what Winter could or should do in her situation. But I found it frustrating to read about what she did do. It was pretty uncomfortable to watch this character go through virtually all of the book with a continued sense of privilege, defensiveness, and narcissism. (Though maybe that was what the book intended.) I also wished that the issue of racism in general (and Winter's racism in particular) had been more directly addressed.
I thought the way Winter chose to "fix" what she did was ... bizarre.
There was a romance that felt out of place to me.
At the end, when I thought Winter might have gained a tiny bit of self-awareness, she hadn't.
In sum: definitely thought-provoking but also discouraging in the main character's lack of growth and self-awareness.
Read more of my reviews on JenRyland.com! Check out my Bookstagram! Or check out my Jen In Ten reviews on Youtube - get the lowdown on current books in 10-30 seconds!
Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review!
Winter, a high school senior, starts out by telling the reader that she is not a good person. Then she explains that she made a remark online about a spelling bee winner, a remark that she claims she didn't intend to be racist. Because Winter was a former spelling bee champion herself, a journalist re-posts the remark and the internet turns on Winter. She gets hate mail and death threats. She posts an attempted apology that only makes things worse.
On the positive side, the book did make me think about what Winter could or should do in her situation. But I found it frustrating to read about what she did do. It was pretty uncomfortable to watch this character go through virtually all of the book with a continued sense of privilege, defensiveness, and narcissism. (Though maybe that was what the book intended.) I also wished that the issue of racism in general (and Winter's racism in particular) had been more directly addressed.
I thought the way Winter chose to "fix" what she did was ... bizarre.
There was a romance that felt out of place to me.
At the end, when I thought Winter might have gained a tiny bit of self-awareness, she hadn't.
In sum: definitely thought-provoking but also discouraging in the main character's lack of growth and self-awareness.
Read more of my reviews on JenRyland.com! Check out my Bookstagram! Or check out my Jen In Ten reviews on Youtube - get the lowdown on current books in 10-30 seconds!
Thanks to the publisher for providing an advance copy for review!
November 17, 2019
Trigger warnings: racism, animal cruelty, animal death, mental health, suicide, public shaming, bullying, slut shaming, outing of queer characters, racial profiling, probably other stuff that I've forgotten because this book is just such a monumental shitshow.
I'd never even heard of this book until it was listed as a pick for my book club. I read the blurb and was like "Uhhhhhhh. That sounds not good. But...okay?", and forked out $9.99 for the privilege of reading it because my library didn't have a copy.
And I wish to God I'd saved my $9.99 because this was a steaming turd of a book.
Don't get me wrong, the premise here had potential - a teenage girl makes an unintentionally racist statement, the internet shames her for it, her whole life falls apart.
But the problem is that Winter spends almost the entire book convinced that she's the victim. She's utterly insufferable from start to finish as a result, and she refuses to accept advice from anyone. Her African-American best friend sits her down and explains to her WHY what she said was deeply problematic even if she didn't mean it that way, and she's all "that doesn't change the fact that I wasn't being racist when I said that". She writes an "apology" that's all "Sorry if you were hurt by what I said", which is literally the opposite of an apology.
ETA: I've worked out why Winter annoys me as much as she does: she's basically Hailey from The Hate U Give.
Now let's get into spoilery problems:
I'd never even heard of this book until it was listed as a pick for my book club. I read the blurb and was like "Uhhhhhhh. That sounds not good. But...okay?", and forked out $9.99 for the privilege of reading it because my library didn't have a copy.
And I wish to God I'd saved my $9.99 because this was a steaming turd of a book.
Don't get me wrong, the premise here had potential - a teenage girl makes an unintentionally racist statement, the internet shames her for it, her whole life falls apart.
But the problem is that Winter spends almost the entire book convinced that she's the victim. She's utterly insufferable from start to finish as a result, and she refuses to accept advice from anyone. Her African-American best friend sits her down and explains to her WHY what she said was deeply problematic even if she didn't mean it that way, and she's all "that doesn't change the fact that I wasn't being racist when I said that". She writes an "apology" that's all "Sorry if you were hurt by what I said", which is literally the opposite of an apology.
ETA: I've worked out why Winter annoys me as much as she does: she's basically Hailey from The Hate U Give.
Now let's get into spoilery problems:
May 4, 2018
It’s going to take me a little time to gather my thoughts on this one, but my initial gut reaction to this book is that it’s not going to be easy to read — which isn’t too surprising, based on the provided premise. It does offer perspective on a scenario that happens fairly often in this day and age in a way that felt real and raw. But that means it’s also a difficult thing to read, particularly as the reader wrestles with their feelings towards main character Winter. It’s a complicated situation written in a thought-provoking way (though it did get heavy-handed a little towards the latter half), and it definitely gave me some thoughts to chew on when I finished.
June 28, 2018
Disclaimer- I got this book from a Goodreads giveaway, but that will not make a difference in my opinion at all.
So when I started this review, I had given this book a 3 star rating, but then I lowered it down to a 2 because it made me so angry, so who knows? By the time this review is over, it may be down to 1 star.
This book was a real trip, and not an enjoyable one. I was interested in the premise when I read it, which is why I entered the giveaway in the first place. Let me just give you a quick taste of how this book actually turned out though. You know that thing that our protagonist posts that gets her in so much trouble with the internet? Here is what she posted, word for word. 'We learned many surprising things today. Like that dehnstufe is apparently a word, and that a black kid can actually win the Spelling Bee.' Ladies and gentlemen, this is the hero of our story!
Now let me get one thing out of the way. This is not badly written. I like the way this book expanded my vocabulary because Winter is so obsessed with spelling. The story is even pretty good from a technical standpoint. My problem with this book is Winter, the MC, who makes this otherwise pretty good book completely unbearable.
Winter is a spoiled brat who thinks that she is the victim, not the girl she was referring to with this post, not the others who saw this post because it went viral and could've been very hurt by it, and certainly not her 'best friend' who is only there to explain why she should feel bad from an African American's perspective.
Besides Winter, I also really don't like the way they portray two other main aspects of the book- the internet and other people who have made errors as big as hers.
This book portrays the internet as a big, bad place where people attack others for every little mistake they make. And yes, the internet can be cruel. I don't think it is right for people to send death threats to others or post their private info online so others can hunt them down. But that's not all the internet is. The internet should point out mistakes that people make so they can learn and not make the same mistakes the next time!
Now, the next point is a bit spoilery, so...
There's also Abe.
This book is coming out in May, and I really don't recommend you read it. If you do, be prepared to throw it across the room multiple times and make room to add a new character to your least favorite list.
So when I started this review, I had given this book a 3 star rating, but then I lowered it down to a 2 because it made me so angry, so who knows? By the time this review is over, it may be down to 1 star.
This book was a real trip, and not an enjoyable one. I was interested in the premise when I read it, which is why I entered the giveaway in the first place. Let me just give you a quick taste of how this book actually turned out though. You know that thing that our protagonist posts that gets her in so much trouble with the internet? Here is what she posted, word for word. 'We learned many surprising things today. Like that dehnstufe is apparently a word, and that a black kid can actually win the Spelling Bee.' Ladies and gentlemen, this is the hero of our story!
Now let me get one thing out of the way. This is not badly written. I like the way this book expanded my vocabulary because Winter is so obsessed with spelling. The story is even pretty good from a technical standpoint. My problem with this book is Winter, the MC, who makes this otherwise pretty good book completely unbearable.
Winter is a spoiled brat who thinks that she is the victim, not the girl she was referring to with this post, not the others who saw this post because it went viral and could've been very hurt by it, and certainly not her 'best friend' who is only there to explain why she should feel bad from an African American's perspective.
Besides Winter, I also really don't like the way they portray two other main aspects of the book- the internet and other people who have made errors as big as hers.
This book portrays the internet as a big, bad place where people attack others for every little mistake they make. And yes, the internet can be cruel. I don't think it is right for people to send death threats to others or post their private info online so others can hunt them down. But that's not all the internet is. The internet should point out mistakes that people make so they can learn and not make the same mistakes the next time!
Now, the next point is a bit spoilery, so...
There's also Abe.
This book is coming out in May, and I really don't recommend you read it. If you do, be prepared to throw it across the room multiple times and make room to add a new character to your least favorite list.
July 6, 2019
1 STAR
Winter unintentionally makes a racist remark online that goes viral setting a series of online vigilantism against her which ultimately leads to college to rescind its acceptance. She goes to a rehab type program to learn how to restore her reputation and do better.
Winter is an unlikable, narcissistic teenager who’s more interested in being right than doing right. Her apologies are full of excuses and explanations about why she’s truly the misunderstood victim. She’s not a terrible person, but just doesn’t get it.
I liked the premise of IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY, but not the execution. Leila Sales does a good job illustrating the mob mentality of self-righteous strangers exacting internet justice on what they perceive to be a wrong but goes too far in my opinion. I hate that any criticism is called ______ shaming.
The rehab place was a joke, certainly not licensed by any governing body and not well regulated either. I’m not sure what the purpose of portraying the facility in such a negative light.
I’m not sure Winter ever really understood, although she did grow a bit. I also don’t know who the audience for IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY is and could see minorities not appreciating the way the issue was handled with a white writer and unlikable white, privileged main character. I don’t think the universe needs another book with racism as a plot devise to edify a white character.
Winter unintentionally makes a racist remark online that goes viral setting a series of online vigilantism against her which ultimately leads to college to rescind its acceptance. She goes to a rehab type program to learn how to restore her reputation and do better.
Winter is an unlikable, narcissistic teenager who’s more interested in being right than doing right. Her apologies are full of excuses and explanations about why she’s truly the misunderstood victim. She’s not a terrible person, but just doesn’t get it.
I liked the premise of IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY, but not the execution. Leila Sales does a good job illustrating the mob mentality of self-righteous strangers exacting internet justice on what they perceive to be a wrong but goes too far in my opinion. I hate that any criticism is called ______ shaming.
The rehab place was a joke, certainly not licensed by any governing body and not well regulated either. I’m not sure what the purpose of portraying the facility in such a negative light.
I’m not sure Winter ever really understood, although she did grow a bit. I also don’t know who the audience for IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY is and could see minorities not appreciating the way the issue was handled with a white writer and unlikable white, privileged main character. I don’t think the universe needs another book with racism as a plot devise to edify a white character.
April 29, 2018
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book and chose to review it. This in no way impacts my opinion.
I have a lot of thoughts on this one but I need time to write them down and edit them. I think this could have been a good book because I like the idea of it but the execution wasn't good. It felt like a book from a white person to make other white people feel better about themselves and I'm not here for that. Full review will be up on Books and Ladders!
I have a lot of thoughts on this one but I need time to write them down and edit them. I think this could have been a good book because I like the idea of it but the execution wasn't good. It felt like a book from a white person to make other white people feel better about themselves and I'm not here for that. Full review will be up on Books and Ladders!
May 7, 2018
"When we decide someone is an angel, she is an angel only until she falls from the sky. But when we decide someone is a villain, she is a villain forever."
TW: suicide attempts, slut-shaming, homophobia, racism, panic attacks, animal abuse.
Me staring at the void for twenty minutes after finishing this book:
This was the definition of thought-provoking. 🤔
I don’t even know how to properly describe my feelings towards this book.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Leila Sales (she’s definitely one of my auto-buy authors); her writing style is simple and yet striking; her characters are real, unlikable and human; her plot is always captivating and engrossing.
I’m happy (and proud) to say that she delivered once again.
This is not an easy read and Winter is not a likable character.
I am very serious here.
If you can’t handle controversial books and moral discussions then I’d highly suggest to not pick this book up.
I was angry and shocked and borderline disgusted while reading this book. But I also gotta admit that it made me see things from a different point of view, it made me think, and pause and truly wonder about our society, the internet, social medias and the image one creates through them. Anon hate and internet-bullying and what is wrong and what is right.
Everything was wonderfully grey.
Winter was aggressively not likable and not perfect. She was both the victim and the wrong-doer. She had to learn from her mistakes the (very) hard way and I can’t really point out if she really did manage to grasp everything that happened and how harmful and wrong her actions have been.
Still, her development felt real and natural. I couldn't bring myself to sympathise with her but I thought getting her perspective was daring and interesting.
All the sub-plots were well-rounded and gave depth to the characters and the story.
I was also a fan of the diversity of the cast of characters and I truly appreciated how the author tackled such a timely yet incredibly difficult topic.
Again, though, remember: this book really isn’t an easy read and it touched upon some very controversial and harmful issues. Keep that in mind.
"It takes such a brief time to destroy someone’s life and forget that you ever did it. But rebuilding a life - that’s different. That takes forever."
TW: suicide attempts, slut-shaming, homophobia, racism, panic attacks, animal abuse.
Me staring at the void for twenty minutes after finishing this book:
This was the definition of thought-provoking. 🤔
I don’t even know how to properly describe my feelings towards this book.
I’ve always been a huge fan of Leila Sales (she’s definitely one of my auto-buy authors); her writing style is simple and yet striking; her characters are real, unlikable and human; her plot is always captivating and engrossing.
I’m happy (and proud) to say that she delivered once again.
This is not an easy read and Winter is not a likable character.
I am very serious here.
If you can’t handle controversial books and moral discussions then I’d highly suggest to not pick this book up.
I was angry and shocked and borderline disgusted while reading this book. But I also gotta admit that it made me see things from a different point of view, it made me think, and pause and truly wonder about our society, the internet, social medias and the image one creates through them. Anon hate and internet-bullying and what is wrong and what is right.
Everything was wonderfully grey.
Winter was aggressively not likable and not perfect. She was both the victim and the wrong-doer. She had to learn from her mistakes the (very) hard way and I can’t really point out if she really did manage to grasp everything that happened and how harmful and wrong her actions have been.
Still, her development felt real and natural. I couldn't bring myself to sympathise with her but I thought getting her perspective was daring and interesting.
All the sub-plots were well-rounded and gave depth to the characters and the story.
I was also a fan of the diversity of the cast of characters and I truly appreciated how the author tackled such a timely yet incredibly difficult topic.
Again, though, remember: this book really isn’t an easy read and it touched upon some very controversial and harmful issues. Keep that in mind.
"It takes such a brief time to destroy someone’s life and forget that you ever did it. But rebuilding a life - that’s different. That takes forever."
Read
May 2, 2018This is an incredibly polarizing novel and (according to Goodreads, anyway) it's skewing more toward the negative. If you're expecting a lovely tale of redemption and transformation, this is not for you. Winter has some character growth, granted, but not as much as I would have wished. And it takes her a really, REALLY long time to stop picturing herself as the victim in the story. (And yes, she said a horrible thing. And when you say horrible things, especially without context, it is your own fault when people don't care about your intentions; they care about what you actually said. This doesn't mean she deserves death threats or rape threats...but I'm not particularly sad that she was un-accepted to her college. If the public perception of you is negative, people will react accordingly.)
I don't know if I buy Winter's feelings. She says she feels horrible about everything, but she spends a lot of the book casting herself as unfairly victimized. She blames the person who retweeted (I'm guessing) her initial post, which caused it to explode. Winter barely has 100 followers and the other woman (a reporter) had far more. And yes, it's not nice to share something with the sole purpose of making someone else look bad.
As a sidenote, I had a Tweet of mine go viral last year. A conservative Christian posted something after an election when an openly transgender candidate won and was like, "What do I tell my children?" and I happened to be the first comment and said something like, "That people are different and that they deserve respect anyway." And a ton of people liked and retweeted it. It was really cool at first and then it freaked me out. (I am not in any way popular on the internet; like most people, I go through life with a lovely bit of anonymity and I like that). I have a tendency toward sarcasm and I have strong political opinions. Soooo what if something I tweet gets taken the wrong way? And goes viral? And then my life implodes?
Anyway. Back to the book.
The bulk of this deals with pile-on culture, though. And for every reaction that is nuanced (what Jason said, for example, or Emerson's friend's reaction to the journalist that was outing gay people), there are just a ton that are nothing more than an explosion of hate. (It made me think of YA Twitter, which is frankly terrifying and which I try very hard to avoid, because whatever you say is wrong and will get you dragged.)
I don't know if you should read this book. Like real life, it's complicated and gross in parts and full of likable people. But I'm glad I did.
I don't know if I buy Winter's feelings. She says she feels horrible about everything, but she spends a lot of the book casting herself as unfairly victimized. She blames the person who retweeted (I'm guessing) her initial post, which caused it to explode. Winter barely has 100 followers and the other woman (a reporter) had far more. And yes, it's not nice to share something with the sole purpose of making someone else look bad.
As a sidenote, I had a Tweet of mine go viral last year. A conservative Christian posted something after an election when an openly transgender candidate won and was like, "What do I tell my children?" and I happened to be the first comment and said something like, "That people are different and that they deserve respect anyway." And a ton of people liked and retweeted it. It was really cool at first and then it freaked me out. (I am not in any way popular on the internet; like most people, I go through life with a lovely bit of anonymity and I like that). I have a tendency toward sarcasm and I have strong political opinions. Soooo what if something I tweet gets taken the wrong way? And goes viral? And then my life implodes?
Anyway. Back to the book.
The bulk of this deals with pile-on culture, though. And for every reaction that is nuanced (what Jason said, for example, or Emerson's friend's reaction to the journalist that was outing gay people), there are just a ton that are nothing more than an explosion of hate. (It made me think of YA Twitter, which is frankly terrifying and which I try very hard to avoid, because whatever you say is wrong and will get you dragged.)
I don't know if you should read this book. Like real life, it's complicated and gross in parts and full of likable people. But I'm glad I did.
September 21, 2019
Sales is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I literally couldn’t put this book down. It’s such a compelling story about such an interesting topic. I honestly did not think I was going to feel for Winter when I started this book, but she grew on me. Like...she is a pretty unlikable character and the book isn’t easy to read. However, it prompts an interesting thought experiment about how much of her so called public shaming she deserves, and whether she can move on from it. This is a very relevant topic now more than ever, when social justice seems inextricably linked to callout culture. Although the last chapter was...disappointing to say the least. I went in with high expectations and I was not disappointed-Sales does it again.
March 3, 2019
2.5 stars. First 10% of the book were good and entertaining then it got so boring and repetitive.
December 27, 2018
Definitely worth the read.
March 27, 2018
I received an advanced copy from Farrar Straus Giroux /FierceReads in exchange for an honest review.
I’m struggling to compose my thoughts about IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY as my opinions changed with every new paragraph. The book starts off letting you know exactly why you should dislike the main character, Winter Halperin. We get a whole chapter explaining that you’ll probably hate Winter, but knowing that this is the beginning of her story and she needs to be redeemable, I think it can’t be that bad. However, reading her tweet that was meant to be a “joke” made my mouth drop open. How can the author possibly make Winter likable after making her MC write and think such an ignorant comment?
It was risky starting he book that way as Winter remains unlikable for much of the story. There were many moments I considered bailing because I don’t feel like reading about entitled, rich-girl, first world problems. However, I understand why Leila Sales chose to start off that way. There are many horrible things said online each second — especially lately in this politically charged society. When people comment on social posts, they can only respond to the small snippet of the person they believe they “know” simply based on their opinion. Sales is able to prove that a few offensive words don’t define a person by showing the reader Winter’s full story and her growth since “the scandal”. Based on Winter’s opening words, I thought I would hate her throughout the book. Although there were still many moments she was still naive and entitled, she grew into a better person as she accepted responsibility for her actions. The whole book makes you stop to think what is really going on in the heads of those who have made a mistake publicly and are now being shamed for it. Or even the people who are “standing up for what’s right” by demeaning and threatening those with whom they disagree.
I can’t say I agree with all of the “lessons” in the book, but it does have a nice message overall of not judging without knowing someone, but at the same time, taking responsibility for your own thoughts and actions.
The complicated message doesn’t take away from the fact that the story is well-written and well-paced. There’s sufficient background without going into too much detail, and I couldn’t put the book down.
Also a side note that has nothing to do with my rating or the quality of the book:
I’m curious if the galley cover will be the final cover. It doesn’t elicit the tone of the book at all, and I don’t think Winter listened to music once the entire book. It almost seems like random stock footage thrown on the cover to make it look like a light-hearted teen romance, which it is not. The novel does have a tiny bit of cute romance though! I enjoyed her connection with the fellow rehab participant. At the same time, I’m glad the romance was realistic and didn’t set unattainable goals for the budding relationship’s next steps.
3.5 Stars!
I’m struggling to compose my thoughts about IF YOU DON’T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY as my opinions changed with every new paragraph. The book starts off letting you know exactly why you should dislike the main character, Winter Halperin. We get a whole chapter explaining that you’ll probably hate Winter, but knowing that this is the beginning of her story and she needs to be redeemable, I think it can’t be that bad. However, reading her tweet that was meant to be a “joke” made my mouth drop open. How can the author possibly make Winter likable after making her MC write and think such an ignorant comment?
It was risky starting he book that way as Winter remains unlikable for much of the story. There were many moments I considered bailing because I don’t feel like reading about entitled, rich-girl, first world problems. However, I understand why Leila Sales chose to start off that way. There are many horrible things said online each second — especially lately in this politically charged society. When people comment on social posts, they can only respond to the small snippet of the person they believe they “know” simply based on their opinion. Sales is able to prove that a few offensive words don’t define a person by showing the reader Winter’s full story and her growth since “the scandal”. Based on Winter’s opening words, I thought I would hate her throughout the book. Although there were still many moments she was still naive and entitled, she grew into a better person as she accepted responsibility for her actions. The whole book makes you stop to think what is really going on in the heads of those who have made a mistake publicly and are now being shamed for it. Or even the people who are “standing up for what’s right” by demeaning and threatening those with whom they disagree.
I can’t say I agree with all of the “lessons” in the book, but it does have a nice message overall of not judging without knowing someone, but at the same time, taking responsibility for your own thoughts and actions.
The complicated message doesn’t take away from the fact that the story is well-written and well-paced. There’s sufficient background without going into too much detail, and I couldn’t put the book down.
Also a side note that has nothing to do with my rating or the quality of the book:
I’m curious if the galley cover will be the final cover. It doesn’t elicit the tone of the book at all, and I don’t think Winter listened to music once the entire book. It almost seems like random stock footage thrown on the cover to make it look like a light-hearted teen romance, which it is not. The novel does have a tiny bit of cute romance though! I enjoyed her connection with the fellow rehab participant. At the same time, I’m glad the romance was realistic and didn’t set unattainable goals for the budding relationship’s next steps.
3.5 Stars!
April 20, 2018
I didn't know this book needed to exist until I started reading it. But from the first chapter, I recognized that this was a game changer just like the internet and our online communities have been game changers. This is the book everyone needs to read. It's a welcome warning for all parties. It shows us the problems of both sides: recognize that you don't know where your words may lead you in the public space of the internet. AND recognize that behind every comment you want to use an example of whatever is the problem with it sits a person who may not actually be a horrible human being but just didn't think before they said what they said.
"I think the moral is that we can do bad things and not be bad people. That we can make mistakes and do better next time."
"I think the moral is that we can do bad things and not be bad people. That we can make mistakes and do better next time."
May 18, 2019
3 stars!
RTC
RTC
Read
April 14, 2022If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say
Leila Sales
Realistic Fiction
4.4.2022
This book made me think about bullying (particularly online shaming), "... we can do bad things and not be bad people and not be bad people. That no matter how many times we do wrong, we have it within us to do right." Winter Halperin may have phrased one sentence on social media wrong but did she deserve the response that she received? Winter was left to pick up the pieces of her life after the 'incident'. One of her best friends left her and publicly announced it, her college denied her application, the spelling bee winner's title she had received several years ago was stripped from her. All within months. All because of a post that she apologised for and took down immediately. But is sorry ever truly good enough? I know (and have experienced in fact) teachers and parents both agreeing that everyone makes mistakes. After all, the world is imperfect and everyone in the world is also imperfect. We are all treading on eggshells around each other. All of us trying not to say or do the wrong thing. All wishing for the attention, humiliation and hate at another. Anything to draw attention away from our own failings. That's why, I suppose it's so easy to join the river of bullying and not be a rock in it's path. But, we should not leave them to pick up the pieces of their life that has just shattered before their eyes. We should help. So why don't we? All too often we watch this happening and don't do anything. After all we are all scared of having that kind of attention on us.
Leila Sales
Realistic Fiction
4.4.2022
This book made me think about bullying (particularly online shaming), "... we can do bad things and not be bad people and not be bad people. That no matter how many times we do wrong, we have it within us to do right." Winter Halperin may have phrased one sentence on social media wrong but did she deserve the response that she received? Winter was left to pick up the pieces of her life after the 'incident'. One of her best friends left her and publicly announced it, her college denied her application, the spelling bee winner's title she had received several years ago was stripped from her. All within months. All because of a post that she apologised for and took down immediately. But is sorry ever truly good enough? I know (and have experienced in fact) teachers and parents both agreeing that everyone makes mistakes. After all, the world is imperfect and everyone in the world is also imperfect. We are all treading on eggshells around each other. All of us trying not to say or do the wrong thing. All wishing for the attention, humiliation and hate at another. Anything to draw attention away from our own failings. That's why, I suppose it's so easy to join the river of bullying and not be a rock in it's path. But, we should not leave them to pick up the pieces of their life that has just shattered before their eyes. We should help. So why don't we? All too often we watch this happening and don't do anything. After all we are all scared of having that kind of attention on us.
Read
January 16, 2018Quick impressions: I think this is a conversation-starting, thought-provoking story that explores the question of what happens after someone says/does something stupid online. In today's call-out culture, the phenomenon of people getting dragged and then labeled/ridiculed/fired keeps happening again and again. I think the main character is purposefully clueless, because if she were more aware she wouldn't have made the error she made to begin with... Her non-apology (mentioning no ill intent, literally saying she has two black best friends, defending herself and giving excuses) is like a hilarious checklist of how NOT to apologize, but that's the point. She *is* a privileged, educated white girl who doesn't understand... until she does much later on in the story.
Sales delves into issues such as why not every person of color has to find something offensive or problematic for it to be considered such; why non-white friends shouldn't have to explain privilege to their white friends; how intentions don't matter to those who are hurt by actions; and how people can grow, change, learn from their mistakes and truly make amends.
I can imagine middle and high school teachers assigning this book discussing it with their classes. The book has a "ripped from the headlines" feel that makes it particularly relevant. I don't think Winter is supposed to be likable for a lot of the book, but there are reasons for that. She grows up, though, and learns to see beyond herself.
Sales delves into issues such as why not every person of color has to find something offensive or problematic for it to be considered such; why non-white friends shouldn't have to explain privilege to their white friends; how intentions don't matter to those who are hurt by actions; and how people can grow, change, learn from their mistakes and truly make amends.
I can imagine middle and high school teachers assigning this book discussing it with their classes. The book has a "ripped from the headlines" feel that makes it particularly relevant. I don't think Winter is supposed to be likable for a lot of the book, but there are reasons for that. She grows up, though, and learns to see beyond herself.
May 16, 2018
Rating this book is almost as tough as reading it was. On the one hand, I want to give it three stars because it was a tough read with a main character that I struggled to connect with. On the other hand, I want to give it four stars for eliciting that type of reaction from my -- Winter is not a character that the reader is meant to love and for that I have to applaud this book.
If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say tackles some tough subjects that are oh-so-relevant in today's online world. Winter posts a racist comment online and her post goes viral overnight, which leads to internet vigilante and mass online public shaming. Her entire world falls into ruin as a result of her "mistake" and, as she struggles to figure out where to go next, she also struggles to come to terms with her actions.
What makes this book tough to read is Winter's lack of remorse for the majority of the book. She's such an unlikeable character and even worse than most anti-heroes I've read in recent years. Although the online smear campaign that she's subject to is definitely not deserved, she spends the majority of the book not understanding why people reacted the way that they did. This book will be eye-opening to many, many teens who would probably feel the same way as Winter: one off the cuff remark and a complete lack of understanding of the concept of the digital footprint. In today's online world, so much of who we are is encapsulated forever in our digital footprint and it's so important to be cognizant of how we portray ourselves online.
In the end, I settled with a four star rating for this book. Winter's character made me squirm and cringe and the reading experience was an unpleasant one but I think that was Leila's goal with this book. It saddens me that the ratings on Goodreads are quite low for this book because I think it's an important topic in today's world and Leila has handled it really well. Sometimes the best books are the ones that make us a bit uncomfortable and If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say does just that.
Note: An advanced copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say tackles some tough subjects that are oh-so-relevant in today's online world. Winter posts a racist comment online and her post goes viral overnight, which leads to internet vigilante and mass online public shaming. Her entire world falls into ruin as a result of her "mistake" and, as she struggles to figure out where to go next, she also struggles to come to terms with her actions.
What makes this book tough to read is Winter's lack of remorse for the majority of the book. She's such an unlikeable character and even worse than most anti-heroes I've read in recent years. Although the online smear campaign that she's subject to is definitely not deserved, she spends the majority of the book not understanding why people reacted the way that they did. This book will be eye-opening to many, many teens who would probably feel the same way as Winter: one off the cuff remark and a complete lack of understanding of the concept of the digital footprint. In today's online world, so much of who we are is encapsulated forever in our digital footprint and it's so important to be cognizant of how we portray ourselves online.
In the end, I settled with a four star rating for this book. Winter's character made me squirm and cringe and the reading experience was an unpleasant one but I think that was Leila's goal with this book. It saddens me that the ratings on Goodreads are quite low for this book because I think it's an important topic in today's world and Leila has handled it really well. Sometimes the best books are the ones that make us a bit uncomfortable and If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say does just that.
Note: An advanced copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
May 4, 2018
I'm not quite sure if this book is meant to paint people who tweet insensitive things in good light or denounce the public shaming of social media. Or maybe we're supposed to feel sorry for racists who forget that not everyone lives in a pretty, fictional world where racism is a mistake.
The protagonist's life (is this fiction or nonfiction???) is turned upside down after her racially insensitive tweet about the illiteracy of black people goes viral. Instead of this book being a "if you don't have anything nice to say it's better to say nothing" it turns into a long winded essay about how "i am a white girl i made a mistake but i'm not sorry and here's my non-apology, and let's put the blame on someone else because it's not my fault i'm white."
If you're expecting a neat redemption arc at the end of this nonsense, you're going to be disappointed. It was 200+ pages of how the internet unjustly crucified her for tone deaf racist tweet. Oh wait, was Abe, a paraplegic suicide survivor supposed to be her redemption arc. Are we still using people with disabilities as devices to prove that horrible people are human? In 2018?
Another problem with this book is the vilification of Jason, the black friend who was hurt by Winter's tweet. Everytime his name was mentioned it was accompanied with some sentence painting him as a careless serial dater who leaves broken hearts in his wake. What does that have to do with anything? And yes we got the first 10 times there's no need to keep reminding us how unwarranted his hurt was because of his romantic entanglements. There's literally no correlation whatsoever but go off I guess.
In conclusion, this is utter drivel.
The protagonist's life (is this fiction or nonfiction???) is turned upside down after her racially insensitive tweet about the illiteracy of black people goes viral. Instead of this book being a "if you don't have anything nice to say it's better to say nothing" it turns into a long winded essay about how "i am a white girl i made a mistake but i'm not sorry and here's my non-apology, and let's put the blame on someone else because it's not my fault i'm white."
If you're expecting a neat redemption arc at the end of this nonsense, you're going to be disappointed. It was 200+ pages of how the internet unjustly crucified her for tone deaf racist tweet. Oh wait, was Abe, a paraplegic suicide survivor supposed to be her redemption arc. Are we still using people with disabilities as devices to prove that horrible people are human? In 2018?
Another problem with this book is the vilification of Jason, the black friend who was hurt by Winter's tweet. Everytime his name was mentioned it was accompanied with some sentence painting him as a careless serial dater who leaves broken hearts in his wake. What does that have to do with anything? And yes we got the first 10 times there's no need to keep reminding us how unwarranted his hurt was because of his romantic entanglements. There's literally no correlation whatsoever but go off I guess.
In conclusion, this is utter drivel.
February 16, 2018
Disclaimer: I received this book from a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for a fair review.
I don't dislike the premise of this book, which is: Winter says something she thinks is clever on the internet, only it's not clever—it's racist. At best, it's incredibly racially insensitive. Afterward, her life is pretty much torn apart by strangers (and some not strangers), and because she can't figure out what to do from there, she goes to "reputation rehab."
What I dislike about this book is the lesson Winter learns. Instead of ending her character arc feeling bad for saying something that hurt a lot people, Winter feels bad for the people like her who get publicly shamed online. Which is ... not great.
I don't dislike the premise of this book, which is: Winter says something she thinks is clever on the internet, only it's not clever—it's racist. At best, it's incredibly racially insensitive. Afterward, her life is pretty much torn apart by strangers (and some not strangers), and because she can't figure out what to do from there, she goes to "reputation rehab."
What I dislike about this book is the lesson Winter learns. Instead of ending her character arc feeling bad for saying something that hurt a lot people, Winter feels bad for the people like her who get publicly shamed online. Which is ... not great.
November 27, 2020
This book, although not necessarily something I loved, really made me think. I know that I definitely don't always read over and edit everything I post online, not truly believing that it could come back to bite me. In that regard, I did find Winter relatable. I think this book really challenged our conceptions of who is truly the victim, and how much someone should suffer for making an insensitive comment. Sure, it may not be meant to be hurtful, but it can be. At times, Winter really irritated me, because she would refuse to acknowledge that she was in the wrong. I think that is part of the beauty of this book though, no one is truly "right" Winter is neither good nor evil, she simply is. This definitely wasn't what I expected when I picked it up, but I'm happy I did.
January 12, 2019
Conflicting thoughts RTC
July 6, 2018
Winter Halperin is a Scripps National Spelling Bee champion. She is tuned into the latest spelling bee news, so when she finds out that African American Sintra Gabel won the latest Bee, she sends out a fateful tweet: "We learned many surprising things today. Like that dehnstufe is apparently a word, and that a black kid can actually win the Spelling Bee."
This tweet labels her as a racist. Winter is rejected from her college of choice, Kenyon College, and is thrown onto the street (metaphorically). As she tries to piece her life back together, she learns a valuable lesson about life: not everyone has to like you.
I first wanted to read this book because this book was written at the right time. We live in a politically correct world, and statements like Winter's set aflame the worlds of Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook. Many other reviewers said Winter is not a hero, not in the conventional sense. That did not deter me at all. I wanted to read about someone who was not the conventional protagonist. I wanted to see her try to fix her life.
Now, I cannot agree with what she said, and I cannot say that she is a good person through and through, but this book is not about being “good.” It is a story of redemption and change. Winter learns what takes many years to learn. We are all human in the end. We must atone for our misdeeds, but we all make mistakes.
This book offered a new perspective to scandals. Beneath it all, there is a person who caused it. One of the characters, Abe Krisch, makes a good point: Winter is not Hitler; she is Winter Halperin. She made a mistake, and she must own up to this mistake. This is the crux of the book. Winter acts as if she is the victim, but she soon realizes that she is both the bad guy and victim. She owns up to her mistakes and confronts her fears. It made me feel a bit more for those who struggle with their reality and go through scandal. I do not agree with what they have done, but this book gave them some of their humanity back.
Another interesting topic the book broached was the commercialism of redemption. Winter meets two organizations that try to help her, both with large price tags. The first, Personal History, tries to bury the bad news in the corners of the Web (rather known as page two of Google). This did not seem like a good idea. The Internet is forever. Burying the lede does not mean the lede does not exist anymore.
The second, Revibe, tries to make the misdoer become “good” through yoga, volunteering and writing apologies. The problem is that these apologies are false. I never particularly understood why the Revibers wrote these apologies. They had no heart in them. They were sorries for the brownie points. It kind of made me sick, honestly. This is the world we live in. People want to make a buck, and maybe help others as Kevin from Revibe does.
Winter is written as a “bad” character, which is done well. I got sick of her excuses soon enough, but I also felt for her. She went through so much, but she was still a child. Sure, she is about my age, but I felt an oddly parental notion for her. She was so young. She was so ignorant. She did not know what her words would do. I just wanted to give her a hug.
I wanted this book to go deeper. Racism is lurking underneath the book as a whole, but Leila Sales never dives deeper. Winter is a white Jewish girl. She does not understand the implicit bias that other people face. I, as a middle-class Chinese-American kid, cannot say that I understand what Jason and Kisha go through, but it was as if the book was refusing to touch these topics. Yes, these are not the main part of the book (Winter's redemption arc is), but they are crucial to the story (after all, racism is what caused her tweet to go viral.)
This book is perfect for our generation. It combines the horror of the internet's “never forget” mindset and the PC culture we live in today. It is a book perfect for those who want to delve deeper into our culture and how it affects everyone in it.
Reviewed by Wren L., Teen Board Member
This tweet labels her as a racist. Winter is rejected from her college of choice, Kenyon College, and is thrown onto the street (metaphorically). As she tries to piece her life back together, she learns a valuable lesson about life: not everyone has to like you.
I first wanted to read this book because this book was written at the right time. We live in a politically correct world, and statements like Winter's set aflame the worlds of Tumblr, Twitter and Facebook. Many other reviewers said Winter is not a hero, not in the conventional sense. That did not deter me at all. I wanted to read about someone who was not the conventional protagonist. I wanted to see her try to fix her life.
Now, I cannot agree with what she said, and I cannot say that she is a good person through and through, but this book is not about being “good.” It is a story of redemption and change. Winter learns what takes many years to learn. We are all human in the end. We must atone for our misdeeds, but we all make mistakes.
This book offered a new perspective to scandals. Beneath it all, there is a person who caused it. One of the characters, Abe Krisch, makes a good point: Winter is not Hitler; she is Winter Halperin. She made a mistake, and she must own up to this mistake. This is the crux of the book. Winter acts as if she is the victim, but she soon realizes that she is both the bad guy and victim. She owns up to her mistakes and confronts her fears. It made me feel a bit more for those who struggle with their reality and go through scandal. I do not agree with what they have done, but this book gave them some of their humanity back.
Another interesting topic the book broached was the commercialism of redemption. Winter meets two organizations that try to help her, both with large price tags. The first, Personal History, tries to bury the bad news in the corners of the Web (rather known as page two of Google). This did not seem like a good idea. The Internet is forever. Burying the lede does not mean the lede does not exist anymore.
The second, Revibe, tries to make the misdoer become “good” through yoga, volunteering and writing apologies. The problem is that these apologies are false. I never particularly understood why the Revibers wrote these apologies. They had no heart in them. They were sorries for the brownie points. It kind of made me sick, honestly. This is the world we live in. People want to make a buck, and maybe help others as Kevin from Revibe does.
Winter is written as a “bad” character, which is done well. I got sick of her excuses soon enough, but I also felt for her. She went through so much, but she was still a child. Sure, she is about my age, but I felt an oddly parental notion for her. She was so young. She was so ignorant. She did not know what her words would do. I just wanted to give her a hug.
I wanted this book to go deeper. Racism is lurking underneath the book as a whole, but Leila Sales never dives deeper. Winter is a white Jewish girl. She does not understand the implicit bias that other people face. I, as a middle-class Chinese-American kid, cannot say that I understand what Jason and Kisha go through, but it was as if the book was refusing to touch these topics. Yes, these are not the main part of the book (Winter's redemption arc is), but they are crucial to the story (after all, racism is what caused her tweet to go viral.)
This book is perfect for our generation. It combines the horror of the internet's “never forget” mindset and the PC culture we live in today. It is a book perfect for those who want to delve deeper into our culture and how it affects everyone in it.
Reviewed by Wren L., Teen Board Member
June 25, 2018
This review can also be found on A Thousand Lives Lived, check it out for more!
*3.5 star rating*
When I picked this book up, I was extremely hesitant because it seems that the entire bookish community is not really rooting for this book by Leila Sales. I am a HUGE Leila Sales, having read every book by her except for one, and when given the opportunity to read this new release, I was ecstatic. I was not aware that she would be releasing a new, heartwarming story in 2018, and discovering this was the best news. Then, I read some of the early reviews and I was afraid but skeptical. Leila Sales chose to write this book based on what is happening in our world today on social media and on the Internet. The topic of this book is very unique, however, it appears in reality everyday and affects all of our lives. Nevertheless, I completely support Leila Sales' decision to write about this, and we deserve to read a story about this topic. About racism and not realizing the consequences that our actions and words have.
I obviously am not standing up for the comments that the protagonist, Winter Halperin, used. It was wrong for her to type that out (we obviously see the wrongness of the situation when Winter begins to lose everything she has ever had), however, this does not mean that Winter is an evil individual who deserves to be punished. In MY opinion, I see that Winter's character felt sorry for what she did, and, by the end of the novel, understood why her actions were wrong. I personally did not feel sorry for her (I don't think we were meant to feel that way — Leila Sales usually creates these kinds of characters), but just because I didn't feel sorry doesn't mean that this book is unacceptable. I just don't understand why some people are hating on this story for its theme and topic. It is about time that an author addresses this topic in a story, as it seems as if everyone has been ignoring it in the literary world. I personally enjoyed the topics explored in the writing.
For the first half of the story, I was intrigued and fascinated with the storyline and plot. The story is so unique that I'm pretty sure it cannot be compared to anything else. 2018 is the best time for this book to have been released, so I definitely think it's time for you to pick it up. When I got through to the second half, especially the part involving Winter's entrance to rehab and the relationship (which I don't think was necessary; let the girl focus on her emotions!) it fell short as I wasn't able to see where the story was really going. From the first half, I became aware of the fact that the story was about Winter learning how to deal with her mistakes, though I found that the plot dragged. Nonetheless, I totally recommend every bit of the story for a fresh read.
If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say was a great read to start off my summer vacation, and it truly is an important one. Go see that for yourself.
*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*
*3.5 star rating*
When I picked this book up, I was extremely hesitant because it seems that the entire bookish community is not really rooting for this book by Leila Sales. I am a HUGE Leila Sales, having read every book by her except for one, and when given the opportunity to read this new release, I was ecstatic. I was not aware that she would be releasing a new, heartwarming story in 2018, and discovering this was the best news. Then, I read some of the early reviews and I was afraid but skeptical. Leila Sales chose to write this book based on what is happening in our world today on social media and on the Internet. The topic of this book is very unique, however, it appears in reality everyday and affects all of our lives. Nevertheless, I completely support Leila Sales' decision to write about this, and we deserve to read a story about this topic. About racism and not realizing the consequences that our actions and words have.
I obviously am not standing up for the comments that the protagonist, Winter Halperin, used. It was wrong for her to type that out (we obviously see the wrongness of the situation when Winter begins to lose everything she has ever had), however, this does not mean that Winter is an evil individual who deserves to be punished. In MY opinion, I see that Winter's character felt sorry for what she did, and, by the end of the novel, understood why her actions were wrong. I personally did not feel sorry for her (I don't think we were meant to feel that way — Leila Sales usually creates these kinds of characters), but just because I didn't feel sorry doesn't mean that this book is unacceptable. I just don't understand why some people are hating on this story for its theme and topic. It is about time that an author addresses this topic in a story, as it seems as if everyone has been ignoring it in the literary world. I personally enjoyed the topics explored in the writing.
For the first half of the story, I was intrigued and fascinated with the storyline and plot. The story is so unique that I'm pretty sure it cannot be compared to anything else. 2018 is the best time for this book to have been released, so I definitely think it's time for you to pick it up. When I got through to the second half, especially the part involving Winter's entrance to rehab and the relationship (which I don't think was necessary; let the girl focus on her emotions!) it fell short as I wasn't able to see where the story was really going. From the first half, I became aware of the fact that the story was about Winter learning how to deal with her mistakes, though I found that the plot dragged. Nonetheless, I totally recommend every bit of the story for a fresh read.
If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say was a great read to start off my summer vacation, and it truly is an important one. Go see that for yourself.
*A review copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review. Thank you so much!*
April 4, 2018
Winter Halperin is not a racist. Or, at least, Winter Halperin doesn't think of herself as a racist... but when she loses the National Spelling Bee, a tweet she meant in jest is retweeted by a well-known reporter and immediately picks up the kind of traction that Justine Sacco's AIDS joke did so many years ago. Winter meant to comment on the fact that so few black kids ever make it to the spelling bee, but the way she phrased her tweet makes it seem as though she doesn't believe that black people can spell - at all.
Winter soon finds herself on the receiving end of an online harassment campaign, hiding out at home, and on the outs with one of her best friends - who also happens to be black. Winter has no idea what to do to get herself out of the mess she's landed in, especially now that the Bee has decided to strip her of her previous victory and accompanying scholarship. After a lot of searching, she discovers a sort of "reputation rehab" for people who have, like her, been publicly shamed.
At the rehab, Winter is faced to confront some hard truths about herself - truths that ultimately make her a better person.
There's a lot more to this novel, but I don't want to give it away. Some of the rehab attendees are thinly veiled versions of real life victims of public shaming, but they're handled deftly enough so as not to be distracting.
I received a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Winter soon finds herself on the receiving end of an online harassment campaign, hiding out at home, and on the outs with one of her best friends - who also happens to be black. Winter has no idea what to do to get herself out of the mess she's landed in, especially now that the Bee has decided to strip her of her previous victory and accompanying scholarship. After a lot of searching, she discovers a sort of "reputation rehab" for people who have, like her, been publicly shamed.
At the rehab, Winter is faced to confront some hard truths about herself - truths that ultimately make her a better person.
There's a lot more to this novel, but I don't want to give it away. Some of the rehab attendees are thinly veiled versions of real life victims of public shaming, but they're handled deftly enough so as not to be distracting.
I received a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.
February 22, 2018
From the beginning I thought this would be a strong novel depicting the rise and fall of a teenage girl who makes a racist joke on the Internet that becomes viral within hours. Instead, we meet Winter who is self-centered and plays the victim throughout the book. There wasn't any character development because she still classified herself as a victim by the end. She didn't see a wrong in the racist joke she posted, and spent months wallowing in pity over how unfair it was that the whole world hated her. This novel would have been so much better if Winter had realized her mistake right away and worked her way through apologies, redemption, and change. Winter and her sister Emerson were extremely rude to their mother on multiple occasions, and shockingly, the mother didn't care. The first instance happened within the first few pages. Winter yells at her mom for not returning her phone to her asap (after she showed her the thousands of messages she was receiving) and later the mother comes into Emerson's room and Emerson grumbled something along the lines to "Don't you knock?" These girls were both disrespectful to everyone except themselves and the novel was such a disappointment because of Winter's personality and mindset.
I received an ARC of If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say from NetGalley.
I received an ARC of If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say from NetGalley.
November 11, 2021
A good story. If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say is about Winter Halperin, a National Spelling Bee champion, a future college student and she considered herself a good girl, until one post she wrote online changed everything in her life. To be honest, I don't know how to describe what Winter did. I obviously did not approve of what she posted on her social media, but as everyone else on this earth, everybody made mistakes. In Winter's case, she thought her post could turn out to be a good joke for some people, but clearly it didn't.
Internet can be such an unforgiving place. You can post something online and people choose to like or not like it because they're entitled to their own opinion. But I guess, that's how this world works anyway. You can't make everyone like you no matter how good of a person you are because people will always find something to not like about you and that's okay. As I quote one paragraph from this book;
...I think the moral is that we can do bad things and not be bad people. That we can make mistakes and do better next time. That we can hurt those who love us, and lie to those who trust us, and criticize those who are trying their hardest- and still our lives do not end. That no matter how many times we do wrong, we still have it within us to do right. That no matter how far off course we wander, we can always, if we try, turn ourselves back towards the sun.
Internet can be such an unforgiving place. You can post something online and people choose to like or not like it because they're entitled to their own opinion. But I guess, that's how this world works anyway. You can't make everyone like you no matter how good of a person you are because people will always find something to not like about you and that's okay. As I quote one paragraph from this book;
...I think the moral is that we can do bad things and not be bad people. That we can make mistakes and do better next time. That we can hurt those who love us, and lie to those who trust us, and criticize those who are trying their hardest- and still our lives do not end. That no matter how many times we do wrong, we still have it within us to do right. That no matter how far off course we wander, we can always, if we try, turn ourselves back towards the sun.
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