Let us review what this book claimed to be in the blurb, "Kens is the gay Heathers meets Mean Girls, a shocking parody for a whole new generation." Kens is not a tasty blend of these two iconic master pieces. Kens is, for all intents and purposes, a very bad parody of Heathers that includes plenty of identical scenes to Heathers and the characters are clearly all based on the characters in Heathers but unfortunately this parody doesn't manage to capture a single ounce of its charm.

Tommy is clearly meant to be Veronica, but he lacks any wit or personality that would make him likable as a protagonist her. He's bland, impressionable, pathetic and why do we care about him. Blaine is a cut for cut JD. Literally, nothing is changed but the fact that he's gay and less clever because the other characters are so dumb Blaine doesn't even need a concrete plan. He'll just tell them "hey, you should kill yourself," and they agree immediately.

I also have so many concerns with how Raziel consistently portrays gay teens in his work. When I look back on When Everything Feels Like the Movies my main issues was that the protagonist used being gay as an excuse to be a shitty person. Things are the same here. The Kens sexually assault people, are promiscuous, use all kinds of drugs and are generally the WORST stereotypes you can imagine about gay teens. I know they're supposed to be bad but they're just clearly written to shock and disgust. They don't feel even near real, it makes the story ridiculous.

This book just wasn’t for me, while I see what the author was going for as a message it just wasn’t the way to go for me. I really liked the idea of a retelling of Mean Girls and that’s what originally made me request this one. The writing style really took me a while to get used to, but eventually I learned to appreciate it. I loved the fact that there was so much diversity as well.

There was a ton of pop culture references in the book and I just don’t feel like it was hitting the mark, for me personally. I felt more like all of these references were being thrown at me, where as maybe not trying so hard may have worked better.

The whole plot point at the end (sorry can’t spoil it here), was just outrageous to me. I cringed so much while reading the book as a whole I thought there was no way it would be able to hit me any more, but wow…. It did. I get that the author was using dark humor, satire etc. but for me it just wasn’t working. I was simply mortified, throughout most of the book.

“Straight out of Satan’s doll factory. Soul sold separately.”

I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Penguin Random House Canada. I don’t usually remark on the quality of digital ARC copies, since format and editing errors are to be expected, but this one is especially (dare I say intentionally?) bad. The words NOT FINAL ADVANCE READERS COPY are interspersed throughout every page in the middle of paragraphs, in the middle of sentences, and sometimes in the middle of words. It was hugely distracting, like having someone shout in my ear every other paragraph, and it made it difficult to focus on the writing or pacing. I understand advance readers get paid in free books, but I think it’s a requirement that the copy be, you know, readable. I’m tempted to write my review with the same intrusions, but I decided I’m only petty enough to think about it, not actually do it. Some discussion of NSFW content ahead. Trigger warnings: homophobia, racism, violence, guns, suicide, severe illness.

Kens is the story of Heathers (1988), if the Heathers were plastic surgery-obsessed gay men who rule their high school through a combination of black cards, blow jobs, and bitchiness. Their social media reigns, and every score or faux pas in the school ends up on their Tumblr. When a bored Ken decides they need a new project, they take Tommy from a life of invisibility, give him a plastic makeover, and introduce him as the newest Ken. When his new love interest, bad boy Blaine, and Tommy accidentally kill one of the Kens, well… it’s not like he had a soul anyway, and death has made the Kens more popular than ever.

This is a highly crude and offensive novel, and clearly meant to be. Its flippancy toward issues of gay suicide and oversexualization, police violence against people of color, AIDS, and school shootings is breath-takingly awful. There’s hardly an issue Kens can’t make a joke out of, and it’s not funny so much as appalling. Yet I’d hesitate to call it a satire. Satire includes a lesson or some sort of social/political critique, and I can’t see what there is to be gained by satirizing gay men and drag queens. If Kens wants to make fun of the 1% who are dependent on their plastic surgeries and prescription drugs to make it through the day, then I’m all for it. But I’m hesitant at the idea of satire that’s aimed at populations that are already marginalized. At what point is it just reinforcing some truly horrible stereotypes? The television adaptation of Heathers didn’t work because it made genderqueer, POC, and fat girls into villains, when these groups already face discrimination on a daily basis. I can’t help feeling that Kens makes the same damning mistake. It’s entirely possible that I missed the point though, and I’d be interested to see well-thought-out interpretations from someone who didn’t totally hate it.

The novel relies heavily on shock value as humor, and I don’t have a lot of patience for shock value. It’s a cheap, one-time trick that loses its potency the more it’s used, and Kens pretty much never quits. I can’t tell if the writing is any good because it’s buried under crude jokes and a landslide of slang. I miss the days when I didn’t know what “thot” means and had never heard the word “hunty”. I generally feel that slang dates a novel really fast, so while Kens seems trendy (in the worst way) right now, teens are going to laugh at its archaic language in a few years. The transitions between scenes are often abrupt or awkward, as ending a scene on a bit of pithy dialogue usually is. The plot is a flat knockoff of Heathers with only a few deviations and none of its charm.

I’m not going to pretend the three Ken characters are anything more than a compilation of the worst gay stereotypes mashed up with the mean girl tropes of the original film. They’re soulless and hyper-sexualized, with little care for anything besides vodka for dinner and the number of likes on their latest social media post. Tommy has none of Veronica’s spine, and his transition from wanting to be as famous as the Kens to just wanting his school to be a nice place is clunky and under-developed. Blaine is an even flatter J.D. without a bit of his appeal or (albeit warped) justification. J.D.’s methods are twisted, but the film allows us to understand his reasoning. Kens doesn’t bother giving Blaine the same development. I wish we’d gotten to see more of Tommy’s friend, Tutti, an overweight girl who turns down a free plastic makeover and does fierce makeup tutorials. Unfortunately, she’s relegated to the sidekick who’s forced to laugh every time Tommy and the Kens do or say something horrible to her.

The end spirals out of control much like the original film, with the twist that the rash of suicides following a Ken’s death is centered wholly on gay teenagers– a group that already suffers from discrimination and high suicide rates. There’s nothing funny about it, and the novel doesn’t give us time to mourn. Tommy and Blaine set up the single black character to be gunned down by a policeman, the resulting funeral which is then presided over in blackface, and that issue is skated over as well. People who enjoy dark comedy and shock value may be able to get past the insensitivity of most of Kens’s topics, but I’m not one of them. If the idea was to be as offensive as possible, then congratulations. It worked. I’ll be steering a wide path from Reid’s writing in the future, since it obviously isn’t for me.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

Heterosexuality is so last season: Kens is the gay Heathers meets Mean Girls, a shocking parody for a whole new generation. Every high school has the archetypical Queen B and her minions, in Kens the high school hierarchy has been reimagined. Willows High is led by Ken Hilton, and he makes Regina George from Mean Girls look like a saint. Ken Hilton rules the school with his carbon-copies, Ken Roberts and Ken Carson by his side. It can be hard to tell the Kens apart, though there are minor differences in each edition, all Kens are created from the same mold. They come freshly minted in plastic straight out of Satan's doll factory, soul sold separately. Tommy Rawlins can't help but compare himself to the shimmering images of perfection that glide through the halls. He's desperate to fit in, but in a school where the Kens are queens who are treated like Queens, Tommy is the uncool gay kid. Soon he is presented with a once in a lifetime opportunity to become a Ken, just as a tall dark handsome new boy Blaine catches his attention. Has Blaine arrived in time to save Tommy from the Kens? Tommy has high hopes for their future together, but when their shared desire to overthrow Ken Hilton takes a shocking turn. Tommy must decide how willing he is to reinvent himself, inside and out. Is this new version of Tommy everything he's always wanted to be or has he become an unknowing and submissive puppet in a sadistic plan?



Based on the description of the book I was really excited for this read, I haven't seen Heathers but I really enjoy Mean Girls everytime I watch it. I also liked the idea that homosexuality was the desired sexual orientation as opposed to heterosexuality. It was even interesting to see people pretending to be gay to fit in, it was just such a different perspective. The entire idea was just so interesting and exciting.

The only issue was the execution of the story. I didn't like the writing style, all of the sentences were really short, so instead of having one sentence, it would be broken up into four. This made reading the story incredibly choppy and really pulled me out of the story. The writing was just so distracting that I had a really hard time actually focussing on reading. Instead, this book just made my head hurt trying to understand the story and character motivations. A lot of the plot was fairly perinatal from the beginning which made it less exciting to read but it ws still satisfying knowning that I was right about Blaine's character.

I also had an issue with the content I know it is a satire and it's poking fun at our society but it comes off so serious and over the top. I honestly spent half of the book thinking is this book trying to be serious or a satire, and I knew the answer based on the description but I should have been able to tell based on the book. The book handles so many complex issues including hero worship, body image issues, suicide, and obviously plastic surgery. I don't think it handles any of them particularly well which is a shame because there is so much opportunity within this book to really handle these issues and it just didn't. The hero worship wasn't discouraged by anyone if anything it is encouraged, even the adults worship these teens it's just mind-boggling, I know it's supposed to be over the top but this is just so much. There is a difference between being exaggerated and being completely unrealistic which is what this is.

So one of the biggest themes in this book is body image and plastic surgery. I understand it is exaggerated and eventually, some of the characters have a change of heart but it still just hurts my heart that every single character had a warped body image, and were ok with drastic plastic surgery in teenagers. Drastic surgery honestly shouldn't be acceptable for anyone unless they are of sound body and mind and fully understand the risks and possible complications and have fully thought through their decision. But in teenagers, it is especially unsafe because they are still growing and developping physically and emotionally and it is damaging to both, especially where in this book they are made into copies of Ken Hilton. Tommy's surgery was done without any sort of consultation or discussion of what he wanted or what would be best for him which is so problematic. One character did turn down plastic surgery to lose weight because she thought people were supposed to be body positive but she still worshipped the Kens and what they stood for at the same time. In this situation, the adult who was also the doctor said that if that was her mindset she was too much work for him to fix, which infuriated me so much.

The next thing is the focus on suicide an I don't even know what to say about it other than the fact that it was essentially suicide worship which is completely not okay.

I feel like this book is trying to be edgy and divisive. Which if that is the goal it totally succeeded people are either going to love or hate this book and I just happen to be on the dislike end of the spectrum. I didn't like it but I didn't dislike it enough to not finish it.

I stArted reading this and hated it then I loved it then I hated it, but I can say I've never read anything quite like it! I feel like people will either love it or hate it! After finishing I'm still confused lol Thank you netgalley for the free arc in exchange for an honest review!

It's obvious what author Raziel Reid was trying to do with Kens: create a mirror image of the movie Heathers but with guys and gays rather than girls and heteros. The problem is that Heathers had a very sly take on American culture that resonated in its wit. Not so much with Kens; here we have the concept taken so far as to be a) unbelievable and b) unlikable. This isn't clever and reads more like a bunch of teens got together to figure out the most offensive way to retell Heathers. It's potty humor and immature - lacking a lot of the wit and, dare I say, charm of its inspiration.

The Kens rule the school: wealthy, plastic-surgeon beautiful, and the perfect Ken dolls. When Blaine arrives in school, he convinces Tommy that the Kens really aren't 'all that' - and that they need to be eliminated as a result.

The book reads like someone binge watched every season of RuPaul's Drag Race and then sat down and wrote a story using only dialogue from that show. There's a dictionary in the beginning just to make sure you know what a hunty, BBD, baphomet, etc are. This type of approach worked for Amy Heckerling with the Clueless movie (a retelling of Emma with contemporary lingo) because we genuinely liked our protagonists and the colloquialisms were such a huge and fun part of it. With Kens, the dialogue feels forced, unrealistic and as plastic as the "Ring Magic Ken" doll that these leads emulate. I hated every character in the book and didn't for a minute buy any of the dialogue. Where Heathers was a dark take on American high school culture, this book is a trite version of Heathers. It's a xerox copy ad nauseum where all the bold lines have become indistinct and the details completely lost.

Honestly, it's a vulgar, infantile, stupid, and pointless story. And I guess it's kind of sad that all the bad guys had to be gay. I felt they could have been narcissistic and still made the same point. It's was just too much where quality would have made up for the whole messy quantity. I do not recommend this book at all. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

The tag for this title sounded fun... "Heathers" and "Mean Girls" are fun, iconic movies that were clever, hilarious, and subversive. Sadly, "Kens" does not fall into that category. The set-up sounded intriguing, but the poorly drawn characters and the pedestrian writing leaves much to be desired here. It was almost as if the writer hacked into a teen blog's comments section, saw how they talked, and regurgitated it onto the page before forgetting what was read...but forgot to create engaging characters around it. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish this one, and it takes a lot for me not to finish a book.

Much love to NetGalley and Penguin Random House Canada for this ARC.

"Heterosexuality is so last season: Kens is the gay Heathers meets Mean Girls, a shocking parody for a whole new generation."
If that ain't the truth I don't know what is. I adore the movie Heathers and this is everything I love about that movie plus it has glitter AND gay boys!!!!!!

"Kens don't have actual blood in their veins. They have glitter."

This book is hella screwed up and highly addictive! So much fashion and bitchiness and adorableness it had me raging through the pages.

"Straight out of Satan's doll factory. Soul sold separately."

This was all kinds of fun to read in the most ridiculous sort of way. You will not find a deep plot or fabulous writing, and you will likely be offended and/or disgusted at least once, but you will be entertained!

"Your reality check bounced."

This was a book I was looking forward to, but I tried and couldn't read this. The copy had random words scattered through the sentences with great frequency.

Kens is described as Heathers meets Mean Girls with a gay twist, but the writing reminds me more of the reviews I've read of Tyra Banks' Modelland. The jokes are bawdy and crass, which isn't bad in itself, but they're just too obvious to really land. The humour seems better suited to a South Park scene or an SNL sketch -- it's so reliant on shock value that it loses its impact when dragged out for a full book.

Kens attempts to be a satire/parody on celebrity culture in the Instagram age, but isn't quite sharp nor incisive enough to be effective. At times, it's hard to tell what the target of its humour is -- for example, I assume one of the Kens being a drag queen named Sandy Hooker who wears a necklace of bullets is supposed to skewer people like Ken, who appropriate tragedy for likes, but it's a sight gag that also seems to poke fun at the Sandy Hook tragedy itself.

Or when a suicide video going viral sets of a trend of copycat attempts, I can see how Reid takes the trend of videotaping dangerous stunts for views to the extreme for parody's sake, but I can't help feeling like the story sneers not just at the celebrities who knowingly encourage dangerous behaviour, but also at the people who follow suit. A lot of the dark humour in Kens tries to punch up, but ends up inadvertently punching down at the same time. In a way, it almost feels worse, that while the story deliberately tears down the Kens of this world, the countless, often nameless, other characters end up as mere cannon fodder.

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Thank you to Penguin Random House Canada for an e-galley of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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This review will go live on my blog October 2, 8 am ET.

This was a book I was looking forward to, but unfortunately wasn't even able to read it. I'm not sure if all copies were like this, but the copy I tried reading had art/text not final and advanced reader's copy in the actual text of the story. Since it was like this, it took me out of the story and I was unable to finish it.

Oh my god, what was this book?

Such a ridiculous and boring read. I normally love these types of books (mean girls) but this book was so over the top, while, somehow managing to be as boring as possible.

Ugh!

Let us review what this book claimed to be in the blurb, "Kens is the gay Heathers meets Mean Girls, a shocking parody for a whole new generation." Kens is not a tasty blend of these two iconic master pieces. Kens is, for all intents and purposes, a very bad parody of Heathers that includes plenty of identical scenes to Heathers and the characters are clearly all based on the characters in Heathers but unfortunately this parody doesn't manage to capture a single ounce of its charm.

Tommy is clearly meant to be Veronica, but he lacks any wit or personality that would make him likable as a protagonist her. He's bland, impressionable, pathetic and why do we care about him. Blaine is a cut for cut JD. Literally, nothing is changed but the fact that he's gay and less clever because the other characters are so dumb Blaine doesn't even need a concrete plan. He'll just tell them "hey, you should kill yourself," and they agree immediately.

I also have so many concerns with how Raziel consistently portrays gay teens in his work. When I look back on When Everything Feels Like the Movies my main issues was that the protagonist used being gay as an excuse to be a shitty person. Things are the same here. The Kens sexually assault people, are promiscuous, use all kinds of drugs and are generally the WORST stereotypes you can imagine about gay teens. I know they're supposed to be bad but they're just clearly written to shock and disgust. They don't feel even near real, it makes the story ridiculous.

This is shot for shot a Heathers rewrite that's worse than the television show. It tries to modernize but Reid either doesn't actually understand how social media works or doesn't care. Seriously these rich kids couldn't even afford a domain for their blog? The scenes that aren't just Heathers scenes with slight rewrites to be more shocking are entirely pointless and slow. It's shock porn and nothing else. I'm disgusted that anyone considers any of Reid's work anything else. This isn't good, or edgy or funny it's pathetic. Reid couldn't even imagine an original story this time.

Parodies are meant to be funny or say something. Usually, you don't parody something that is already a comedy but it can be done well on occasion. Reid has nothing to say with this book. He's critiquing an exaggerated world he made up, there aren't really people this terrible in this high of a concentration. Reid throws #blacklivesmatter and gay suicide off as "jokes".

This is not a book I would recommend to anyone. It's not positive LGBT+ representation. It's not a funny parody of Heathers, if you want to read a gay Heathers I'm sure there are fanfics that do it way better. There is nothing original here. This is a book that simply wants to get a rise out of readers and isn't even successful because it contains nothing original. Satanism, drugs, plastic surgery, suicide, murder, gratuitous sex etc. It's all somehow bland, but there's definitely enough that I wouldn't want kids reading this.

I rarely actively hate a book, but boy do I hate this one. At BEST it's a trashy read to make fun of because there are parts it's almost so bad it's good. I honestly can't tell you why this book was written. I'd give it 0 stars if I could. It has nothing to say and is a waste of time.

I started off really enjoying this book but found myself skimming towards the end as the book grew repetitive. I also started off enjoying the satire and the peek into teen culture but found it becoming insensitive in many places. I couldn't find anything funny or redeeming about school shootings. I would not recommend this as a YA book at least not for younger readers. This book belongs in a university pop culture course where some might be interested in the social commentary. For people interested in LGBTQ2IA+ literature there are much better choices out there.
Thanks to Raziel Reid for the thought provoking book and Penguin Random House Canada for the Advanced Reader Copy.

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I am not sure what to feel about this book. There is so much going on inside of my I am shaking as I trying to type this. This is painful to write as it was to read. It comes off as a snapshot of our world today, but it is all the worst parts. It seems to poke fun and almost look down on all the societal points that it is trying to make. I did not find any of the jokes in this funny. There were points I wanted to slam my laptop shut and not continue to read. The bullying, shaming, drinking, drugs and all just because a bit much for me to handle. I did finish the book but it did not live up to what was blurb. I wanted so much to like it, but I am being honest and I did not enjoy it at all. It hurt my heart and damaged my soul. 0 Stars.

I really did not like this book at all. I made myself finish it. The first few pages that are a glossary of terms in the book should have been a tip off that I would not like it, because I didn't really even like the glossary. I thought it was actually pretty terrible bordering on appalling. There are so many things in the story that I didn't like, that I can't even begin to name them because the book is basically a mockery of all the issues prominent in high schools today. Not a fan of the writing and the characters were not well-developed at ll. I loved Heathers and I was hugely disappointed with this book.

I picked this novel up based on the interesting cover and the plot. I would recommend this to other YA readers because of the plot.

I received an e-arc copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I've gotta admit, I'm struggling with what I thought about this book and with what to even rate it. While initially reading this book I felt vaguely and equally disturbed and bored. The further into the book I read the more I got used to Reid's style of satire. In case it is not abundantly clear, this book is a parody of Mean Girls and the Heathers. What seems to be less clear to some is that it is also a satire of numerous issues and topics, so many in fact, that it makes the plot feel like it is lurching from topic to topic which makes it seem that little to no consideration/time/thought went into the critique. I would argue that this book is not here to make time for the reader to consider the issues (that's something that the reader can do on their own time), this book is only here to point fingers at issues. Sometimes it's a single line, other topics get given a little more plot and space. This book is not condoning or making light of the various issues brought up, rather instead it is doing what satires are supposed to do (satirize them). No one has ever said that satire needs to be tasteful.

The reading experience for this book was not exactly enjoyable and I would not say that I enjoyed it as I read, I just started to tolerate it. That said, I think this book is a fascinating snapshot of society today. Bearing in mind that almost everything in this book exaggerated (some more obscenely so than others) and in place to shock readers, it still has so much that can be unpacked and explored further. It does not take a sensitive point of view on these issues, and at times can come across anywhere from distasteful to outright offensive. I think it's all done to provoke reaction and thought. Basically I would pretty much put absolutely every kind of trigger warning on this book.

This review feels all over the place, but so was this book. It was weird, and jumpy, and out of the ordinary. I strongly recommend that anyone interested in this book takes the initiative to try it out for themselves as I think it will be a very polarizing book.

I tried really hard to read this book, I really did. But the advanced reader ebook had the world ADVANCED READER COPY NOT FINAL COPY spread throughout the entire book one word at a time in the middle of sentences. There were about 3 or more interruptions a page and it just messed with the flow of reading, which was very upsetting because I was really looking forward to reading this book. I only got about a chapter in before I couldn't deal with it anymore. The random word inserted in the middle of the sentences threw off my focus and my comprehension of what I was actually reading. I will try to read once the book is released.

DNF @ 40%

This review is based on an ARC of Kens which I received courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher (Penguin Random House Canada/Penguin Teen).

I can't make myself read another page of this disgusting fetish porn. I am so disappointed! I was thrilled to be granted this ARC and carried such high hopes for Kens! At first I thought I would really enjoy this book and actually found myself laughing out loud a few times. That said, once we got to drag queen Sandy Hooker (with a necklace of bullets to boot) and the part about eating jizz-covered crackers, you lost me.

Kens is just too much; too disgusting, too crude, too offensive. I get what the humor is supposed to be, and maybe I'm just being an oversensitive, bleeding-heart prude and a party pooper, but this is really just awful and not worth another minute of my time.

I can't believe this is supposed to be a Mean Girls parallel. At least Mean Girls had a point (as well as actually funny jokes). And maybe there is a point to this book. I don't know, I never will know, I don't care to find out. At this point in the story I don't see where this is going and I really don't want to. On top of this, the characters are empty. This book relies heavily on its so-called humor and the devotion of readers who want and expect a "Heathers meets Mean Girls" story with gay guys.

I am always sorry to DNF an ARC as it feels disrespectful to the people who have given me this opportunity, however, based on my own feelings and after reading numerous other reviews of Kens by those who have finished and also disliked the book, I feel like this is the right decision for me.