Things I liked:
-Large cast of characters, each well developed
-Marisa's cause was good
-Interesting set-up, especially since I read it during the safer at home order

Thing I didn't love:
-This kinda reminded me of Swipe Right for Murder, in which a group of people resort to murder and terrorism to fight back against homophobia. In this case: a rally is one thing, a protest is one thing, holding your classmates hostage is a different.

The story starts on lock-in night at CIS high school in some unnamed country outside of the US. CIS is an expensive private school that attracts the children of diplomats, expats, and wealthy business people who move all over the world. Marisa, the daughter of one such family, is a passionate teenager who desperately wants to save the oceans and their beautiful reefs. So, after gathering up a crowd of believers, she and her group chain themselves to the closed doors of the high school building and swallow the keys, insisting that they will stay there until Marisa's list of 24 demands is met. Her list includes the whole gamut from the simple, banning single use plastic on campus, to the mid-range, the school stopping the use of harmful fertilizer on their lawns, to the huge, stopping construction on a resort project on a nearby island where Marisa likes to snorkel.

There's an ensemble cast that was a bit difficult to keep track of, honestly. Too many peripheral characters were introduced and then mentioned briefly again but really had zero impact on the story. This was distracting for me as a reader. There's also two seperate love stories that felt completely forced. And random kids falling in love with other students from afar based solely on their voice, their coolness under pressure, or their determination. It was a bit ridiculous.

The writing style was at least consistent, so if you like the first couple chapters, you'll probably like the rest of the book. I did not like it at all, the point of view was too omniscient and removed from what was happening. I never even began to care about the characters or the issues because the narration style was detached and removed and kept dropping little asides about people's opinions or stories people told after it was all over. This completely took the reader out of the moment and as a result, you don't care about the moment.

To be completely honest, if I hadn't gotten an ARC of this book in exchange for a review, I wouldn't have made it past the first 30 pages. I was bored to tears, didn't care about any of the characters, and felt like I was being beaten over the head with environmentalist propaganda throughout the entire book. Please don't misunderstand, I am concerned about climate change and fossil fuels and the impact humans are having on the environment, but I don't read fiction to have an agenda of any kind (no matter how I much I might support that agenda) shoved down my throat. This book felt like environmentalism thinly veiled in an ensemble cast of superficial and contrived characters. It just didn't work for me.

As a Youth Services Librarian, I read a LOT of middle grade and YA fiction, but I cannot in good conscience purchase this for my library or recommend it to anyone of any age.

Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

We Didn't Ask for This by Adi Alsaid--Simply put, students can and will change the world. The question is, how will they go about doing it? How do they get the world's attention? Marisa loves the reefs and knows if they are going to be saved, then people must make some changes. She also knows that change will not come if everyone is comfortable. With careful planning, Marisa and her team of do-gooders decide to take the school's highly anticipated lock-in hostage, literally. While students are just getting started having the times of their young lives, Marisa and the others chain themselves to every exit (all windows are shatterproof glass and only open a few inches) and swallow the keys. Then they reveal their demands-30 environmental changes they want to happen before they will unlock the doors.
Being an international private school, we are introduced to a diverse culture of students and teachers throughout the story. Many are connected to many governments and huge corporations through their parents, Marisa knows they have connections and can make the changes this world needs. She is smart and has thought of almost all contingencies, after all, she is a planner. Some students are furious at her for cutting short their night of fun, others are captivated by her strength and tenacity. As the lock-in continues, alliances form and people reveal their true nature. #WeDidntAskForThis #AdiAlsaid #NetGalley

Every year, for one night, the students of Central International School’s K-12 campus closes for the students to spend a night pursuing interests, dancing, food fights, and workshops taught by social media influencers. The students spend the night making new friends, exploring new relationships, learning more about themselves, and waiting for one student to lead the ultimate party without any parental or teacher interference. Months go into planning the event and students wait all year for the night to come. When Marisa and her group of fellow environmentalists use the night to stage a protest, those hopes and dreams of a magical night instead become a nightmare. Now, with no way out of the building, students and teachers alike are trapped until Marisa’s long list of demands are met. When hours turn into days, some students try for normalcy while others plot dangerous escape plans. With pressure placed on the protesters to give up intensifies, the students must discover how far they are willing to go to pursue their goals. Interesting characters and a compelling story combine for a fascinating look at teenage relationships, hopes and dreams.
I loved this story. These teenagers are genuinely good kids that are just trying to find their place in the world. They have hopes, struggles, and insecurities. They want a better world, a great party, and the cute guy or girl. They are trying to discover how to be braver, smarter, more determined, and tougher. Some are also bitter, hurt, spoiled and greedy. Adi Alsaid gives readers all of this complexity while keeping the story deceptively simple.
I really enjoyed the little glimpses into the privileged lives of the kids. They casually mention traveling the world and when the school becomes locked down, it’s the housekeepers and staff that are sent to check in on kids and bring them home cooked meals and clean clothes. The parents rant about tuition costs while the kids try to smuggle in famous DJs and hangout in the rooftop garden.
I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and I look forward to adding to my Library's shelves. Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read and review this title. All opinions and mistakes are my own.

4.5 stars. This was fascinating. The first thing I noticed is that the point of view is changing all the time, sometimes from paragraph to paragraph. It was jarring at first, but once I got used to it, I liked how it added to the quick pacing of the story and how it helped me connect with the large number of characters in the book. The romantic stories inside the larger novel (both same-sex relationships) felt a little heavy-handed to me, but that may be because I am an outsider. It might also be because it was such a HUGE cultural piece for one of the characters it was given extra weight.

There is a TON going on in this book, but I thought the author did a great job holding all of the pieces together. This reminds me of a school shooting sort of book (like This Is Where It Ends), but with lower stakes, so the stress isn't quite so high (at least until the end).

I tried to read this book several times, but I couldn’t get into it. The beginning didn’t grab my attention and I struggled to get into the story.

This one was a little iffy at first.

We are introduced to this creative high school where an overnight event is the highlight of the year. Everything that could happen does, and all the students are excited for this magical night. Told from multiple POVs we are thrown into a whirlwind as a protest causes a shift in the night.

Like I said, this book was a mystery to me at first. The plot felt a little flat and there was a lot of confusion and incoherence between the diverse characters and finding what was really happening.

But then something somewhere clicked and I was into it. It’s not a story that is super captivating, but it created a thought-provoking read. If you like character-driven, activism stories, this one may interest you.

I ended up giving it a 3 out of 5 stars. It’s a unique book for sure and makes leaves you thinking.

This is going to be a review that is totally different from my usual reviews. That’s because I haven’t finished this book as of yet. Here’s the thing, I really like this book. It’s not going to end up as a DNF for me, but it’s not the right book for me at this time. Let me explain.

First, I am a huge fan of YA. All age ranges of YA from children’s books to middle grade to high school to older teens, I generally love them all. This story has wonderful voices and I can totally see my teenage niece loving this story and the flow. I’ll definitely be recommending it to her from what I’ve read (a little more than 50%) so far. I just can’t concentrate on this story with everything else in the world going on. I need more of an escape.

If you’re reading this at a future date, I’m reading this book and writing this review during the Covid-19 pandemic. Reading about an extended lock-in and kids dealing with some serious issues is just not the story I need at this time. While it may be fine for other people with different temperaments than me, I cannot say. I just know that with my personal anxiety issues and history of depression I’m struggling to get though the story at this time.

So, I plan on adding to this review when I complete this book. In the meantime, I’d like to recommend this story, most especially to those between 15 and 20. I think there will be at least one character in this book that speaks to everyone as there is quite a cast. Even if you, like me, have to wait until after things “return to normal”. I just want it to be on your radar.

For the first time I’m rating a book DNF (yet) but highly recommended.

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Netgalley, and Inkyard Press for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

I’ve never had a lock-in at school before like this, and apparently our main characters haven’t either. It kind of reminds me of Pretty Little Liars where they had to have a lock-in because of all the cyber bulling that was happening – but we all know how that went, don’t we? This plot was interesting because while the students knew what to expect from their other yearly lock-in’s, they had to deal with the additional factor of kids staging an eco-protest and chaining themselves to the doors so nobody can get out until their demands are met.

While I understand locking the people that have the actual power to change something in – like possibly the school administration – I don’t know how I would feel if I wasn’t able to go home from school because a protest like this. Unless I knew ahead of time. But then again, at that time I don’t know if I wanted to stay in school for longer than I needed to, so that could be part of it. But either way, I think about how our main characters were feeling during this lock-in, and I feel like their behavior was pretty much accurate to at least one of the ways that I would behave.

Then we also have the thoughts of Marisa Cuevas, who had the idea to do this eco-protest, and during the events of this novel, there are times where Marisa has some doubt on whether this is as far as she wants to take this protest, or even go farther than she thought.

I think about how there are some characters that are disappointed with their plans being disrupted, and maybe because I ended up reading this during what’s happening with COVID-19, I just don’t feel like a protest was much of a reason to throw a fit, but then I have to remember that this is a high school. I also have to remember that is’ okay to be upset about plans being canceled, disrupted, changed, etc. It’s human nature, and especially if that was something that you were looking forward to. I feel like since there are bigger problems out there, like Marisa’s point on the environment, then maybe it would be better to think outside of your bubble.

All in all, I liked this book and this was my first time reading Alsaid and definitely won’t be the last.

Thank you to Inkyard Press for providing me with a copy of We Didn't Ask for This in exchange for an honest review.

-- I, unfortunately, am giving up on We Didn't Ask for This. I loved the premise, but the constant switch between characters' point-of-views drove me insane. Maybe it got better? I hope so. But I don't think I care enough to find out. I'm 99% sure this is a case of 'it's me, not the book.'

What a cast of characters! This felt like the sort of book that would be fun as a movie or play. Most of the characters were of equal importance. While there was one in charge of organizing the protest, and a small group of 'bad-guys,' I liked each of the other characters for different, individual reasons that not everyone would agree on.

There was not a lot of character development as much as introduction. The characters were presented with just a few of their defining characteristics, and something that could almost help set up a stereotype of them. The readers' conclusions for what that may say about each character was up to them, and while it may make the characters somewhat variable between readers, the story line still developed in probably a close-enough way to everyone else's interpretation.

The extra drama, while entertaining, seemed a bit far-fetched. I don't want to spoil it, but I'll leave it to say there were several unexpected plot twists toward the end. It was also curious that there were more LGBTQ love stories than hetero love stories. Not good or bad, but I wonder how truly representative it was of a high school.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and would give it 3.5 out of 5 stars. I would recommend it to middle schoolers and high schoolers. It wasn't explicit in anything, which I feel would make it acceptable for the middle school (ages 12 - 14 or so) as well as older YA readers.

this is the second book I read from this writer and again I was unable to connect with the characters. I found the premise very interesting, but during the reading I found myself confused by so many different pov. I even understand the question of showing how each character had an expectation and perspective about the party and about being stuck in school, but even so, I found everything a little tiring.

To be honest, I found myself having a hard time connecting to the characters. This saddened me because I really wanted to like everything about it after having read the summary. That being said, i found it honest, diverse, and unexpected in the way things took a turn. Maybe I am not supposed to be connecting to the characters, but instead find myself inspired by their causes and outcomes.

It’s the annual lock-in night at Central International School, the night where students stay at school and enjoy fun events and a legendary secret party planned by a fellow student. It’s a night they look forward to all year, and younger students can’t wait until they’re in high school to experience it.

For some students this will be the night—the night they let their crush know what they’re thinking, the night they prove they’re the best athlete in the school regardless of gender, the night they finally feel like they belong. And for one student, this is the night to follow in his dying brother's footsteps and throw an unbelievable party.

But for one student, this night is the opportunity to take a stand against climate change. Knowing so many students have powerful parents from around the world, she and her supporters have a plan—they’ll chain themselves to every entrance, swallow the keys, and not move until their demands are met. And these aren’t just superficial demands: in some cases they’re asking for sweeping changes to society, like the ceasing of construction on an island.

We Didn't Ask for This follows the aftermath of the students chaining themselves to the doors and how everyone deals with it, from the students and the teachers in the school to those outside. I thought that the original premise of the story was such a good one, but this concept—while I understand the importance of standing up for our climate—just didn’t work. It dragged on way too long and was totally unrealistic, especially when the school had no windows that could open or other things.

I enjoy Adi Alsaid’s writing, as I’ve read some of his other books. I loved the way that the students’ sexuality was so matter-of-fact and no one cared, and a number of the characters were really appealing. I just wish the book didn't feel like two stories melded together into one.

I was part of the blog tour for this book. Thanks to Inkyard Press and NetGalley for the advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review!!

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.




Book: We Didn’t Ask for This




Author: Adi Alsaid




Book Series: Standalone




Rating: 4/5




Diversity: LGBT+ friendly




Publication Date: April 7, 2020




Genre: YA Contemporary




Recommended Age: 15+ (slight violence, romance)




Publisher: Inkyard Press




Pages: 352




Amazon Link




Synopsis: Every year, lock-in night changes lives. This year, it might just change the world.

Central International School's annual lock-in is legendary -- and for six students, this year's lock-in is the answer to their dreams. The chance to finally win the contest. Kiss the guy. Make a friend. Become the star of a story that will be passed down from student to student for years to come.

But then a group of students, led by Marisa Cuevas, stage an eco-protest and chain themselves to the doors, vowing to keep everyone trapped inside until their list of demands is met. While some students rally to the cause, others are devastated as they watch their plans fall apart. And Marisa, once so certain of her goals, must now decide just how far she'll go to attain them.




Review: I thought the book was pretty good. The characters were interesting and well developed. The plot itself was intriguing and kept me interested in the book throughout the whole novel. I really liked this lockdown novel during this lockdown time period.




However, I felt like something the pacing drug on and on and it was hard to imagine what the world looked like. There was very little world building and it got confusing at times. Also, the unbreakable windows were a bit unrealistic.




Verdict: It was pretty good!

First off, Adi Alsaid is a master linguist. He wields phrases like profound and deftly crafted weaponry.

Despite these beautiful phrases, I found myself somewhat lost for the first third of the book. The plot has an extensive cast of characters that all have their own perspectives, motivations, and opinions. I appreciate this in theory, but if you don’t read this book all in one go, it’s easy to forget who some of the smaller characters are. This caused me a great deal of frustration for some time.

The plot follows Marisa Cuevas, a passionate young woman who is adamant that something be done to help the environment. When she can't find an effective platform, she chains herself to a door - along with several other students - during her elite school's most anticipated night of the year. Armed with a voice and a list of demands, Marisa will not leave - and neither will anybody else - until she gets something done. However, this book is about so much more than one girl and the environment.

If you can get into this book and continue reading past the first third, it becomes quite compelling. The constant perspective shift becomes rather charming. The narration captures the nuances of what it feels like to be a teenager that nobody quite understands. It captures the light-switch line between apathy and passion for a seventeen year old, and how it doesn’t always take much to flick that switch. It indulges in the boundary between teens and their parents - parents who think they know better and teens who just want to share their opinions.

Jordi just wants to be accepted, respected. Kenji wants to do something he loves. Amira wants to be able to express herself. Peejay wants things to go back to normal.

This book explores the power of seclusion of isolation - something that is uncannily fitting as our world faces a pandemic. Locked in a building with little privacy and no freedom - these teens (and teachers) are forced to delve into and reevaluate the things that are really important to them. In the face of loss, fear, frustration, and riotous anger, these teens learn something about who each of them really is. Thanks to the wide variety of perspectives given, this is coming-of-age tale with a deeply relatable spin.

*Thank you to netgalley and publisher for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.*

DNF @40%

We didn't Ask for This, is a book that had me intrigued from the moment I read the summary. Unfortunately, upon actually reading the book it was not what I expected. In fact- after just 40%- I hated this book.

The concept behind the story is interesting and really eccentric- Told from the POV of multiple students we get the story of Marisa and her protest (hostage situation) during what is to be the schools annual lock in night. Having multiple characters narrate the story was at first- fun and different. However, it quickly became annoying when they'd switch POVs multiple times throughout ONE chapter. They started to switch so fast it was difficult to get a feel for who was who. Apart from Amira, Marisa and Peejay- I couldn't tell you who the rest of the students were.

The second annoyance was my own skepticism. My brain just could not comprehend how the adults allow this to happen. I did have to give Marissa credit for pulling it off but damn the adults in this novel were just so well.. stupid!!

The third and final nail in the coffin was Marissa's attitude to the whole thing. Her reasons are solid but, BUT- this just read too much like a hostage situation. It made it worse when she starts to rant and some students are proud of what she does.

"But Marisa was smarter than everyone at school-"

I get it but it made me uncomfortable.

Overall: I tried it but this book was not my cup of tea. However, DNF or not, if you like books that put a different spin on things and have multiple main characters- then you might just enjoy this.

This book starts off with the premise of being a traditional high school literary fiction novel, there's an event at the school that everyone looks forward to every year. Yet, one student, Marisa, decides that this is the time to take a stand and fight for something that she believes in....and literally lock everyone in. What started off feeling like a quick, fluff novel for YA turned into a piece of work that makes the reader start to think about how powerful teen voices are, especially in this day and age.
We follow along each characters motivations behind their actions throughout the night, whether selfish or wanting to be part of the cause. At times it did get confusing, trying to keep up with the cast of characters, and who was related to who, but it all made sense in the end.
What they asked for was a great night, to be part of a school tradition that's been handed down year after year. What they ended up getting was much more than that.

It’s kind of a crazy time to read a book about being locked in, right? I didn’t think about that right away, but being under stay-at-home orders as I read WE DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS was definitely interesting– not the same by any means, but interesting.

The style the book is written in is really different from most of the books I read. It’s got an omniscient view that kind of pans through the crowd a lot of the time and then will zoom into one character for a moment and give details about what they’re thinking or experiencing or show a snippet from their past.

Normally this isn’t a writing style that I prefer, but I think it really worked for this story because it creates this big crowd feel but also personalizes so many of the characters and shows so many different points of view and treats them all as equals.

I found it really easy to like lots of the characters, too. Amira and Marisa were my favorites, but I loved Celeste and Kenji and Peejay, too. It took me a little while to get the feel for the community in which the story takes place– it’s an international school, but I kept basically picturing a very diverse American school, which isn’t the same thing at all! But once I recognized that distinction and changed how I was picturing things, I felt like I got it more. Hopefully that makes sense?

On the whole, I really enjoyed reading WE DIDN’T ASK FOR THIS. It’s the first book by Adi Alsaid that I’ve read, but I’ve wanted to read his books for a while now. I really want to check out the others.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I think this book suffered from me definitely not being the right demographic for this book. As a mom, I couldn't get past a school that would shut the school and let the students have the run of the building with no chaperones. I also fond the activism to be a bit preachy. I DNF'd at 20%.