Book: We Didn’t Ask For This
Author: Adi Alsaid
Rating: 1 Out of 5 Stars

I would like to thank the publisher, Inkyard Press, for sending me an ARC.

So, I really did want to like this one, but I just couldn’t get into it. The summary sounds really amazing and has so much promise, but the story I got just wasn’t one that I was expecting. I was honestly so disappointed about how this story was carried out and in the direction it went. There was so much infro dumping and overwriting that just took away from the story. The paragraphs were lengthy and filled with so much information. We were told so much rather than shown. It was the writing that was the first major turn off for me. I think we could have had a much better story had the writing been cleaned up a bit.

The next thing that I didn’t like at all was the playout of the events. Okay, none of this will ever happen in a real school and it seems like the author kind of downplayed the events. This is not activism at all; it’s terrorism. Okay, let me put that out there. This is not how we act. I get the concept of it and fighting for what you believe in, but you do not hold people captive. Not only that, but the way the author wrote it just isn’t believable. There is no way that the school would open so quickly after something like this. Not only that, but come on, someone would have called the cops and this would have played out a lot differently. Just because someone is standing up for their beliefs does not make it okay. You have to understand that. Terrorism is never an okay solution to your problems.

The characters seemed like they were supposed to be complex, but they ended up being a train wreck as well. They were flat, unrealistic, and really unlikable. I honestly had a really had time keeping them all straight and that is not good. There’s just no other way to put it.

Anyway, I was very disappointed. This is an author that have been wanting to try and have another one of his books, but, now, I’m just not so sure if I want to read another book by him.

This book comes out on April 7, 2020.

We Didn't Ask for This started off relatively promising. There's a large cast of characters that are introduced in small bits and pieces, which had me itching to learn more about them and their motivations. Told in a third person omniscient POV that I found a bit refreshing once I got used it, We Didn't Ask for This' narrator was also funny! I found myself chuckling out loud at some of more well-placed jokes:

"Someone else grabbed the megaphone and begged Ms. Duli to "bcc" everyone or at least for the other parents to not hit reply all, which, of course, many would."

That said, I spent a lot of We Didn't Ask for This questioning who this book was written for. The jokes I mentioned I found funny? I found funny as an adult with that lived experience. As a teen, I could see myself having just rolled my eyes. But the message behind We Didn't Ask for This, that the youth of today have inherited problems they can't solve alone, was one I couldn't see young adults or adults truly warming to because of how it was handled. I found it a bit insulting that Marisa's demands were so local (like changing the fertilizer the school uses). While she commented often on how she knows these are small fish in comparison to the larger issues, at least it's something. But it felt like a waste of her potential for her to be so narrow in her scope given the influence of the adults in the lives of her and her peers. And if youth with as much power and resources as this school of privileged children - the children of diplomats and ambassadors - can only enact such small change, what hope is there for youth from lesser privileged areas? And as an adult, I felt a sense of indignation toward the parents. They were treated like - and acted as - mere pawns without individual thought. One student told her Dad his company wasn't allowed to use a certain chemical anymore, and he cleared his calendar to ensure he was able to give her what she was asking for. It just felt...obtusely flippant.

I also really struggled visualizing the school's layout and how the students were specifically chained to the doors. They were able to change their clothing, sit on stools and stretch, for example. But over and over the narrator mentions how tight the chains are, how sore the protestors ribs are from having the chains dig into them. At one point past the halfway mark, it's noted that they are standing. But once the doors are inevitably opened, a protestor comments on how hard it is to walk, as she is unused to being on her feet. These little discrepancies kept pulling me out of the reading experience, while I tried to reconcile the descriptions with the images I had in my head.

But mostly, I found myself being asked to suspend my disbelief too much. The premise of We Didn't Ask for This revolves around 5 teens who have locked the doors to their high school in protest of (ultimately) climate change, which is impacting the coral reefs. Again, as an adult, I had a hard time believing that any administration, community or even local government would allow this type of protest - where hundreds of students are being held inside a school against their will - for over a week. We were asked to believe that because no harm was coming to anyone, no one felt a sense of urgency to find another way into the building (like, having the teachers learn how to remove the doors completely from their inside hinges, or busting through the windows the students used to have their delivered food passed through). As an international school for the wealthy, I also had a hard time believing a school with a rooftop garden and indoor tennis courts, would only have 5 exits.

There are other things that nagged at me as I was reading - why did Peejay have so much power over all of his peers? Why were the students so complacent about being stuck inside the school for a week? Why would anyone think classes should continue while this was happening? So despite being a quick read, I can't say I would recommend We Didn't Ask for This.

This story takes place during a high school lock in that doesn't go as planned when a small group of students lock the door to protest climate change and have their list of 30 demands met. While I can imagine that this story wanted to be a hot take on how teens are the ones on the front lines of a fight against climate change caused by the adults in their lives, I don't feel like this book had a strong message and got that point across. The writing style was stilted and kept me from investing in the many characters in this book. It also bounced from one student to another without giving me many reasons to care about them. I was told their motivations and backstories but I didn't see them as fully realized characters I could empathize and connect with to root for during the story. I also don't understand the point the story was trying to get across. The lock in protest became was bigger of an issue than I would imagine readers would be able to imitate in their own protest (please don't do this at home) so I'm not sure how helpful this example and conversations would be for teens. I was hanging in there until the time jump which broke my ability to suspend disbelief while reading this story. Then the resolution at the ending felt too extreme and unfulfilling. I don't think teens who share these concerns about climate change will find this book a fulfillment of what they wish they could do or an example of ways to further their cause. I think this book hurts more than helps the efforts to fight climate change because it depicts those fighting for it as too extreme to be grounded in realities readers face and their methods as hurtful to others, not inspiring. I was really disappointed by this book, and wonder how teen readers will react as they see issues they care about treated in ways to sensationalize them for an entertaining book, instead of connecting readers to understand and join the fight.

At first I wasnt quite sure if I would end up liking this book or not, but the more I read the more i couldn't put it down! I only gave 4/5 stars due to some aspects being a little too unbelievable but still good and I felt like at times there was too many view points going on that I got a little overwhelmed.

This was book was like One of Us is Lying x The Breakfast Club x climate change x hostage crisis...and for the most part, it worked for me. Such a creative concept, I enjoyed the international school setting and all of the characters with their individual motivations were well developed. It was perhaps not the most realistic/believable set-up, but I think YA is a good audience for playing with the less-than-realistic. The writing was excellent and I would definitely read more like this from Alsaid.

Great book, even better writing. I like the activism in the plot even though there was some elements that was a bit unbelievable, Overall a great story.

Ever read something where the idea is great, the characters are good, and the overall flow is nice but you just cannot suspend your disbelief? Yep, that was this one for me. I'm choosing to believe it was me and not the book. DNF@ 23%.

This novel is perfect for fans of books like This Is Where It Ends, or One of Us Is Lying. There is more levity in this novel than in those, I feel, mostly due to the atmosphere and subject matter. But the cast of characters, several of whom get their time in the spotlight, are what makes this novel stand out. Additionally, this is one of the most accessible novels I have seen in terms of sending a message about climate change. It will affect young people the most, and therefore, their passion to change the way we're currently going about our business is palpable. Alsaid takes that and turns it into the impetus for a resonant story of protest, and continuing to fight for your beliefs no matter how adverse the conditions.

I liked the diverse cast of characters in this book, and at the beginning the premise of the story seemed interesting, but as the book went along, it seemed less and less logical and likely, the way Marisa and her people were able to hold the students hostage for an entire week without anyone being able to get them out. It just felt like someone would have done something by that point. And I liked that she was trying to get the people to become better to the environment, but it just seemed like there are better ways to go about doing that. Overall, the omniscient narrator allowing us a peek inside everyone's heads was very interesting, though maybe it also detracted from the story since we were constantly jumping around everyone's heads? I don't know, it was an interesting idea in theory, but I don't know that I was a big fan of this one.

I'm all for a thrilling book with lots of misadventures, but I felt this book was a little too unbelievable to thoroughly be enjoyed. I think a bit more research needed to go into the events of the book.

Activism or terrorism? When a teenager and her friends chain themselves to every exit door in their high school, the "lock-in" night becomes a bit more than they expected. While this was a pretty good book, I don't think it was very believable. Windows that don't open or shatter seem to be a fire marshal disaster. And why would anyone let this go on so long before bringing in the police or even the national guard? I've worked as a high school teacher for 20 years and can tell you that not only do our windows open, no one would be stuck in the building and going to classes after a week of being held captive.

There is an unremitting unreality coursing through this book which, at first, was off-putting. By the end it was a welcome break from the day.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of #wedidntaskforthis.

This was a relatively quick read, as I've been catching up on reading and reviews, I went with this book, thinking it would be a good read nonetheless.

Marisa and her group of "activist" take over a school lock-in by chaining themselves to all the doors/exits. They're trying to save the coral reef, and they've even got a list of demands.
This ends up being deemed a hostage situation, and things really just turn unbelievable from there, and it was hard to get into this book because of that.

The line between activism and a hostage situation is a narrow divide. While the call to action for environmental awareness is to be applauded, the means by which change is considered is implausible. Marisa and her cohort take over a school-sponsored lock-in by chaining themselves to each door that leads in and out of the school. Great planning to achieve this takes place, with consideration of bathroom needs, removable of bolt cutters, and providing feminine products for the unwilling participants who were not planning on spending a week at school. A list of demands is posted above the main entrance, all linked to preserving coral reefs.
It is noble and commendable to work towards this goal, but once a hostage situation was determined, there is no way parents would stand idly by. While the cast of character with additional struggles to combat are well drawn, there is still the overhanging shadow of ridiculousness, that keeps the story from seeming serious.