DNF - I attempted to start this book and it just did not hold my interest. This may be a book I come back to in the future.

This was so good! I really liked the commentary on high school dynamics and honestly it was fun! The drama, the romance, I was here for all of it!

Brynn, known for helping her fellow high school students master the art of text courtship, finds herself in hot water when a video surfaces showing a sex act that she’s blamed for. Determined to clear her name, Brynn sets out to find the real person behind the video. Along the way, she learns a lot about herself and her classmates.

The story, though it has the potential to be a heavy drama, is kept fast-paced and engaging by Brynn’s snarky voice. It’s not a tough read, but rather a fun and entertaining one. I especially liked the way the girls band together to expose the double standard they’re facing, which had me mentally cheering. Overall, this book was really enjoyable.

This is an entertaining YA as we see Brynn navigate being canceled in a world of double standards. You certainly find out who your true friends are and maybe a love interest too!
3.5 stars

Cancelled is a sharp, searing commentary on how it’s impossible to be a young woman in this world and also somewhat of a cautionary tale. It follows Brynn, who fancies herself a problem solver—she has a veritable side hustle coaching her classmates through texting with their crushes. When a video of a girl who appears to be her doing something sexual with somebody else’s boyfriend is circulated through her school, Brynn is cancelled by her classmates, and is willing to go to great lengths to restore her reputation.
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Penn tackles issues that I was beginning to become aware of in high school, such as double standards, through a perfectly modern lens—I was in high school not that long ago and the idea that I could be put in a situation like Brynn’s wasn’t foreign to me. It’s really telling in this book how differently the boy in the video is treated compared to Brynn. In an attempt to get her classmates to see her side of the story, Brynn begins a feminism club, which pits her against ex-friends and the administration, but also leads many to realize how women can’t win. As the story unfolds, we learn about Brynn’s many short-lived platonic and romantic relationships, many of which she realizes ended because she was careless with the other person’s feelings, which is where the cautionary tale piece comes in.
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An engaging read that is simultaneously a social commentary and an exploration of positive social themes.

Penn has crafted a great romance that looks at the perils of modern dating and shaming. As a takedown of the patriarchy and sex shaming, it's an excellent recommendation, though I wouldn't give it to readers just looking for a romance. As a drawback, I often felt like the characters seemed older than high school, despite the fact that this is a very high school-coded topic.

What a funny, fresh, romp of a YA contemporary. Loved the takedown of power structures in high school and the power of friendship to sustain us!

If this is the average High School experience, I’m glad I didn't fulfil my dream of studying in the States.

Teenagers have always been mean and borderline sociopathic - and I know a thing or two about bullying -, but this is totally unacceptable.
Where are the parents? Where are the people behind Bible-studying groups? Why no one call the police and make a proper investigation?
Also, the whole I-will-reverse-their-thinking-and-not-pointing -my-finger-back is such bullshit; the psychological damage that bullying does is gonna follow that person even after school or college, so it's pretty clear that *someone* didn't experience it in the first place.

I love a flawless-narrated story with a bunch of diverse characters and their problematics, even more so if the message behind it is “put down the patriarchy” or “don't be ashamed of having sex” or an even better “start thinking with your own head”.
Yet, one of the main topics is supposed to be bullying and how it affects people, but for some reason the focus is rarely on it.

<i>Thanks to PENGUIN GROUP - Penguin Young Readers Group, Vikings Books for Young Readers, and NetGalley, who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest opinion.</i>

DNF @ 56%

It pains me to say this, because I was so excited to read this YA novel, but something about the storyline just wasn't working for me. It felt like it was trying to do too many things: mystery, feminism outrage, romance - and I wasn't invested in any of the storylines for that reason. I LOVED the author's writing style and I thought the friendships were outstanding, but ultimately, I had to set this book aside.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc of this book. all opinions are my own.

This was fantastic. I really enjoyed it! I'd recommend it.

This book was CRAZY. I was seriously not expecting the plot twists and it stayed hilariously entertaining the whole way through.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC!!

Cancelled

For some reason I didn’t realize I haven’t read this book even though I wanted to for a long time *facepalm* thankfully I realized my mistake and quickly grabbed it and started it.

I am so glad I did because it was a fresh take on slut shaming and cancel culture. Brynn is a high school student with a reputation of being a flirt, so of course the whole school believes she is guilty of hooking up with the boyfriend of a former friend.

This spirals Brynn into the chaos of learning who her real friends are, where her own loyalty is, and just how much revenge can make her or break her.

I really really enjoyed the friendship part of this book, Brynn’s friend group stuck with each other and learned that respect is the biggest gift you can give to a teenage girl.

Now Brynn was a good lead, I like her and her confidence and she showed a lot of maturity though she got on my nerves a little with her slowness to resolve her own relationship. But overall I was entertained and happy throughout.

Something was just off about this one. I couldn't connect with the main characters and found myself falling in love with the side characters instead.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for proving me with an ARC!

This book was good. It reminded me of the book/movie "Moxie" a lot because of the themes and the high school setting. I liked the messages explored in the book. She has to clear her name of something she didn't even do, but she has to choose between her reputation/going to dream college and saving someone else's reputation.

This isn't one of my favorite books, but I'd still definitely recommend it!

Cancelled definitely did NOT make me miss high school!

I skimmed through reviews before deciding between two and three stars. There was a lot of good in the book, but I ultimately decided on a two star rating. The main character Brynn was mostly likeable, and I really enjoyed the social commentary about Misogyny and female empowerment. But the story didn't hold my attention and make me want to keep reading. I also did not care for the love story... I didn't feel the chemistry build up.

I think that the book was a miss for me, but would definitely be a huge hit for others! I love YA, it just wasn't amongst my favorites. I would be interested to see what comes next for the author.

In a world where cancel culture has become such a big part of social media, this book was an eye opener. When people are making videos to cancel others, they don't always think of the backlash that will ensue, especially if the victim is misidentified. This was such a great read!

A fun and fast paced story of high school social drama with a thoughtful exploration of "cancellation" and what justice looks like. I enjoyed the romp of it all, and really liked the take it took on what it means to right a wrong (and how complicated that can get).

I really enjoyed this book. This is a great story for anyone in high school currently. There is a great lesson to be learned from Brynn and the rest of the student body about the negative aspects of social media. Poor Brynn was being blamed for cheating with her ex bestie’s boyfriend, and she has no way to prove that she didn’t. Some hijinks ensues and a love story unfolds.

I would recommend this book to young teens or any adult that’s up for a good story with a moral.

Murders and World War II are like catnip to me. I love reading about both topics. So I was excited to read Some Murders in Berlin by Karen Robards. The book is an intriguing story of a serial killer who is raping and murdering women in Nazi-era Berlin. To catch him Danish psychologist Dr. Elin Lund, known as "Dr. Murder", has been brought into Berlin by the Nazi government to develop a psychological profile of the killer, which will then be used to help the local police, led by Homicide Detective Kurt Schneider,catch the killer. Soon, however, the killer realizes Ellin is getting close to identifying him and she thus becomes his target.

The book's plotting was generally good. The unfolding of clues was logical and believable. However, the book took a long time to become compelling and suspenseful. There were many conversations and descriptions that could have been shortened or eliminated to get the action going. Also, there were many characters introduced early in the story. I had to keep reading back to remember who they were. I almost gave up on it. Glad I didn't because the last half of the book is a page turner.

The identity of the killer needed to be fleshed out more; I wasn't convinced he was a serial killer. Maybe Eli or Kurt witnessing a truly barbaric act on his part would have helped me believe he was capable of rape and murder.

The interweaving of history with story is particularly well done. Robards does a great job recreating Nazi-era Berlin, Secret bars, mandated blackouts, buildings reduced to rubble by Allied bombings, and general chaos, are the perfect environment for the killer to prey on vulnerable young women, many of whom are alone due to their husbands and brothers away fighting in the German army. The reader gets a sense of menacing evil, and danger through her vivid descriptions of Berlin early in the war.
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The two main characters were well developed, with many believable qualities. Elin is a prickly scientist, devoted to her work, yet vulnerable from worrying about her Jewish son. That she is also beautiful, is a bit of a stretch. However, this is a romance novel, so it probably works for most readers. I did not believe that her mother was a serial killer. That seemed contrived and unnecessary to developing her character. Detective Kurt is the stereotypical gruff detective who has a heart of gold. He acts believably as he initially is skeptical of Elin's abilities, then grows to trust her instincts and intelligence. He is also a Nazi. In a cool twist to his personality, it is revealed that he is helping Jewish children escape from Germany. That worked for me and helped me understand Elin’s attraction to him. Of course, the two fall in love. After all, this IS a romance novel. I did think the romance/ sex parts were pretty cringey. Elin, in particular, had a beating heart, thoughts of steamy trysts, glances full of meaning, etc. that just didn't seem in line with a highly educated scientist.

I would have liked to know more about the two Danish resisters who were smuggled out of the country as part of Elin's team. What was their connection to her? Were they already part of her team, but also participants in the Resistance? Why were they smuggled into Nazi Germany? Seems like a terrible place for them to hide. If their identities were fleshed out, I missed it.

Readers who enjoy books about WWII will appreciate this book's unique perspective on the era.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc of this book. all opinions are my own.

This was fantastic. I really enjoyed it! I'd recommend it.