5 Reasons Why I Have to Say I Hated 'Sad Girls' by Lang Leav

So... Finally, I could spare some time to review this book (though I've done it on my Goodreads account). It's been a while since I got the copy. But I feel the need to do the review as soon as I can. So, here it is... Beware of spoilers. Have warned you, okay...

Let's talk about the package, shall we? 
I like the cover. It looks promising, don't you think? The font and simple illustration remind me of Hen Kim's artworks. But apparently, the cover was illustrated by ohgigue. I'm sure about it since the illustration is far from Lang Leav's usual works. Maybe she was too busy to do the illustration like previous books before this one. 
As for the size, it's actually bigger than regular books. I don't know exactly about the dimension whatsoever. You can see the comparison from the picture I took side by side with my hair perfume. At the back cover, there is this quote;
A girl who cried wolf. A boy in sheep's clothing. A killer romance. A deadly secret.
Sounds promising, right? Honestly, I could sense the suicide-thingy from the quote, but I tried so hard to not following that random gut feeling. 

Spoiler: if you feel something feels off, it usually is. 

Then the boredom strikes back when I reached the first few pages of it. Firstly, there is a synopsis. 
School is almost out for Audrey, but the panic attacks are just beginning. Because Audrey told a lie and now her classmate, Ana, is dead. Just as her world begins to spin out of control, Audrey meets the enigmatic Rad – the boy who could turn it all around. But will their ill-timed romance drive her closer to the edge?
It also looks good. At least I know that this book is probably categorised into a Young Adult genre. However, it doesn't give much away, which is preferable. I like it that I need to dive into without knowing anything, so I could still manage the expectation. I can also work on the spoiler, as minimum as I can, but it is going to be hard!

I'm going to start off and say that I hate Audrey, Candela, Rad and Audrey's mother. And here are 5 reasons why you don't have to read this book:

1. Audrey
So Audrey is the main character. She is a whiny teenage girl. She always expects life to happen her way, ignoring the fact that she is still a minor and living under her parents' roof. She has this cold relationship with her mother because her mother was busted cheating from her dad. That is the first conflict to know (spoiler). The second one is when Audrey was saved by Duck, to whom she promised to be his eternal girlfriend. But right after Audrey met Rad, Ana's boyfriend, she just cheated! I know Duck is kind of persistent, by holding off the relationship and again, ignoring the signs that Audrey is no longer into him. What is left to her is the regret of being saved by Duck, though she could have been dead already, if otherwise? That is another reason to hate this girl who cried wolf and simply just an ungrateful chick. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to mention the lies she told which also become the reasons why Ana committed suicide. Plus, not only a cheat, Audrey is also a rude, selfish, self-centered, and abusive girl.

2. Audrey's Mother
What kind of YA book which highlights more of the main character's mother than the actual conflict happened before that? This book never tells me the real reason why Audrey's mother cheated on her dad. Audrey also couldn't explain why she hated her mother so much. What I found is a teenage's anger. You know when you have curfews and stuff, you just rebel it out? The conflict is too shallow. It's only sickening. The point it, she is just awful! She got slightly better towards the end, but really I just wanted to slap her. I didn't know if Lang meant Audrey's character to be like that. If she didn't, maybe she was just badly written.

3. Candela
Here it is the queer character I found in this book. Candela is Ana's best friend. Candela came first in Ana's world. Audrey and Lucy are actually Candela's good friend, but they are never Ana's friends. Confused about how Audrey killed Ana? Up to I write this review, I couldn't find the answer, the real reason behind Audrey telling lies about Ana until she decided to end her life. Okay, Ana is suicidal, like Rad says, but seriously, there must be reasons why she was like that. Disappointingly, the book never explains why. And Candela. She is so upset about Ana's decision. And Audrey once mentions about the intimate relationship between Candela and Ana, I took it as the queer relationship happened between them. But the thought is just stopped there. The book doesn't confirm my guesses about this. Oh, Candela is also a selfish one, who is a junkie and just terrible. Hufft. Towards the end, Candela didn't add anything to the plot at all. All she did was creating drama and problems.

4. Rad
This is Rad. The perfect match for Audrey. They are a match made in Heaven. A liar meets a liar. So it goes to them too. Audrey told lies, while Rad kept the lies to himself until the very end of the book, he shared it to Audrey. And after that? A happy ending for both of liars. Sounds unfair? It's just what it is. Spoilers, these two are some of the reasons behind Ana's suicide.

5. The Storyline
I don't quite get the storyline either because it is that bad or Lang is just bad at it. She is a poet and firstly published her poems. Sad Girls is the pilot fiction project of hers, so yeah, we are free to judge that. And the ending... Pheeew! I think I nearly throw the book to the walls. Okay, maybe I might get choked finding out what Rad did to Ana. But seriously, it made me so angry. The ending romanticises suicide and self-harm!! Plus, there is a murder. So it's just more pain in the ass to finish this book. Can you even imagine how high my expectations about this book in the beginning, but when I finished it, it's just TOO AWFUL???! I couldn't sleep for 2 days because of it!

If you read the epilogue about what Audrey did in the beginning of the book, you will never find the real fucking answer as to why she chose to do what she did. You will understand what I mean if you read the book. I cannot believe Lang would promote suicide and worse, romanticising it. It's just so problematic.

So that is the 5 reasons why I have to say I hated this book. As for the good part, Lang writing style is mesmerising. Lucy and Freddy are also the good things happened in this book. We have horrible characters who just kept on making really bad decisions, but we still have Lucy and Freddy, who don't deserve the fate they have in the book (no spoiler, okay). 

Overall, this book is 2 stars purely because of the characters and storyline. What do you think? Have you read Sad Girls?


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