Books like I Never

I had to calm myself down before I could even contemplate writing a coherent review. I'd just like to preface this my saying, I'm not a very picky reader. My average rating is like a 4.2! If I enjoy the story I can usually overlook a lot of flaws. I picked this book up because I saw it on my favorite Booktuber's channel, and it was supposedly a must read for every young adult. I hated this book with every ounce of my being. Quite frankly it offended me. Is this the kind of trash they think teenagers need to be reading? Is this how I'm supposed to act? Are these the kind of stupid decisions I'm supposed to make? Am I supposed to be so "emotionally unstable" during my ripe teenage years that I allow my emotions to control me? Well excuse me for wanting to break that mold. I think my biggest issue with "I Never" was the main character, Janey. Never before have I encountered a main character I loathed like I loathed Janey. I hated Luke. I hated Sloan. I hated Danielle. None of them even came close to comparing to how much I disliked Janey. She was absolutely unbearable. She repeatedly reiterated how boring, plain, and much of "nobody" she was. Yet she constantly acted superior to her friends and those around her. She specifically said she didn't want to be the "kind of girl who needs validation from boys" but then she completely contradicted herself. She point blank said she was only "someone" after she was "endorsed" by her popular senior boyfriend. She complained about how plain and unmemorable she was(petite, perky runner seems pretty memorable to me) until her boyfriend literally made her stand in front of a mirror naked and admire herself. She refused to appreciate her body until he approved of it, and then suddenly she floated around basking in the aura of her newly discovered beauty. She let a guy validate her worth through his opinion of her body. Sounds to me like she "needed validation from boys." She constantly questions why Luke would ever want to date her, and I honestly have no idea because she overreacts about everything! The fights she picks with him are utterly ridiculous and make her seem like a twelve year old. Janey's inner monologue is so immature, and she sounds at least four years younger than seventeen. Not to mention after he showers her in compliments and praise and does absolutely nothing to earn her distrust, she still questions his motives in dating her and acts insane and jealous. I didn't even have the heart to be mad at Luke. He was clearly just a dense, pretty plot device who'd tell Janey precisely what she needed to hear while having hot make out sessions with her so she'd feel confident. He was a walking cliche. This book is supposed to narrate the tumultuous waters that come along with falling in love and having sex for the first time. I'm not going to go into graphic detail but it did not do that. The romance between Luke and Janey was rushed. It was insta love. There was no spark and no chemistry, because their personalities were so flat. They rushed into sleeping together way too quickly and the lead up was weak. I know the author's focus was on sending a sex positive message. I don't think she succeeded. Janey's mom attacks and reprimands Janey when she thinks she's sleeping with Luke. They never have a positive, healthy conversation about Janey's new relationship. Later in the book they resolve this problem when her mom unrealistically caves in on her opinion about the pace of Janey and Luke's relationship. She let's Janey and Luke spend the night together after prom of all nights! There is still no conversation. She is supposedly one of those "cool, progressive" parents that prepares their children for adulthood but we don't see that. She simply goes from angry at the prospect of her daughter sleeping with Luke to an "I don't care, do what you want" sort of mentality. That is not a sex positive message. That communicates to teenagers that it's okay to be irresponsible. In addition to the lacking "sex positive" message this author's trying so hard to drive home, there's an unrealistic message attached with the sex. The steamy scenes in the book were not young adult. They were surprisingly graphic and new adult. I love myself a good smutty romance but in a book that's supposed to be raw and realistic is not the time nor place. Going back to the so called "sex positive" message, I noticed the author glossed right over STD's and STI's. Janey and Luke never once thought about the consequences that could potentially come along with their actions! They only cared that they were young and in luuurve! Did they use protection? Yes. Pregnancy should not have been their only concern. Disease is a very real, very important factor that comes along with sex. Again, I won't go into detail but a certain part of this book left my head spinning because of how misinformed Janey was when it came to STD's. Not all of them can be prevented and her and Luke didn't even have a conversation about it! The fact that Janey never had any sort of conversation with her parents about safe sex at the appropriate time(like maybe not in high school?!)) and additionally was misinformed about sexual diseases proves she was much too immature to be engaging in the activities that she was. "I Never" virtually send a message to young adult girls telling them that they need to base their worth off the validation of men's opinions of their bodies, overact and distrust their boyfriends based off of nothing but their out of control hormones, and have sex completely unprepared and with no thought about the consequences or the future.I'm sorry if I've repeated myself or made myself unclear at any point. This book hit a nerve, and I'm afraid I went off on a bit of a tangent. I'm ready to bury it in the depths of my bookshelf where I'll never have to look at it again.