This review comes to you today from two perspectives: the first, my reactions as myself, a reader and lover of young adult fiction; the second, and probably more important, will be my recommendation to read this book as a future secondary school teacher. I hope that by exploring both of these perspectives will give you a greater understanding of what this book is about, and whether you will choose to pick it up for yourself.
I experienced a number of mixed feelings whilst reading this book, some good and some not-so-great. I found the first half of the book to be the most enjoyable, because that was where most of the mystery played out; the second half was definitely a lot slower, and for me, less enjoyable. Whilst I definitely kept a critical eye whilst reading
Risk, I was able to still enjoy it overall.
It has been a huge six years since I read anything set in Australia, written by an Australian author. My last Aussie read was the Tomorrow series by John Marsden, a staple for anyone in high school. Since then, I've read
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, which is about as far removed from an Australian setting as the mainstream USA-based young adult literature. So I went into
Risk with positive vibes, knowing that, no matter what, I would love it because it would be
relevant to me and I would be able to relate to it, and it definitely delivered on these fronts. It was so easy to relate to this book, its characters, because everything was so familiar to me. Brighton Beach, the St Kilda Marina, high school culture, family relations, everything. It was such a wonderful feeling to finally be able to relate to a book so easily, to know exactly what the characters were seeing, experiencing and feeling. With a few bonus references to the hotness of Chumpy Pullin, I was well and truly in love with this book.
The story itself was an important one to tell, and something that I haven't really been exposed to in YA before. Online predators are a very real danger in society today, and one that we regularly hear about in the news. It is something that I was warned about throughout high school, and though I dabbled in a few online chatrooms in my time, I was lucky enough to be unharmed. But the dangers were definitely there, and I wasn't ignorant to them. Some people aren't so lucky, and
Risk tells one such story. But I'll get to more of that later.
The first half of the book, as I've mentioned, was the most enjoyable. I enjoyed meeting all of the characters, getting to understand their complex friendship dynamic, and the mystery and suspense of the novel. I was able to closely relate my own experiences to theirs, understood their attitudes and behaviours towards school, friendships, family and their online identity. I think that Ferris did an excellent job in portraying the emotions and mentality of Australian teens, their complexity, and their not-so-politically-correct manner. I was particularly intrigued by Taylor's conflicting, constantly changing thoughts on her friendship with Sierra in the beginning. We've all gone through fights with our best friends, and it's one of the worst experiences anyone can go through; Ferris captures that sense of inner conflict and frustration, and is able to convey those feelings and experiences to readers in a relatable, unashamed way. In this way, I was able to strongly connect with the characters. I didn't necessarily like them – every character has their fault, and I struggled to really
like any of the characters in this book – but they were easy to connect to. I think we can relate to them because they embody our worst decisions at times, and we can understand them, but it certainly doesn't mean we have to like them.
I didn't enjoy the second half as much. What I thought would be the plot for the entire book took only the first 150 pages or so, and from there, I somewhat lost interest in the plot and character developments. It was interesting to see the fall-out from what happened, but I felt it was much slower and repetitive than the first half. So, essentially, my main qualm with this book was that it wasn't long enough. I really believe that it could have been significantly improved had everything been explored in more detail, if we were
shown details rather than simply told them, had Taylor not changed her mind on everything so quickly, had conflicts not been resolved over two pages, had we had more time to explore Taylor's conflicting emotions in detail, and really understand her struggle.
But I understand that it was written the way it was, because that's exactly how fifteen-year-olds think and process. Perhaps that was my main issue, that the book was targeted to a younger audience, an audience that I don't fit into anymore. It's been many a few years since I was fifteen-years-old myself, and though I can relate to the character, I struggled to not become frustrated by her thought processes and actions. At times, her emotions felt superficial, and I couldn't fully appreciate them. At other times, her speech or blog posts felt too mature, too monotone and formal, for a fifteen-year-old experiencing the range of emotions that she was. The teens' voices were often indistinguishable from the adults, and it took away somewhat from the believability of what was happening in the story. I think this book was definitely targeted to a younger audience than me, and if I had been able to read it six years ago, I would have rated it five stars without a doubt.
And so despite being unable to enjoy this story to its full potential myself, I will not be deterred from recommending this book to my students in the future.
Which brings me to the second element of my review, where I talk from the perspective of a future teacher. I am currently in my third year of university studies to become a secondary school teacher, on track to graduate as part of the Class of 2016. I am constantly thinking about my own teaching philosophy, what teaching methods I will adopt, and the things I will want my students to gain from being in my classroom. I want them to know about the issues they will face in the world, and how to protect themselves without compromising their own freedoms. Online safety and building a positive online identity for themselves is something that I will endeavour to impart with my students.
And for this reason, I will surely be recommending that my students read
Risk, study it, and learn about the real threats that they face from online predators. I think
Risk is a hugely valuable resource for teens in high schools around Australia and the rest of the world, and it would be amazing to one day even see it listed as a text on school reading lists. I think that young teens can take a great deal from this book, and so I would like to see as many students reading this book as possible. Reading is a great way for teens to learn about major issues in a non-confrontational way. They don't have to discuss it aloud with their peers or teachers or parents; they can read it in their own privacy, take whatever they want from it, and perhaps discuss it in a manner that is most comfortable for them, when they feel the time is appropriate.
Though the book should not be taken as gospel or the unequivocal truth – it has many issues that teens should be cautious about, such as body/fat shaming and slut shaming – it is a great way for teens to learn about major issues. If guided by schools and responsible educators, I feel that students can learn incredibly important lessons, and are exposed to vital information, from reading
Risk. I feel that it's going to be one of those staple books for teens growing up in Australia.
"There are heaps of missing people when you go looking."
I read this book as part of the
Aussie Bloggers Book Club, and if you're interested in reading and discovering more Australian literature than what the mainstream promotes, I would definitely recommend checking out their Goodreads page. It's certainly exposed me to a huge range of Australian literature that I didn't know existed, and I can't wait to read more in the future.
