Reviews for Whip It!

The average rating for Whip It! based on 2 reviews is 1.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-10-26 00:00:00 Jane Scifleet Full disclosure: I'm a derby girl who saw Whip It twice before it was officially released. I'm also a devout fan of Drew Barrymore, and Ellen Page. This book had to really hustle to come anywhere near a movie that I really enjoyed and believed. Since I just recently saw the movie, of course, I'm left comparing the book. In a rare occurrence, I actually preferred the movie. Unfortunately, this means my review is a lot more about how well the movie managed things that the book didn't. Ultimately, the book is a reasonably motivating chick lit title about a sport I love. If nothing else, a book that exposes young women to roller derby, and presents it as a sport - a fast-paced, punk rock, crowd-exciting, chick-empowering, all-embracing SPORT - can't be too bad. It's certainly a unique subject matter. Take the roller derby out and it's a fairly generic teen romance. Girl is an outcast and struggles both at school and at home with her indie rock sensibilities. Soulmate/kindred spirit best friend vs. hottie rocker boyfriend ends in tears and eventual kiss and makeups. Mom and Dad come to terms with their little girl growing up. All pretty universal themes. And the movie takes these themes, expands on them, and takes the mis-steps of the book and brings Bliss to an even more satisfactory end. In the book, Bliss spends a lot of time complaining about her situation or moping or being snarky. Of course, any inner monologue will have a bit much teenage angst and introspection, and the book takes that self-pity to a level that Ellen Page never hits in the movie. Where the movie shows sparkling well-rounded characters, the book relies on derby names to create a character who we never really see. Book Bliss spends most of her time reacting to the situations she's left in rather than initiating some action, and I'm not nearly as satisfied with the book's pat happy ending. I just wasn't thrilled with Derby Girl (and I didn't think the movie was exactly brilliant either), mostly because it seemed that the characters were more annoying and less human than they were portrayed in the movie. I expected a more endearing mom, a less snarky more sweet and self-aware Bliss, and roller girls that existed outside of their derby personas. I think I'd rather my (theoretical) daughter watch the movie, since it flaunts the girl-power theme in a much more accessible way while still addressing the issues that the book goes after. If you're reading the book because you're interested in derby, go see a bout in person. If you're reading the book because you saw Whip It, you'll be disappointed. If you're reading the book because you're looking for a generic YA book with an eye-catching cover, fair enough, but don't expect to find anything particularly thrilling inside. And if you read the book and can't imagine why they made it into a movie, give Whip It a chance. It breathes life into these characters in a beautiful way that makes these relationships - all of them - much more believable and honest than Cross displays them here.

Review # 2 was written on 2009-07-28 00:00:00 Afolabi Abinusawa *sigh* I hope that Shauna Cross is a better screenwriter than an author. The book reads from the perspective of a sixteen year old girl, but the writing style is as developed as that of a nine year old girl. Somehow this book managed to make feminist rebel girl culture look lame and immature. "How could my best friend shoplift without me? That was OUR thing!" The characters: square-peg blue-haired rebel girl, stern overbearing mother who wants daughter to be a "lady", apathetic dad, picture perfect little sister, oddball ethnic best friend, rival popular girl at school, cool teacher, submissive part-time job supervisor, bass-playing indie love interest, derby team captain ally, rival derby mean girl. Insert all previous characters into a predictable formulaic coming-of-age snoozefest. Can you be both a sardonic hipster and an airheaded valley girl? Apparently. Whatevs! Don't forget to add that main character Bliss is also smarter than everyone in a position of power and immediately also the best jammer in the league. Yeah, sure. I read it for the derby element, which was merely a footnote in this hastily written mess. Yuck. I think on this rare occasion, the movie ("Whip It") may trump the book.