Title: Bad Habits

Author: Flynn Meaney

Publication Date: February 11, 2021

Genre: Young Adult Contemporary

Number of Pages: 320

Summary: From Goodreads: Alex is a rebel from the tip of her purple fauxhawk to the toes of her biker boots. She’s tried everything she can think of to get expelled from her strict Catholic boarding school. Nothing has worked so far – but now, Alex has a new plan.

Tired of the sexism she sees in every corner of St Mary’s, Alex decides to stage the school’s first ever production of The Vagina Monologues. Which is going to be a challenge, as no one else at St Mary’s can even bear to say the word ‘vagina’ out loud . . .

Review: Thank you to The Write Reads for organizing and inviting me to participate in this blog tour. Thank you, Net Galley and Penguin, for providing me with an advanced digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Bad Habits is about Alex, a rebel teenager who wants to get kicked out of her strict Catholic boarding school, St. Mary’s. She’s always getting in trouble, and she hates the double standard with how boys and girls are treated. After a late-night incident at the campus store, Alex decides that she’s going to get expelled by staging a production of The Vagina Monologues. What follows is a laugh-out-loud journey of self-discovery and feminist fun.

My favourite thing about this book was all of the laugh-out-loud moments it had. I read most of this book on the couch, and I received a lot of strange looks from my Dad because I was giggling while I read. Some people don’t appreciate the kind of humour in this book and might be offended by it, but I thought some of the lines were hilarious, and it was definitely the most enjoyable part of the book for me.

As far as the characters go, I have mixed feelings. In my opinion, Alex really isn’t that likable of a character. She’s pretty judgmental, kind of spoiled, and a little bit too into herself and her problems. That being said, I thought she was funny, and she did grow as a person as the story went on. Alex’s roommate, Mary Kate, was one of my favourite characters in the book. I liked that she had a goal, principles and that she stood up for herself. I also liked Patrick, the hockey player, I thought he had his funny moments, and he seemed like a decent person.

I liked the feminism and body positivity aspect of this book, even though I was frustrated with Alex’s brand of feminism. Alex has a specific brand of feminism that is fairly judgemental and not very feminist. Fortunately, throughout the book, Alex starts to learn more about feminism and makes her a better person.

I also want to say that I liked the hockey aspect of this book. It seems very cliché that a boarding school in Minnesota would be obsessed with hockey, but I loved it.

Overall, this was a fun and quick read. It had its laugh-out-loud moments, and it had its memorable moments.

Rating: 4 Stars!

About the Author: Flynn Meaney is the author of The Boy Recession and Bloodthirsty. She studied marketing and French at the University of Notre Dame, where she barely survived the terrifying array of priests and nuns, campus ghosts, and bone-crushing athletes who inspired Bad Habits. Since completing a very practical MFA in Poetry, she works for a French company and travels often between New York (when she’s in the mood for bagels) and Paris (when she’s in the mood for croissants).

Buy the Book: Amazon (Canada), Amazon (UK), Book Depository, Indigo, & Waterstones