Adi Alsaid

Central International School's annual lock-in is legendary. Bonds are made. Contests are fought. Stories are forged that will be passed down from student to student for years to come. This year's lock-in begins normally enough. Then a group of students led by Marisa Cuevas stage an ecoprotest and chain themselves to the doors, vowing to keep everyone trapped inside until their list of demands is met. Some students rally to their cause...but others are aggrieved to watch their own plans fall apart. Amira has trained all year to compete in the school decathlon on her own terms. Peejay intended to honor his brother by throwing the greatest party CIS has ever seen. Kenji was looking forward to making a splash at his improv showcase. Omar wanted to spend a little time with the boy he's been crushing on. Celeste, adrift in a new country, was hoping to connect with someone--anyone. And Marisa, once so certain of her goals, must now decide how far she'll go to attain them. Every year, lock-in night changes lives. This year, it might just change the world.

We Didn't Ask for This

Sarah Sammis

We Didn't Ask for This by Adi Alsaid is set in the Kingdom of Thailand at the Central International School. Once a year the seniors get to take over the school during a night time "lock-in." This year, though, things will go horribly wrong.

The lock-in, being planned by Peejay, is hijacked by Marisa Cuevas and her group of eco-protest students. They want to draw attention to a construction site that is threatening a reef. They have a list of demands and no one will be released until they are met.

http://pussreboots.com/blog/2020/comm...

Paige Green

Disclaimer: I received this e-arc from the publisher. Thanks! All opinions are my own.

Book: We Didn’t Ask for This

Author: Adi Alsaid

Book Series: Standalone

Rating: 4/5

Diversity: LGBT+ friendly

Publication Date: April 7, 2020

Genre: YA Contemporary

Recommended Age: 15+ (slight violence, romance)

Publisher: Inkyard Press

Pages: 352

Amazon Link

Synopsis: Every year, lock-in night changes lives. This year, it might just change the world.

Central International School's annual lock-in is legendary -- and for six students, this year's lock-in is the answer to their dreams. The chance to finally win the contest. Kiss the guy. Make a friend. Become the star of a story that will be passed down from student to student for years to come.

But then a group of students, led by Marisa Cuevas, stage an eco-protest and chain themselves to the doors, vowing to keep everyone trapped inside until their list of demands is met. While some students rally to the cause, others are devastated as they watch their plans fall apart. And Marisa, once so certain of her goals, must now decide just how far she'll go to attain them.

Review: I thought the book was pretty good. The characters were interesting and well developed. The plot itself was intriguing and kept me interested in the book throughout the whole novel. I really liked this lockdown novel during this lockdown time period.

However, I felt like something the pacing drug on and on and it was hard to imagine what the world looked like. There was very little world building and it got confusing at times. Also, the unbreakable windows were a bit unrealistic.

Verdict: It was pretty good!

Leelynn Brady

Disclaimer: I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you to Harlequin Trade Publishing, Netgalley, and Inkyard Press for this free copy. All quotes in this review are taken from the Advanced Reader Copy and may change in final publication.

I’ve never had a lock-in at school before like this, and apparently our main characters haven’t either. It kind of reminds me of Pretty Little Liars where they had to have a lock-in because of all the cyber bulling that was happening – but we all know how that went, don’t we? This plot was interesting because while the students knew what to expect from their other yearly lock-in’s, they had to deal with the additional factor of kids staging an eco-protest and chaining themselves to the doors so nobody can get out until their demands are met.

While I understand locking the people that have the actual power to change something in – like possibly the school administration – I don’t know how I would feel if I wasn’t able to go home from school because a protest like this. Unless I knew ahead of time. But then again, at that time I don’t know if I wanted to stay in school for longer than I needed to, so that could be part of it. But either way, I think about how our main characters were feeling during this lock-in, and I feel like their behavior was pretty much accurate to at least one of the ways that I would behave.

Then we also have the thoughts of Marisa Cuevas, who had the idea to do this eco-protest, and during the events of this novel, there are times where Marisa has some doubt on whether this is as far as she wants to take this protest, or even go farther than she thought.

I think about how there are some characters that are disappointed with their plans being disrupted, and maybe because I ended up reading this during what’s happening with COVID-19, I just don’t feel like a protest was much of a reason to throw a fit, but then I have to remember that this is a high school. I also have to remember that is’ okay to be upset about plans being canceled, disrupted, changed, etc. It’s human nature, and especially if that was something that you were looking forward to. I feel like since there are bigger problems out there, like Marisa’s point on the environment, then maybe it would be better to think outside of your bubble.

All in all, I liked this book and this was my first time reading Alsaid and definitely won’t be the last.

We Didn't Ask for This

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