Review: The Deviants

The Deviants 
Rating: 2/5 
Buy or Borrow: Buy 
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher! 

Growing up in the sleepy English seaside town of Brynston, the fearless five – Ella, Max, Corey, Fallon and Zane – were always inseparable. Living up to their nickname, they were the adventurous, rowdy kids who lived for ghost stories and exploring the nearby islands off the coast. But when Max’s beloved older sister Jessica is killed, the friendship seems to die with her.

Now years later, only Max and Ella are in touch; still best friends and a couple since they were thirteen. Their lives are so intertwined Max’s dad even sponsors Ella’s training for the Commonwealth Games. But Ella is hiding things. Like why she hates going to Max’s house for Sunday dinner, and flinches whenever his family are near. Or the real reason she’s afraid to take their relationship to the next level.

When underdog Corey is bullied, the fearless five are brought back together again, teaming up to wreak havoc and revenge on those who have wronged them. But when the secrets they are keeping can no longer be kept quiet, will their fearlessness be enough to save them from themselves?

Okay so I wasn't really sure what to expect with this book, and it definitely did not go in the direction I though it would. I don't usually do contemporary, I prefer fantasy but I loved CJ's other book so I thought I'd give this one a go! The Deviants is definitely emotional. I felt for Ella at multiple points, along with the other characters, they where a diverse bunch and they where all going through various different things. I slowly got more drawn in to the plot because I wanted to know the answer to certain questions, and this book gets very dark, and like I said, emotional. I was curious because of the questions from an unknown person that Ella was answering in each chapter, and I enjoyed watching the group of characters reconnect and interact with each other, plus I liked how Jessica's stories connected with what was going on in the book. 

I had a few problems with the book though. There where a few points that where very predictable, Max and his cousin, for instance, I knew that was coming and it kind of annoyed me too because Ella had been through a lot and Max seemed like he was really understanding but then he was doing that, and it was so obvious too and he kind of seemed to want to brush it under the rug. It just really bugged me, especially as Ella then went after Shelby, she didn't direct her anger at the right person, I mean sure Shelby wasn't innocent, but she wasn't all that bothered about getting her "revenge" on Max as well. The whole incest-y situation just bugged me to another level. 

A lot of Max's behaviour was blamed on weed, and he had an irrational jealousy of Pete and I couldn't really see why and then he randomly decides to kill him. Zane, now Zane is gay and so he bullies Corey because he knows his secret. He has sex with Fallon and gets her pregnant to prove he's not gay, and then when Ella begins her crusade of revenge against him she's actually proud of herself when they "break him". THEN she's like "it's okay to be gay" to him later in the book. I mean....that just irritated me for a multitude of reasons. This book has a lot of tropes in it and I was excited for all the representation in this book but I feel like it could have been done better on the Zane front. 

I was also kind of disappointed with how it all ended, like after everything Ella's been through, being abused and so on, and she's been unhappy ever since a certain event, and then what happens at the end happens...I was just so disappointed. I thought it might have been better to see Ella work through everything, and put herself back together and get to be happy. I don't know. I just....I liked certain aspects of the book but there was a lot that I didn't like because there where so many tropes in this book and some bits I felt could have been done better or something.