At first it was kind of difficult to start because of how initially entitled everyone seemed? But as I got to know the characters, they grew on me as I read about their individual stories and how they end up meeting in this one setting. The setting and the way everything played out in the end was very clever and I loved the authentic teenage voice. Like them, I remember being in school and thinking that every decision would make or break my future, who I was, and what I stood for.

CIS is an international school for grades K-12. Each year, the high school kids have a lock-in toward the end of the school year. This is an event that everyone looks forward to. This year is no different, during lock-in, magic can happen, people fall in love or out of it and try to change the world. Everyone is enjoying the events of the night when they literally get locked in. Marisa and a few other students chain themselves to the doors, refusing to move until thirty demands are met. Will it happen by the time parents arrive in the morning or will they brush this off as a teenage angst.

Thank you to NetGalley and Inkyard Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I feel like kids today are a lot more dedicated to the world then I was with my generation. They are trying to change the world at every turn. Staging protests and demonstrations. I don't think I would have ever done that when I was in high school. This book shows the resilience they have to overcome just about anything in order to get what they want, not for themselves, but for everyone.

This book really resonated with me and it gives me hope for my children and their future.

DISCLAIMER: I received an advanced reader copy (eBook) of We Didn't Ask for This by Adi Alsaid from Harlequin and Inkyard Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. We Didn't Ask for This is part of the Inkyard Press Spring 2020 Blog Tour.

At the heart of this book, We Didn't Ask for This, is about a diverse group of people coming together for both a good cause and to help make the best of a situation they were unwillingly thrown into. I definitely think this book had a lot of nice messages. It really made me think about the environment and question myself if I should be doing more to save it. Although this book had dynamic and diverse characters, and covered topics regarding social issues and the environment, it just wasn’t for me.

From start to finish, I had a really hard time following the format of the book and keeping track of the six main characters and their side stories. Especially, since the chapters weren’t titled by character. Overall, I just couldn’t get into the main plot of Marisa and her eco-protest. The whole idea was intriguing, but at the same time, I found it too far-fetched. Throughout the whole book, I battled with myself if I liked Marisa’s character, and if she was taking her eco-protest too far.

Honestly, I liked the whole concept of a lock-in night that follows each character’s hopes and dreams for that night. I hate to say this, but I think if the eco-protest hadn’t been part of the main plot, I would have enjoyed the book better. I give We Didn't Ask for This 3 out of 5 stars. There are some great elements and messages in this book that make it worth reading, but unfortunately, I wasn’t the right audience.

Check out my blog to read my full review:
http://www.candisbarbosa.com/book-review-we-didn-t-ask-for-this-adi-alsaid/

I enjoyed reading several aspects of this book! The pacing was wonderful, characters were well drawn, and the reading experience on the whole was delightful.

We Didn't Ask for This looks at activism and protest from different points of view. The much anticipated "Lock-In Night" at the elite Central International School in an unnamed country, takes on a political tone when Marisa Cuevas and her cronies, chain themselves to the doors of the school, holding attendees hostage until 30 environmental changes are enacted. At first students are furious that their night has been ruined. Gay charismatic Peejay Singh, who was in charge of throwing the party, wants to live up to the example set by his brother who previously organized an epic Lock-In, but is now at the hospital in a coma. Kenji Pierce, whose father is the developer in charge of one of the projects Marisa is protesting, is devastated when his improv team's showcase is put on hold. However, he befriends Celeste Rollins, a black American newcomer to the school and introduces her to the joys of improv. Malaysian decathlete Amira Wahid hopes to be the first female to win the Lock-In decathlon, but finds herself falling in love with Marisa. As people attempt to thwart Marissa's mission and the Lock-In stretches on, the three join a group of Protectors that try to help Marisa meet her objectives. Although the story explores many ecological issues, it also addresses identity and finding a sense of belonging and pursuing dreams.

Thanks NetGalley for the preview!

I really struggled with this book. I almost gave up on it 4 times and felt it was overall boring. I couldn't keep track of all of the characters and the multitudes of crushes. I also find it very hard to believe that the school let this go on for so long. As an educator I feel like the teachers and administrators acted unrealistically. They would not have let a student get seriously hurt (Marisa's leg) and done little to nothing about it.

I absolutely adore this story! It is such a positive and thoughtful tale of people coming together, protesting, and refusing to back down before a difference is made. It’s incredibly challenging to get an ensemble cast this vast to work, but the author does. Each character feels real and lived in, as if they are all people you know. It is full of amazing representation of different races and sexualities. I absolutely would recommend this book to anyone!

I found myself unable to connect with the characters in this book and the school scenario seemed unrealistic. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with this novel.

This story is about a high school student determined to make her community care about protecting the coral reefs. Her approach requires her to make sacrifices and also to behave in ways that are frustrating for the other students, teachers, and parents. The plot gives us the perspectives of her supporters and foes in a rapidly changing situation, where alliances are changing and participants have to think hard about what they value.
I love the way this story takes high school students seriously and imagines the potential of committed social activism. (posted on Amazon, but it hasn't appeared there yet)

This was a really interesting and fascinating concept, one that I think can bolster students to stand up for what they think is right. However, the story dragged on a bit too long to be completely believable and to hold my attention entirely.

The blurb certainly grabs your attention, but unfortunately, the delivery and logistics failed to deliver. One of the pros of this book was the diverse cast of characters. This makes sense since this whole event occurred at an international school with students from all over the world. Another pro was Marisa's goal. It's applaudable that she's willing to put herself on the line for her cause, but her execution was... idiotic. Remember that episode of The Simpsons where Lisa chained herself to a tree to gain the attention of a cute boy and satisfy her environmentalist needs? This book is like that episode, but times a hundred and a complete emotional mess when it reached the breaking point. The school-sponsored event was one night where the students could just hang out with their friends and have fun. And then comes Marisa and a group of students, who chained themselves to the doors in protest. Marisa and her group are serious about protesting climate change and want their list of demands met before anyone can leave. Gold star for taking action, and they did take into consideration the logistics of housing people overnight. The premise of the story is interesting until you look closer at the nitty, gritty details. While in the scope of today's society, if you want to make a point or bring attention to a cause, social media is your friend and bold action is needed. However, if you push away the good intentions, you see the situation in a new light. Marisa and her group are essentially holding the people in the school as hostages. Let's call a spade a spade. It's mindboggling to even consider this a sane course of action; bold, yes, but also moronic. So many things could have gone wrong during the locked-in protest. What if someone needed their medication or suddenly went into anaphylactic shock? Again, I'm not knocking Marisa and her group for caring about the environment and climate change, but by the way, the story was written, it went from zero to sixty real fast. The narrative bounced from person to person; I just couldn't connect to any of the characters or their emotional turmoil. I understand that as a work of fiction, authors are free in their artistic expression to spin the story however they like, but this plotline was too fantastical and lacked real-world consequences. Realistically, if this happened in real life, Marisa and her group would likely face criminal charges or get time in juvie or something. For the sake of the story, some of the protestors' demands were met, but not all of them. In the end, I just couldn't connect with this book in general.

We Didn't Ask for This explores what happens when an international school's annual lock-in is hijacked by an environmentally conscious girl and her friends. What has become a one-night tradition for the school turns into a week-long event due to a group's school takeover.

This book is especially relevant at this point in time, where we have been all locked in our homes due to the coronavirus. The book's topics--ecology, diversity, and inclusion are current and fresh. Most of the characters are all fleshed-out nicely and have unique points of view. Although the student body is diverse, they all come from mid to upper level income homes, and most of the them have lived all over the world, which is not true for most school students in the United States.

Unfortunately, I felt the plot moved along much to0 slowly, many times at a snail's pace, and sometimes lost my attention. Additionally, I was surprised at the length of time it took for the protest to be over and the students and teachers to be let out. This required me to suspend the knowledge I have about parents, school security officers, etc. There's no way that most parents would allow their children to be held hostage by other students for over a week..

Kudos to Ali Alsaid for the topics and diversity displayed in this book. Unfortunately, I am a bigger fan of his other titles, which I found more enjoyable.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange of an honest review.

The Central International School's annual lock is famous and six students want to make their dreams come true, kissing a guy, making a friend and so on. But when Marisa led some students to stage an eco protest everything changed. Now trapped until some demands are met, the students divide in those who support the cause and others who are upset about their own fallen plan, making everything uncertain, even Marisa who was so sure of her own goals.

The book is told by multiple narrators and set in the school. and it was captivating and interesting to read. I liked the choice of multiple narrators and point of views, it was really well written and I like the characters' dreams and goals and passions.
It's a book about standing up for oneselves, for one's beliefs and I really liked it.

We Didn't Ask for This is a beautifully written book taking place over the course of one night in a school told through the perspective of multiple characters. I love that it wove together themes of environmentalism, empathy, and taking a stand for your believes. Excellent book that I will recommend to teens and adults!

Sadly this one although interesting and diverse it just didn't work for me. The story was very dragged out and was pretty unrealistic. Especially, since it seemed that this school had no windows that these kids could escape from or backdoors, or even getting to the roof to jump off onto an air mat or something. I did enjoy the writing but the situation just didn't work.

Central International School is full of kids who are always coming and going. With lives that are constantly changing, the one thing that stays the same is the yearly school lock-in night. This year, however, a group of students decide to lead an eco-protest and chain themselves to the doors to keep everyone trapped inside until their demands are met. With all different kinds of students, some are excited to be part of the cause, others are horrified to lose out on the one thing they were looking for of. Will the student leading the charge change her mind, or will this end up a night that no one forgets?

We Didn't Ask for This feels a little clunky, but that's something that YA novels can get away with for the most part. Each individual is basically given their own breakdown of where they came from, but parts feel forced. This book wasn't my cup of tea, but I know there are plenty of people who would find all the information and details on the environment and dangerous decisions made in the name of economics fascinating.

I received a free copy from netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book was a DNF for me. I got through the first 3 chapters but I just couldn't care about anything that was happening. The jumping from character to character was too brief for it to be meaningful.

I liked how the characters were very passionate about their causes and showed growth throughout the book. What kept me from getting into this book was there were multiple points of view from several characters, it made it a little hard to keep everyone straight.

Hmmmmm. Different than I thought. Much deeper than I planned to go, but that’s okay. And also very interesting structure to the story - the snippets, the in-depth descriptions when least expected, the allusions to future events and eventualities. I dug it.

I didn’t love not knowing where it was, though. It’s a stupid thing, but it distracted me throughout. And I found the sudden jump in time in the middle jarring. Both of these things considered, however, I thoroughly enjoyed this read.

Who is this book for, I wonder. Whose experience does it reflect? Because the school it describes comes from a place of incredible privilege. And I get that part of the point is that even with all these opportunities they still have trouble. They have overwhelming parental expectations. They struggle to make friends, to be accepted by family and peers. People make assumptions about them. They look for places where they have power, where they can change things. Still, I find it hard to care about this plot. And it significantly strained my willing suspension of disbelief.