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Kens  Cover Image Book Book

Kens

Reid, Raziel 1990- (author.).

Summary: "Every high school has the archetypical Queen B and her minions. In Kens, the high school hierarchy has been reimagined. Willows High is led by Ken Hilton, and he makes Regina George from Mean Girls look like a saint. Ken Hilton rules Willows High with his carbon-copies, Ken Roberts and Ken Carson, standing next to his throne. It can be hard to tell the Kens apart. There are minor differences in each edition, but all Kens are created from the same mold, straight out of Satan’s doll factory. Soul sold separately. Tommy Rawlins can’t help but compare himself to these shimmering images of perfection that glide through the halls. He’s desperate to fit in, but in a school where the Kens are queens who are treated like Queens, Tommy is the uncool gay kid. A once-in-a-lifetime chance at becoming a Ken changes everything for Tommy, just as his eye is caught by the tall, dark, handsome new boy, Blaine. Has Blaine arrived in time to save him from the Kens? Tommy has high hopes for their future together, but when their shared desire to overthrow Ken Hilton takes a shocking turn, Tommy must decide how willing he is to reinvent himself — inside and out. Is this new version of Tommy everything he’s always wanted to be, or has he become an unknowing and submissive puppet in a sadistic plan?"--

Available copies

  • 1 of 1 copy available at South Central Regional Library.

Holds

  • 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
Location Call Number / Copy Notes Barcode Shelving Location Holdable? Status Due Date
Winkler Library YA F Rei (Text) 35864002401097 Young Adult Volume hold Available -

  • Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2018 September #1
    The Kens rule the school, their toned bodies and sculpted faces making them the envy of everyone around them. They are bitchy and rude, glamorous and terrifying. But one of the problems with being as extra as the Kens is that it's easy to get bored. When Ken Hilton decides they need to make over one of the other students in their own image, Tommy Rawlins begins to wonder if he has a chance of being chosen. And then suddenly he is. But he can't quite figure out if his dreams have come true or if all hell is about to break loose, especially after he meets new student Blaine. A self-proclaimed provocateur, Reid (When Everything Feels like the Movies, 2001) is not one to shy away from humor or observations that cross lines of acceptability; however, in this particular narrative, flippant references to school shootings and police brutality may go too far for some readers. Billed as gay Heathers meets Mean Girls, this intriguing sophomore novel and critical satire will certainly provoke discussion among readers. Grades 10-12. Copyright 2018 Booklist Reviews.
  • Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2018 July #1
    A popularity contest turns deadly in this gay mélange of Mean Girls and Heathers. Tommy Rawlins lives in a material world at his Willows, Wisconsin, high school. The student body—Tommy included—is obsessed with an A-list clique known as the Kens. With Botox in their faces and glitter in their veins, the Baphomet-worshipping Kens are 1990s Earring Magic Ken dolls made flesh. And they're all gay—well, everyone except Ken Carson, who is still in the closet about being straight. The queen bee of the Kens elects Tommy—one of the school's resident misfits—to be the newest member. At first, Tommy feels #blessed. But when it turns out that the Kens' New Edition isn't quite the model they were hoping for, the foursome's kiki turns into an all-out social war. Canadian author Reid's (When Everything Feels Like the Movies, 2014) sophomore effort is biting social commentary. Though some especially cringeworthy omniscient narration exposes the Kens' privi lege around race and other topics, the results are often insensitive and in poor taste (e.g., when a drag queen named Sandy Hooker performs, "the crowd screams like they're in a school shooting.") Still, the novel's critique of societal obsessions with media and self-image, combined with its brilliant takedown of queer culture's "alpha gays," makes it a worthwhile read. Reid reads consumer culture to filth and the result is (mostly) lit. (glossary) (Fiction. 13-adult) Copyright Kirkus 2018 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved.
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