User blog:The Jacked Maverick/The Downfall of The Freshman

Yeah. The Junior. Wasn't great. Wasn't even fine. Which is a pity because I actually liked the Freshman back then. It was one of the few stories where it was female only that I liked. So in honor of The Senior (Book 1?) being released soon, I thought it would be a good idea to start from the beginning of this franchise and see where things went wrong.

Let me just say, it is hard to tell exactly WHEN things started getting bad. It's like we just woke up one morning and the quality just dropped significantly.

And, no, this is not like my Home for the Holidays review. Or my other Junior review. I will not be sarcastic here. I will be honest.

SPOILERS FOR EVERY BOOK.

The Freshman
This was part of Choices first three books in their debut back in 2016. I admit this is the third game I played, after seeing the other genres. But when I finished the other two, I was equally as hooked on this story and loved the characters.

What is there not to love? Great chemistry, it was heartfelt, and I actually cared about the subplots! Abbie/Tyler, Vasquez' internship, and Kaitlyn's coming out!

We have sent an entire quarter with these people, knowing their strengths and weaknesses. What makes them tick and their social lives. Seeing Professor Vasquez pass away that way was a real tear jerker! Especially since he wanted retribution with his granddaughter and her newborn son.

Other good moments I mentioned before is that how Kaitlyn handled her coming out. The scene was perfect! She was so scared on what the Liao’s would do if they found out. She was so terrified that they would DISOWN HER! And seeing as her parents are… well… “traditional” and “ethnically diverse”, can you blame her? And then they DID find out, and Mr. Liao left in a huff with the Mrs. trailing after him. OMG! That was accurate! Really captures that feeling. Did you see Kaitlyn’s reaction?! She was scared to death! She didn’t want to see them again! But luckily, it all worked out in the end. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed by how it was resolved. Like, really? The parents were against same-gender relations and all of a sudden they start using mugs with the rainbow flag? Eh… not saying that doesn’t happen in real life, but… if they were going to do that, they would have spent more chapters on that.

I mean, I know a bisexual girl who has been romantically involved with another woman since they were six (Can you believe it?) whose parents are one of those… “By-the-book… Bible… followers…” and they still love her for who she is. (They broke up last December, in case you were wondering. Now she’s with a man.)

And in another instance in my reality, I know a girl who is a lesbian, but her parents are Muslim. I won’t go into too many details on what the parents did to her, but her family is in the middle of a “Civil War.” The Muslim girl doesn’t wear any religious clothing, so that says something about her faith. She said to me “They’re saying JUST because I LOVE another woman, I deserve to DIE?” with her face turning red. All I did was just pat her on the back and comforted her. Looking back, I probably should have told her about this app. But it was in the moment.

Another thing about this scene is that they never show this kind of event again. Not just with The Freshman, but with every other book in the franchise. That’s a shame because I wanted to see what people like Cameron Levy and Andy Kang do in their everyday life.

All in all, The Freshman was great. I recommend it to anyone in the age range. It was relatable and our choices actually mattered! Sure it felt a little CW/Freeform at times, but they can't all have explosions and mythical creatures, can they?

The Freshman, Book 4
But unfortunately, things fell after we graduated and went into summer. I liked the idea, but Book 4 ended up feeling empty. Despite all the fun activities we did, at the end of the day, you can skip this book and it wouldn’t affect your binge experience.

The Zack breaking up with Brandon could have been easily mentioned in the next book, saying it took him all summer to get over it. AJ’s inclusion was cool, but it didn’t add anything to Chris as a character. The only permanent choice was to save The Lobster. But, is it really worth it? It doesn’t do anything.

I was willing to get this summer over with and move on to next year. Just like this section.

The Sophomore
Now we jump into the sequel. How do I describe this? …let's just say it is the Arrow/The Flash Season 3 of this franchise. Again, it is tough to say exactly WHEN things started bad, but the first chapter felt like a completely different story. Maybe it was because we weren’t living with our friends anymore?

Well… at least we got to move in with most of our old friends, that was definitely a step in the right direction.

Abbie and Tyler breaking up felt... forced. I will admit, I kind of sympathized with her after hearing her story on why she had to get out. But the more I thought about it, the more I started to hate her guts and question her judgment. So basically she wants to get away from him… because he loves her too much? That is something you resolve with ‘’him.’’ Not run like a coward and not stay and fight. There was no space left for her in the house! We just welcomed her with open arms and baby her? Tsk, tsk, tsk.

And then there was that whole Manny thing with Chelsea. This was, in my opinion, the best part of Book 1.

Many hardcore fans will notice I didn’t mention Becca before. That’s because I saved her for last for last!

The part where Becca moved in with us was a REAL BUMMER! She is rude, self-absorbed, and just an all around H.B.I.C. Why wasn't this a choice! If I was the MC, I would begin “kicking her while she’s down.”

“Aww… you’re bankrupt and you need a place to crash? Aww… that’s sweet, yeah… TOO BAD! Guess you should have been nicer to me in the past, huh?!”

And then she ended up being a love interest because...four wasn’t enough and we need another female?

So yeah. The Sophomore. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like the writing went completely off the rails for this one. It wasn’t bad. It was just… dull. And sometimes being boring is worse than being straight up laughable.

And then it ended on a huge cliffhanger! (More on that later.)

Sorry if that seemed tacked on and out of place, but so was the cliffhanger.

But out of all the negative things I've said, it DOES have redeeming qualities. I thought Frank Powell showing up with AJ Powell was cool. (I loved the Doomsday Clock and Knightfall reference. And this was my favorite part of Book 2.)

I even thought the murder party thing was interesting. It's human moments like THAT that make this series work. Not plot heavy scenes. That is why the holiday and premium stuff work! There is no (major) plot, just hanging out with friends.

The Junior, Book 1
Ugh... where do I START?!

Let's start off with where this started. After the promise of a major shakeup after the cliffhanger of The Sophomore, Book 2, I was expecting at least one death. Or at least a crippling injuring with major impact.

But it turns out, everyone walked away unscathed, so WAS THE POINT?! The MC had more lasting impact than the people actually IN the crash! Making it her mission to find the perpetrator and serve justice.

Let's move on with the things I liked.

I liked the villains. The Alpha Theta Mu thing was actually the best thing of this book. I was actually terrified of them! Forget the Arachnids and the Cordonian Assassins! THIS is the most threatening army of the franchise! At least the Nevrakis Soldiers JOIN you in the end! They turned your friends against you! Attempted murder, arson, even their pranks seemed criminal! I was waiting for the payoff with an internal struggle, and the part where they "captured" our LI/Zack and almost got us arrested was arguably the best scene in this book! My heart was pounding and I couldn't wait to see how we would beat them! How would we have beaten an entire army that has tormented us for an entire year? It was resolved... by a secret confession... yep. And it turns out the new love interest was the real mastermind. Not the evil incarnate.

It would have been more interesting if Beau was the villain since day one! Sure that would have been an OBVIOUS choice, but it would have worked! Nathan being evil popped out of nowhere at the last second. I don't think it was planned from the beginning…

Anyway, I liked the villains. Or at least the IDEA of them. Frat boys doing frat boy things. They were some sort of untouchable people... who got beaten by a simple confession with consequences one off screen... Look, the delivery was NOT the problem with the Alphas. Their CONCLUSION was! Beau's sentence was only mentioned. Really? After they almost burned us alive? I wanted to see that two-faced b**** got what he deserved! If this was real life, I would laugh at him while he was being dragged out in handcuffs and start making monkey noises. And other OBNOXIOUS noises. XD Revenge is sweet, but I'm not. >:D Go all Rocky IV on his @$$ but not letting Ivan Drago live this time.

Congratulations, Pixelberry, you ruined the one good thing about this book.

That was the ONLY thing I liked, and it was ruined.

Remember that thing I said about human moments? I can't remember one moment in this book where it wasn't character driven plot or just a "hanging out with buddies" scene that wasn't plot heavy.

Speaking of plot heavy, you know what wasn't? The clues.

Turns out they weren’t important at all. You could not buy a single thing, and it would change a thing. For those of you who did buy them, I want to give you a personal refund.

It was like Pixelberry saying, “Your Snoke Theory Sucks.”

There’s some non-alpha plot, too, but it feels overshadowed.

The MC wants to be a reporter? She is bad at that. (What happened to "Never turning off the voice recorder?")

Abbie and Tyler fighting again? Drama-Alert.

Becca working? ...eh. Has potential to be funny. More or less delivered?

Don’t believe me when I say this book is bad? Look what people said on social media. Pixelberry (indirectly) admitted it was so bad by cancelling Book 2.

The highest compliment I have for this book is that it is "readable."

IN CONCLUSION
After the massive failure that was The Junior, what is there to look forward to now? The Senior? I still have hope that it would be like Arrow Season 5 and redeem itself. Pixelberry is in a rut right now. I don’t play Veil of Secrets anymore, High School Story is getting rebooted (Something no one asked for), and everything else is not worth mentioning.

Across the Void seems to be the only interesting one, but even I get bored by the space/science mumbo-jumbo.

I hope I can make a “The Redemption of the Freshman” review next season. Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Honorable Mentions
''Plot points I didn't mention either because of time, or I can't elaborate much about it. In no particular order.''


 * James' Parents Visiting. The Freshman, Book 1. (Good)
 * Kaitlyn's Band. (Both of them.) The Freshman, Book 3 forward. (Good)
 * Leila and Tyler. (Loved that concept) The Freshman, Book 1.
 * The Junior, Book 1 Apartment Decorations. (Irrelevant. Just a cash grab.)
 * Save the house. (Good in theory, but it failed. What was the point if we are moving anyway? Why not accept the money from him?)