YMMV / The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Byron; is he genuinely remorseful for pressuring Annie into sleeping with him when they were both drunk, or is he only regretful because he got into trouble for it? Additionally, does he truly remember nothing about that night or the experience, or is he just claiming that to make himself look better?
• Anvilicious: The first book was particularly heavy-handed with the feminist references, to the extent that only a handful of female characters were shown in a bad light, whilst almost every single male character had extreme flaws asides from perhaps Froggy. Anais and Annie in particular, older women that Ginny looks up to, are also depicted as being flawless, perfect feminists. The sequel does tone this down considerably by giving characters such as Byron and Ginny's father more sympathetic moments, and by introducing realistic flaws to Anais and Annie.
• Broken Base: The date-rape incident. One side sees Byron as an unredeemable monster who ultimately got away without any lasting punishment, while Annie is left suffering and in need of intense therapy. Another side points out that Byron doesn't remember that night or the fact that Annie said no and that this part of the event is never explored, especially in an age where false accusations are thrown about. Then there's the other side that agrees both Byron and Annie suffered deeply after the event, and that it's a complicated issue, especially when we don't get a lot of information about what actually happened.
• Jerkass Woobie: Byron. What he does to Annie is unforgivable, but he seems genuinely remorseful for his actions, and agrees to therapy following the incident. Notably he doesn't protest his innocence, and instead states that he doesn't remember what happened that night. Following the incident, Byron ends up losing his friends, is named and shamed, has his entire future threatened and he doesn't cope with it well at all. He spends the sequel starving himself and drinking to such an excess that his parents finally have to step in and do something.
• Moral Event Horizon: Byron crosses this when he date-rapes Annie, even if he truly was drunk at the time.
• Narm: For some, when Ginny responds to her father telling her that she'd lost weight with 'I'd rather you don't talk about my body. It's just not yours to discuss'. While the intent is good, the execution is a little cringeworthy and could have been worded a little better.
• Narm Charm: Ginny being nicknamed 'Leela' in reference to the Futurama character is honestly incredibly narmy because of how forced it feels, but Sebastian does it with such warmth and heart that it also becomes a little charming.
• The Woobie:
  • Ginny is emotionally neglected by her parents because she's not as pretty or popular or talented as her older brother and sibling. While they start to take notice of her once she starts rebelling by dying her hair and getting her eyebrow pierced, they don't show how proud they are of her to other people until she makes the honor roll at school. Then you have Ginny suffering for Byron's actions, being bullied at school, and struggling with self confidence issues after her best friend moves away.
  • Annie. She considered Byron a friend and was taken advantage of by him when she was too drunk to protest, and then she's slut-shamed when she finally speaks out about it. While she initially seems to be coping well with what happened, she eventually has a mental breakdown at the thought of Byron potentially doing it to other girls, which is why she ends up reporting him to the police.