We Didn’t Ask For This is a book about an annual lock-in at an international school that is legendary among the often-changing student body for having the capacity to change people’s lives, which turns into an actual lock-in when 5 people, led by Marisa Cuevas, chain themselves to all of the entrances to protest the destruction of coral reefs, refusing to move until their 30 demands are met.

When I first heard about this book, the plot seemed a bit farfetched to me, but after a few chapters and getting to know the setting and characters it made a lot more sense. The school where the book takes place is largely made up of diplomatic families and children of otherwise influential figures who are actually able to make Marisa’s demands happen, and it is these parents who led to the security features that made Marisa’s plan possible, like basically unbreakable glass on all of the windows and the same glass making a dome over the roof, and super reinforced doors. I really liked the plot overall.

My favorite thing about this book was that it constantly switches focus between tons of different characters. They all feel very fleshed out, though the five main characters are the central focus, and I really liked all of them.

Marissa Cuevas is the catalyst for the plot of the book, and is probably my favorite character. She believes so strongly in her need to help to protect coral reefs, so when she realized that she did have a chance to do so, offered by the influence the school has, she took it. She faces extreme pushback from some characters, but refused to give in because she believes the issue at hand is bigger than her. She also has such a way of inspiring people that she convinces nearly the entire school to join her side and argue for her demands.

Amira Wahid felt like the flattest character for me. I did like her, but it felt like Alsaid could have given her a little more depth. A lot of her character stems from trying to balance her athletics at school with her mother’s expectations for her, as well as trying to reason out her feelings for Marissa. Their relationship was probably my favorite thing about her character. However, I feel like she had some unrealized character development. I still liked her, but I preferred the other four main characters.

Celeste Rollins is an American student at the school who had never lived outside of the U.S. before moving 8 months prior to the start of the book, and had been unable to feel at home at the school, or even make a friend, prior to the lock-in. Her character development is less defined than the others, but still very much there.

Kenji Pierce loves improv and approaches a lot of his life through it. He is definitely my second favorite character from the book, especially as the other characters begin to see him and his abilities to adapt to new situations as something usable outside of improv, which allows him to being to see himself that way too. Much of his character journey has to do with being afraid to confront his father over his entanglement in the environmental issues Marissa is protesting.

Peejay Singh is a character I was not expecting to like, but ended up loving. He has been tasked with throwing the annual secret lock-in party, which he is especially dedicated to because his brother, who he basically idolizes, had been in charge of the party four years prior and he wants to make him proud, especially since his brother had been mortally injured a few days before the lock-in. He initially resents Marissa because he thinks she ruined his chance to make his brother proud, but moves past that to ally himself with her.

With the often changing focus of the book, there were a variety of other important characters beyond these main five. Two of my favorites were Omar and Joy Ng. Joy is one of Marissa’s coconspirators, and Omar was competing against Amira in the lock-in decathlon. Omar also has a crush on Peejay, and they were very cute together.

I really enjoyed this book. The characters were all amazing, which is especially impressive considering that there were so many in the the book. The way that the book constantly switched between different characters reminded me of the narrative style of War and Peace, and is a device that I think people either love or hate. Personally, I really enjoy it, but I know it isn’t for everybody. However, I definitely give this book 5 stars.