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A review by sherwoodreads
Slingshot by Mercedes Helnwein
I thought I'd check in with what's going on with YA these days. Maybe this was not the book to try.
It begins with the main character Gracie crying in a bathroom over a teacher, twenty years older than her fifteen years, who is now engaged. She has decided out of the blue that she is in love" with said teacher, and screams the house down at him for daring to have his own life.
This subject (which I really don't want to read about, blech) could have been handled sensitively. Kids that age live in the moment, their hormones fueled like jet engines. At fifteen it's difficult to know the difference between love and lust, especially with regard to an authority figure--something the book avoids dealing with, as our heroine goes on to demonstrate how cool she is with bad language, bad behavior, bad choices. Also bad characterization--she came in and out of focus, at times she didn't read like any of the teens around me.
The plot goes haywire from there, making me wonder if the editor was asleep on the job. There's a lot of talent here, but little narrative control. Making a note to check out this author after she gets a few more books under her belt.
Copy provided by NetGalley
It begins with the main character Gracie crying in a bathroom over a teacher, twenty years older than her fifteen years, who is now engaged. She has decided out of the blue that she is in love" with said teacher, and screams the house down at him for daring to have his own life.
This subject (which I really don't want to read about, blech) could have been handled sensitively. Kids that age live in the moment, their hormones fueled like jet engines. At fifteen it's difficult to know the difference between love and lust, especially with regard to an authority figure--something the book avoids dealing with, as our heroine goes on to demonstrate how cool she is with bad language, bad behavior, bad choices. Also bad characterization--she came in and out of focus, at times she didn't read like any of the teens around me.
The plot goes haywire from there, making me wonder if the editor was asleep on the job. There's a lot of talent here, but little narrative control. Making a note to check out this author after she gets a few more books under her belt.
Copy provided by NetGalley