Rating: 4 stars
Cover Rating: 4 stars (I love the image. The brightness at the top is nice. It's a clean cover.)
Genre: Young Adult
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: October 3, 2009
Publisher: Simon Pulse
Page Count: 209 p.
Add it: Goodreads
Holly just wants to lose her virginity and get it over with. Her mom's dead and her best friend dates a new girl every other day. Holly just wants to be a part of something for herself. She just wants to feel something. So, she sleeps with Paul. Holly is ready to just leave it at that, but then Paul pursues her and Holly decides to go with it. Then Paul gets back together with his old girlfriend, he still wants to fool around with Holly though. She doesn't love the idea, but she's okay with it until she gets to know Saskia. They have to team up for a school project and Holly decides she a really great person. Paul doesn't want to accept that Holly is done with him and he threatens to destroy her. All Holly wanted was to feel something but numbness and now she's up to her neck in mistakes. Hopefully she can find a way out of this before she leaves to go to college and never has a chance to fix things.
I hated Paul. He was such a bad guy. He was manipulating and just completely skeevy. I can't believe that Holly felt anything for him. I realize that she was in a rough place, but he was a complete creep. I'm glad she never had to be in an actual relationship with him, I can't imagine how terrible he could be then. Saskia was a fun character though, and I'm glad that I got to end up getting to know her. I also loved Holly's BF Nils. It's silly how characters never seem to see the amazing person they have right in front of their faces. Nils was a great guy, even if he went through girls like people go through T.V. dinners.
The ending was pretty excellent. It wasn't what I hoped for, but it just rang out true. Holly dug herself in a deep hole, and had a long climb to get back out of it. I thought Lauren Strasnick did a great job at ending things, but leaving enough of it open, so there was still hope.
Altogether this was a pretty awesome book. There was a pretty okay main character dealing with a lot of issues (a lot she created herself) and handling them in a realistically imperfect way. I really like the realistic feel of this novel. It was casual and true. Definitely check this one out if you like realistic fiction that is afraid to show the truth.
First Line:
"We were parked at Point Dume, Paul and I , the two of us tangled together, half dressed, half not."
Favorite Line:
"It went from dark yo light, then from light to white, and Mom was suddenly see-through, drifting up and away, dissolving into the clean white walls, fading like a soft stain or an old photograph."
Ooh, I like the sound of this and I agree, the cover is just perfect, I love gorgeous photos like the one they've used.
ReplyDeleteUgh, I dislike Paul too, he sounds awful! I think people fall for the wrong kind of person when their choice is made out of desperation. I so want to rad this now!