Review: Uses for Boys - Erica Lorraine Scheidt

Where I got it: Netgalley
Rating: 3.5 stars  
Cover Rating: 4 stars (Lights!)
Genre: Young Adult
Publication Date: January 15, 2012
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Page Count: 240 p.
Buy it: Book Depository / Amazon
Add it: Goodreads

It used to be just Anna and her mom. Anna was happy and so was her mother...or so she thought. One day her mom decides that she needs a husband and a new house. Anna is uprooted and alone. Her mom and her don't have the same kind of bond anymore. Her mother gets divorced and Anna thinks that maybe things will go back to normal, but instead she gets another step-father and another house. Anna finally earns a little happiness when she meets a friend. Anna can't stand to be in her house any longer though and attempts to go it alone. She doesn't really know what she's doing though, she's just trying to feel something.

I thought this book would be a lot lighter than it was. It was actually pretty depressing. Anna doesn't have a hard life, but it is pretty empty. I can't imagine having to come home to a huge empty house all the time.

Anna was fairly brave for trying to go out on her own, she had a pretty good support system to fall back on though. She didn't really need anyone else. Her life may not have been the best, but it made her strong to be on her own.

I can relate to her using boys to get the things she needs, like an apartment. It's an easy way to get what you want.

I'm not really sure that I loved this book, but I didn't hate it. It was a really interesting novel, that examined a lot of different people and relationships. Not only man-woman relationships, but friendships and parents.

Toy was an odd character and it was nice to see things make more sense near the end. She would be someone who would be fun to thrift shop with. I really enjoyed Sam, he was someone Anna really needed. I wish things could have gone differently with him, but...that's how life is.

This was a great novel that explored a lot of emotions and a different kind of life. It was nice to see someone who supposedly had a good life and their struggles. It makes you remember that what looks nice on paper isn't always nice in real life. Anna was the perfect character to follow on this journey into becoming a bit more grown-up.

First Lines:
"In the happy times, in the tell-me-again times, when I'm seven and there are no stepbrothers and it's before the stepfathers, my mom lets me sleep in her bef. Her bed is a raft on the ocean. It's a cloud, a forest, a spaceship, a cocoon we share."

Favorite Line:
"I feel sick with a fever of want."