Exposed

Exposed

Kimberly Marcus

Random House

This month

FTC: I received this book from the publisher with the understanding that I would provide an honest review for no compensation.

Characters 15/20

Plot 15/20

Setting 20/20

Cover 20/20

Ending 15/20

Total grade: 85% B

Sexual content: moderate

Violence: heavy

Drugs: n/a

Underage drinking: moderate

Swearing: mild

Total rating: 15+

Summary:

Sixteen-year-old Liz is Photogirl—sharp, focused and confident in what she sees through her camera lens. Confident that she and Kate will be best friends forever.But everything changes in one blurry night. Suddenly, Kate is avoiding her, and people are looking the other way when she passes in the halls. As the aftershocks from a startling accusation rip through Liz's world, everything she thought she knew about photography, family, friendship and herself shifts out of focus. What happens when the picture you see no longer makes sense? What do you do when you may lose everything you love most?

My thoughts:

This was a fantastic book, it was just too short. I wish she would have made it longer and not covered such a long time period in a short book. The fact that it was so short took away from the plot and character development.

If you like books written in lyrical format you will enjoy this book. Just be prepared to have to fill in a lot of gaps. Also this book will appeal to reluctant readers!

Bastard Out of Carolina Review

Bastard Out of Carolina
Dorothy Allison
Penguin
$10.80 (Barnes and Noble)
Years Ago, but new editions recently
FTC: This is a library book. I am not being compensated in any manner for my review.

Characters 20/20
Plot 20/20
Setting 15/20
Cover 10/20
Ending 20/20
Total grade: 85% B

Sexual content: heavy (rape)
Violence: heavy (abuse)
Drugs: n/a
Underage drinking: mild
Swearing: heavy
Total rating: 16+

Summary:
Greenville County, South Carolina, is home to the Boatwright family - rough-hewn men who drink hard and shoot up each other's trucks, and indomitable women who marry young and age all too quickly. At the heart of this astonishing novel is Ruth Anne Boatwright, known simply as Bone, a South Carolina bastard with an annotated birth certificate to tell the tale.

Observing everything with the mercilessly keen eye of a child, Bone finds herself caught in a family triangle that will test the loyalty of her mother, Anney. Her stepfather, Daddy Glen, calls Bone "cold as death, mean as a snake, and twice as twisty", yet Anney needs Glen "like a strong woman needs meat between her teeth". At first gentle with Bone, Daddy Glen becomes steadily colder and more furious - until their final, harrowing encounter, from which there can be no turning back.

My Thoughts:
I have seen this movie a few times and finally decided to read the book. It is very upsetting and rather haunting. You just want to pick Bone up and love her so she can’t be hurt anymore. The mom is a total whack job for most of the story but I realize it was necessary. As for Daddy Glen, what an asshole. If he were real I would want someone to beat the cred out of him. Think I have strong opinions on child abuse?

The plot was devastatingly honest. It broke my heart over and over again to think that real children are put in that place on a daily basis. The setting had one problem for me. It was way to descriptive. I don’t need someone going, “the green grass was shaded by the lush green tree’s.” Duh, grass is usually green and if tree’s are lush they are green too.

The cover was kind of dull. I think someone could do a much better job. The ending was pretty predictable but a great way to end the story. I recommend this to all my older readers, and the movie as well.

Inexcusable

Inexcusable

Chris Lynch

Athenaeum

$16.95 USD

2005

FTC: This is a library book. I did not receive it from the publisher or author.

Characters 10/20

Plot 10/20

Setting 15/20

Cover 20/20

Ending 15/20

Total grade: 70% C

Total rating: 14+

Summary: Amazon

Keir is a senior who fancies himself a lovable rogue. So do his widowed father, his older sisters, and his classmates. He likes being liked; he just doesn't do well with involvement. Keir would never do anything to hurt anyone intentionally–or would he? When he tackles and cripples a member of an opposing football team, it's determined to be an accident–one that earns him the good-humored nickname, Killer. When he and his buddies destroy a town statue, they consider it a high-spirited, funny prank. When he gets drunk, the alcohol abuse is dismissed as silly, harmless drinks, and drugs at parties are strictly recreational. And when he date rapes the girl he thinks he loves, at first he convinces himself that the way it looks is not the way it is. Keir's first-person narrative chillingly exposes the rationalization process that the troubled teen goes through to persuade himself and those around him of his innocence.

My Thoughts:

This book has been on my Amazon list for quite a while. When I saw it at my local library I was super excited. To be honest I am glad I got it there because I would have felt like it was not worth my money. The old cover sucks but there is a new much better one. The plot had so many holes and took forever to get going. The writing style was not for me but I do know one friend who loved it. The characters seemed dull to me. They were lifeless and needed to be more developed. I felt that I learned a bit from this book but I would recommend everyone try a library copy before buying.

Quotes:

Here is a random quote I found by opening to a random page.

“He was giggling again by the time we had finished speaking…”

It Happened to Nancy

Title: It Happened to Nancy
Author: Anonymous, edited by Beatrice Sparks
Publisher: Avon Books
Price: $6.99 USD PB
Release: 1994, republished with new info in 2004
FTC: This is my own book that I purchased. I did not receive it from a publisher or author.

Grade: Because this was a girl’s real life story I feel wrong judging the plot and such. There for I will give this an A because it taught me so much new stuff.

Sexual content: 10/20
Violence: 5/20
Drugs: 1/20
Underage drinking: 10/20
Swearing: 5 /20
Total rating: 13+

Summary: (Amazon)
Fourteen-year-old Nancy, an asthmatic, meets 18-year-old Collin, a gentle, caring young man who appears to be the answer to her dreams--until he rapes her, leaving her HIV-infected. In spite of her rapid decline, explained in a note at the beginning of the book, as the result of her weakened immune system, Nancy leads a full, poignantly happy life because of the loving support of both friends and family.

My Thoughts:
I felt that this was an important book to read from the second I saw it. There has always been controversy around wither the books of Beatrice Sparks were in fact real teen diaries or simply her imagination. After reading this I conclude that they were real. There were too many big holes that were left unfilled; any “author” would have filled them. It was written in the over dramatic tone of a teenage girl. I am not by any means saying AIDS should be taken lightly, I’m saying that the smaller aspects in this book were over dramatized.

I liked how the main plot started off right away; we weren’t left to read many pages of pointless diary entries. I do think all teens should read this and not just girls. We all think we are invincible, that we won’t get AIDS but you don’t know that. The chances of getting raped and contracting AIDS from the person who raped you are very slim but wouldn’t it be better to be aware if you were that one in a million? I learned so much from this book. I consider myself pretty wise when it comes to teen’s health but I realized AIDS was not something I stopped to think about, ever. I wasn’t planning on getting it so why waste my time? Chances are you know someone who has HIV/AIDS or will have HIV/AIDS. Get educated!

Quotes:
“I don’t even love or want myself.” -Nancy