DROWNING INSTINCT by Ilsa J. Bick-REVIEW

If you are looking for a light read, this isn’t it. We meet Jenna after a terrible accident when she is being questioned by the police. She is sixteen-years-old and this isn’t even the first time she has been involved with the police. Years ago she almost died in a fire. The same policeman is with her in the hospital now, but can’t get her to talk. Instead of pushing, he gives her a tape recorder and tells her to explain everything at her own pace.

Jenna begins to tell her story. The story of her alcoholic mother and her psycho father. She used to be able to depend on her older brother, but he was shipped to Iraq. Now she only has his emails to keep her company.

Moving to a new school was supposed to be good for her. This school knows how to deal with troubled kids. She tries her best to keep things under control. She knows she shouldn’t cut, but sometimes that is the only thing that makes it better.

At school she meets Mitch Anderson. He is super nice and totally hot, but he is also a teacher at school. Mr. Anderson takes an interest in Jenna – seeing she needs some TLC. Soon they find they have a common interest in running and begin training together. She even agrees to join the Track team at school. Jenna’s feelings for Mitch intensify as they spend more time together and the fact that he’s a teacher isn’t the only thing causing problems. He’s also married, but it doesn’t stop their attraction from building.

Ilsa Bick weaves together a complex story of love and loss. There are many threads that all come together at the end. Bick gives the reader plenty of room to piece together what is going to happen. She makes you work for it and the reveal at the end is amazing and totally worth it. The only reason this book didn’t get 5 Glasses is because I thought the ending was a little abrupt.

I loved ASHES and as soon as I saw that Ilsa Bick wrote this one I immediately requested it from Netgalley. If you are a fan of edgy young adult literature then this is one you will definitely enjoy. If a story about a student-teacher relationship offends you – skip it!

PREY by Lurlene McDaniel - REVIEW

In the same vein as Teach Me by R.A. Nelson and Boy Toy by Barry Lyga, Lurlene McDaniel writes PREY, the story of a fifteen-year-old boy who gets involved with his much older female teacher. This is a very short book told in alternating chapters by Ryan (the young man), Lori (the teacher), and Honey (Ryan’s best friend who has been nursing a major crush on him for years).

Throughout the book the reader can see that Lori intends to start a relationship with Ryan from the first minute she meets him. She is manipulative and easily seduces Ryan. We can see that Lori suffers from deep scars caused by her father and is plagued by bouts of depression. She isn’t a likeable character because of her attitude towards men. She uses her body as a tool to get what she wants and doesn’t consider it a bad thing at all.

Ryan is a typical teenager. He has a nice group of friends, plays video games, and keeps up with his school work. Once his relationship with Lori starts though, things change. He stops hanging out with Honey and his other friends and his school work begins to suffer. Most of the time he loves being with Lori, but sometimes misses his old life where there wasn’t anything to worry about except grades and getting a car.

Honey is the first person to realize that Ryan isn’t acting like himself. She takes it upon herself to find out what is going on and her actions lead to some major fallout.

My main problem with the book is the final chapter which takes place three years after the affair ends. I have a feeling the author was trying to illustrate how emotionally damaging it is for a young person to be in this type of relationship, but it came off weird. Things about Ryan’s personality that we were never introduced to in the book come out in the last couple of pages (things about his life even before his relationship with Lori). Whereas without this final information I liked Ryan, but after reading the final chapter, he seemed like a creep. I’m anxious to hear what other people think about this. Is it just me? Let me know in a comment.

There is some strong language in the book, but the sex scenes aren’t very graphic. Still this isn’t a book for middle schoolers. Boy Toy and Teach Me are much better examples of this storyline.

BOY TOY by Barry Lyga - REVIEW

Powerful doesn't begin to describe BOY TOY by Barry Lyga. It is the story of Josh, a young man that was involved in an inappropriate relationship with his teacher five years ago. Barry Lyga does an amazing job showing the impact this event has on Josh's life. Relationships with his parents, kids at school, and teachers are changed forever.

There is one relationship that hasn't changed much since the incident. Zik is Josh's best friend and he has stood by him through everything. He doesn't push Josh for information about what happened with the teacher and stands up for him when others give him a hard time.

The area of his life that was most damaged by the relationship with Eve, the teacher from the relationship, was his ability to deal with girls his own age. It seems that every time he gets in a situation with a girl where closeness is involved, he thinks about Eve's likes and needs and transfers those into the current situation. He can't feel comfortable with girls because Eve is always in the back of his mind.

Things really heat up when Eve is released from prison after serving a 5 year sentence. With the story hitting the news again, the situation is on everyone's mind which causes stress for Josh. He feels the need to talk to Eve to answer some of his own questions while at the same time he is attempting to reconnect with Rachel - a girl he thought he lost when the relationship between Josh and Eve was revealed.

BOY TOY is amazing. It really shines some light on a situation that doesn't get as much thought as it should. After talking to several men I know, their first response is, "Where were teachers like that when I was in school," but ask them about a young girl being in an inappropriate relationship with a male teacher and the situation is totally different. There is a double standard. BOY TOY gives us a good look at the issues young men have to deal with after a relationship of this nature.