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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
I will start my review by apologizing. I’m apologizing for the fact that my thoughts will be all over the place and my inability to express how much I love this book will not do Unteachable justice at all. Words will fail me, shocker…I know but nevertheless I’m at a loss in how to describe what I feel. This is American Beauty meets Lolita only better and much more meaningful, at least in my eyes. To say that I absolutely loved this book is a complete understatement!
"Why did everything beautiful come from pain?"
Unteachable is a beautifully written book that explores the taboo topic of “teacher and student relationship” but it’s so much more than that. It's titillating, colorful, heartbreaking and oh so hopeful! While some may perceive the story to be a bit of a stretch and I can see how it could be, but its fiction and Leah Raeder made me believe every blessed detail as if it were my life.
"That's another thing about lies: if you convince yourself they're true, they become true. A lie is a discrepancy of belief, not fact."
Leah’s writing is fluid, flawless, and brilliant and her words moved me at every turn. Nothing was rushed. Nothing was forced. My heart kept beating faster every time I turned the page because I wasn’t sure what to expect next. The teacher and student relationship has been done before but the author has put her own unique twist on it making this a very original read. The story had a good amount of intimate moments that made me blush like a schoolgirl but in the same breath, there was a compelling story to go along with it.
"I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed and sung me moonstruck, kissed me quite insane. And before you think that's cheesy, that's Sylvia Plath. Google her, young Padawan."
Maise is a wonderful heroine because she owns her flaws, her upbringing and her overall take on life. Her internal dialogue is absolutely priceless and I felt a deep emotional connection with Maise, not because I’ve experienced the same things but because she made me empathetic and in real life, I would be friends with her. Maise is a complex and well thought-out character, she pulls you into her world from the very first page and it’s hard not to become emotionally attached to her or her plight.
"We sat in the shadows, full of unspeakable things."
Mr. Wilke. You had me at hello! He was such a handsome yet heartbreaking character. He was wrapped so tightly in mystery that I wanted to know more and truthfully, his character needed at least one chapter in his POV. He’s deeply flawed, if not more than Maise and life for him has not been easy but he’s also incredibly selfless. He’s 32 and potentially not living life the way he should or doing what he should…that in itself made me want to cry. Who can’t relate to that? When he meets Maise his world will never been the same again. Like EVER.
"There are moments, when you’re getting to know someone, when you realize something deep and buried in you is deep and buried in them, too. It feels like meeting a stranger you’ve known your whole life."
This is such an engaging story filled with movie references, humor, gut wrenching moments and the plot is well-developed. Unteachable is journey about Maise coming into her own but it’s just as much Mr. Wilke’s journey too and that’s what made this such a unique story because they are going through this together.
"I see the lights every night. It seems like the whole world has figured out how to be happy, but no one's letting me in on the secret."
If you are looking for a story with fantastic writing, enough titillating moments to make you blush and words that will move you, this is your book. Don’t wait a moment longer to one-click…buy it today because you won’t regret it…trust me! ;)
"Why did everything beautiful come from pain?"
Unteachable is a beautifully written book that explores the taboo topic of “teacher and student relationship” but it’s so much more than that. It's titillating, colorful, heartbreaking and oh so hopeful! While some may perceive the story to be a bit of a stretch and I can see how it could be, but its fiction and Leah Raeder made me believe every blessed detail as if it were my life.
"That's another thing about lies: if you convince yourself they're true, they become true. A lie is a discrepancy of belief, not fact."
Leah’s writing is fluid, flawless, and brilliant and her words moved me at every turn. Nothing was rushed. Nothing was forced. My heart kept beating faster every time I turned the page because I wasn’t sure what to expect next. The teacher and student relationship has been done before but the author has put her own unique twist on it making this a very original read. The story had a good amount of intimate moments that made me blush like a schoolgirl but in the same breath, there was a compelling story to go along with it.
"I dreamed that you bewitched me into bed and sung me moonstruck, kissed me quite insane. And before you think that's cheesy, that's Sylvia Plath. Google her, young Padawan."
Maise is a wonderful heroine because she owns her flaws, her upbringing and her overall take on life. Her internal dialogue is absolutely priceless and I felt a deep emotional connection with Maise, not because I’ve experienced the same things but because she made me empathetic and in real life, I would be friends with her. Maise is a complex and well thought-out character, she pulls you into her world from the very first page and it’s hard not to become emotionally attached to her or her plight.
"We sat in the shadows, full of unspeakable things."
Mr. Wilke. You had me at hello! He was such a handsome yet heartbreaking character. He was wrapped so tightly in mystery that I wanted to know more and truthfully, his character needed at least one chapter in his POV. He’s deeply flawed, if not more than Maise and life for him has not been easy but he’s also incredibly selfless. He’s 32 and potentially not living life the way he should or doing what he should…that in itself made me want to cry. Who can’t relate to that? When he meets Maise his world will never been the same again. Like EVER.
"There are moments, when you’re getting to know someone, when you realize something deep and buried in you is deep and buried in them, too. It feels like meeting a stranger you’ve known your whole life."
This is such an engaging story filled with movie references, humor, gut wrenching moments and the plot is well-developed. Unteachable is journey about Maise coming into her own but it’s just as much Mr. Wilke’s journey too and that’s what made this such a unique story because they are going through this together.
"I see the lights every night. It seems like the whole world has figured out how to be happy, but no one's letting me in on the secret."
If you are looking for a story with fantastic writing, enough titillating moments to make you blush and words that will move you, this is your book. Don’t wait a moment longer to one-click…buy it today because you won’t regret it…trust me! ;)
Excerpt from my review The first thing that captured me about UNTEACHABLE was the writing style. It's beautiful, it's magical, it's lyrical. Raeder posses the ability to tell you things in 2-3 words that most writers would take up 2-3 paragraphs to achieve. It's blunt, not sugar coated in any way and on top of all that, witty and hilarious. I mean, come on, we're talking about a book that drops the F-bomb in the first sentence and has you hot and bothered within a chapter…there's no waiting around with UNTEACHABLE.
Read Full Review Here: http://www.memyshelfandi.com/2014/09/book-review-giveaway-unteachable-by.html
Read Full Review Here: http://www.memyshelfandi.com/2014/09/book-review-giveaway-unteachable-by.html
I love student/teacher romances, but this was not for me. The first half of the book made me pretty uncomfortable. I couldn't get into this relationship at all. The ending was pretty lame. When I thought there would be a change/twist for the better, it just never happened. Sorry :(
Several years ago, when the world wasn't crumbling and infecting itself around our ears and eyes, a genre called "New Adult" fiction took shape.
The beginning of this story brings us to a carnival, and soon we meet the only two people who matter in the entire world: our protagonist Maise, and some dude named Evan.
Even though we're sashaying through a carnival, myself the very smart reader felt all the warnings and red flags and alarms IMMEDIATELY (I want to repeat that I am very smrt).
Well, seems that our cunning and athletic author is aware of all the warnings, and is ready to smoothly guide the readers from plot point to plot point, no subtle strokes needed. BOLD only pleeeaase. Add in a few generous sex scenes, and regular intervals of pages filled with luscious descriptions of seasons, and suddenly I feel like I'm ready to watch trailers for the tv series Euphoria.
complete with the weeping tears of glitter
I feel like the mo000ood of this novel inspired Euphoria somehow, but they are like 2 sides of the "Generation-Z-is-Doomed" coin. Specifically: "the world is beautiful trash, and Generation-Z girls are the confetti on top." Hey, I'm not endorsing this message. I'm just trying to interpret what the media is saying. Most reviews I read are captivated but also envious ("look at these drug addicts with incredible skin LOL"). I also must admit that I have never watched Euphoria. I don't have access to HBO because I hate gratuitous sex and violence. But I am obsessed with those innovative makeup looks. But all I need to do there is grab images from the interwebs and vioLA!
I ponder: what would our protagonist Maise do with the characters in Euphoria? Honestly, I doubt she would notice them. She doesn't notice any other girls; she hates the popular girls because they're trying too hard to be pretty, and she is aware that no matter how they try, they'll never be as pretty as Maise is when she's in a plaid shirt that's half-buttoned.
Um... Okay. My takeaway opinion, aside from all my amused highlights and notes that I left in the krndle app: I'm feeling like our author really has no urge to empathize with girls, even though gals and ladies are the intended reader audience. I feel like the author doesn't respect the intended readers all that much. And I did eye-rolls way too many times as we were "taught" about all the canonical manly films that are inspiring Maise to take off to (where else?) L.A., to attend film school, because no one with any amount of sense wants to live anywhere else.
Ick. As if.
The beginning of this story brings us to a carnival, and soon we meet the only two people who matter in the entire world: our protagonist Maise, and some dude named Evan.
Even though we're sashaying through a carnival, myself the very smart reader felt all the warnings and red flags and alarms IMMEDIATELY (I want to repeat that I am very smrt).
Well, seems that our cunning and athletic author is aware of all the warnings, and is ready to smoothly guide the readers from plot point to plot point, no subtle strokes needed. BOLD only pleeeaase. Add in a few generous sex scenes, and regular intervals of pages filled with luscious descriptions of seasons, and suddenly I feel like I'm ready to watch trailers for the tv series Euphoria.
complete with the weeping tears of glitter
I feel like the mo000ood of this novel inspired Euphoria somehow, but they are like 2 sides of the "Generation-Z-is-Doomed" coin. Specifically: "the world is beautiful trash, and Generation-Z girls are the confetti on top." Hey, I'm not endorsing this message. I'm just trying to interpret what the media is saying. Most reviews I read are captivated but also envious ("look at these drug addicts with incredible skin LOL"). I also must admit that I have never watched Euphoria. I don't have access to HBO because I hate gratuitous sex and violence. But I am obsessed with those innovative makeup looks. But all I need to do there is grab images from the interwebs and vioLA!
I ponder: what would our protagonist Maise do with the characters in Euphoria? Honestly, I doubt she would notice them. She doesn't notice any other girls; she hates the popular girls because they're trying too hard to be pretty, and she is aware that no matter how they try, they'll never be as pretty as Maise is when she's in a plaid shirt that's half-buttoned.
Um... Okay. My takeaway opinion, aside from all my amused highlights and notes that I left in the krndle app: I'm feeling like our author really has no urge to empathize with girls, even though gals and ladies are the intended reader audience. I feel like the author doesn't respect the intended readers all that much. And I did eye-rolls way too many times as we were "taught" about all the canonical manly films that are inspiring Maise to take off to (where else?) L.A., to attend film school, because no one with any amount of sense wants to live anywhere else.
Ick. As if.
I'm not usually the biggest fan of plots that center around a teacher-student relationship...more often than not, the story ends up playing out as a Lolita-like fantasy between a young girl who uses trickery as a seduction technique to romance a sexy older guy who--SURPRISE--ends up being her teacher. Though initially, the teacher feels guilty for "taking advantage", the pair end up engaging in a sexy, secret affair where she, ultimately, ends up inspiring him to become the best version of himself possible. Manic Pixie Dream Girls are not the strongest female characters--but, the story is still filled with hot sex and this time the whole "Lolita" thing doesn't feel as creepy as when old Humbert did it.
What I liked about Unteachable was the fact that Maise was a lot stronger than the school-aged girl in other romance novels. I really admire a character who is developed. Loved the ending. Loved the way she articulated herself with other male characters, asserted herself. It's great to read about women who shine brighter than the men. I feel like I could pepper this review with quotes to back up my point, but you'd be better off just reading the story. :)
What I liked about Unteachable was the fact that Maise was a lot stronger than the school-aged girl in other romance novels. I really admire a character who is developed. Loved the ending. Loved the way she articulated herself with other male characters, asserted herself. It's great to read about women who shine brighter than the men. I feel like I could pepper this review with quotes to back up my point, but you'd be better off just reading the story. :)
4 or 4.5 Stars
Loved the story and the writing. Review to come.
Loved the story and the writing. Review to come.
from http://pagetrotter.blogspot.com/2013/08/blog-tour-stop-unteachable.html
Blog Tour stop and excerpt available!!!
This book. Holy freaking HELL. First, I would like to give a standing O to Leah for having the lady balls to write this book. My favorite thing about it? The honesty. There are so many teacher/student books out there right now where the two characters are just so tormented by their forbidden love. So. Tormented. Excuse me, Romeo and Juliet, let’s be honest here. We’re all adults (or almost adults in this case) so why is it soooo hard to admit the truth that part of the attraction stems from the fact that it is, in fact, forbidden.
I do not buy, for one second, that the fact that he/she is older and a teacher (and vice versa he/she is younger and your student) does nothing to “rev your engine.” Readers are not stupid. So Leah? Ya, girl, you are kick ass for having both parties admit that part of what makes it so hot is the fact that it’s forbidden.
*Stepping down from soap box*
Moving on LOL. I have no idea why and maybe I am so far off base here, but the writing reminds me of Ray Bradbury (specifically Something Wicked…) and Salinger’s, Catcher and the Rye. Add some American Graffiti, Garden State, Perks of Being a Wallflower (the book), everything by John Hughes and literally every coming of age with some raw emotion and quirk and you’ve got this. The feel of it, the sound of it, the tone of the characters, the unbelievably raw emotion and fucked-upness just reminds me of these novels and movies. It just reads like a coming of age classic. This writer doesn’t write words, she writes prose. It’s so fucking beautiful, I’m lime green with envy.
Can we take a moment here and talk about Maise? Oh man, do I love this girl. She is a mess and I mean a huge, messy, mess. Want to know why I love her? She knows it. She realizes this about herself. She is the most aware character I’ve ever read about and at the same time as so much room to grow and learn about the world and herself that she’s literally brimming with potential, pain, and promise. (Liking the p’s). She steals the show whole-heartedly. She is one of my favorite characters of all time, hands the fudge down. She had me cracking up and near tears. I went through every emotion with her and empathized.
Evan is perfect for her in this story. He’s not only her academic teacher (warning: cheesiest of cheese up ahead) he teaches her about life. He teaches Maise to recognize her own worth. In fact, they teach each other. The age difference (12 yrs) was a little hard at first; I’ll be honest. But Maise’s frankness about it, as well as their connection with each other made it ok. I mean for gods sake, she references Lolita several times.
I literally could go on for days. This book blew me out of the water. I was really expecting something else and was surprised. It surpassed every expectation and it set the bar for all other New Adult novels. Jesus, woman, you are a force of nature. You just challenged an entire genre. I am telling y’all right now, read this book. If you’ve never read New Adult before, please start with this book. Take a chance, keep an open mind, and go with it. I cannot recommend this enough. *ARC received in exchange for an honest review!!*
Blog Tour stop and excerpt available!!!
This book. Holy freaking HELL. First, I would like to give a standing O to Leah for having the lady balls to write this book. My favorite thing about it? The honesty. There are so many teacher/student books out there right now where the two characters are just so tormented by their forbidden love. So. Tormented. Excuse me, Romeo and Juliet, let’s be honest here. We’re all adults (or almost adults in this case) so why is it soooo hard to admit the truth that part of the attraction stems from the fact that it is, in fact, forbidden.
I do not buy, for one second, that the fact that he/she is older and a teacher (and vice versa he/she is younger and your student) does nothing to “rev your engine.” Readers are not stupid. So Leah? Ya, girl, you are kick ass for having both parties admit that part of what makes it so hot is the fact that it’s forbidden.
*Stepping down from soap box*
Moving on LOL. I have no idea why and maybe I am so far off base here, but the writing reminds me of Ray Bradbury (specifically Something Wicked…) and Salinger’s, Catcher and the Rye. Add some American Graffiti, Garden State, Perks of Being a Wallflower (the book), everything by John Hughes and literally every coming of age with some raw emotion and quirk and you’ve got this. The feel of it, the sound of it, the tone of the characters, the unbelievably raw emotion and fucked-upness just reminds me of these novels and movies. It just reads like a coming of age classic. This writer doesn’t write words, she writes prose. It’s so fucking beautiful, I’m lime green with envy.
Can we take a moment here and talk about Maise? Oh man, do I love this girl. She is a mess and I mean a huge, messy, mess. Want to know why I love her? She knows it. She realizes this about herself. She is the most aware character I’ve ever read about and at the same time as so much room to grow and learn about the world and herself that she’s literally brimming with potential, pain, and promise. (Liking the p’s). She steals the show whole-heartedly. She is one of my favorite characters of all time, hands the fudge down. She had me cracking up and near tears. I went through every emotion with her and empathized.
Evan is perfect for her in this story. He’s not only her academic teacher (warning: cheesiest of cheese up ahead) he teaches her about life. He teaches Maise to recognize her own worth. In fact, they teach each other. The age difference (12 yrs) was a little hard at first; I’ll be honest. But Maise’s frankness about it, as well as their connection with each other made it ok. I mean for gods sake, she references Lolita several times.
I literally could go on for days. This book blew me out of the water. I was really expecting something else and was surprised. It surpassed every expectation and it set the bar for all other New Adult novels. Jesus, woman, you are a force of nature. You just challenged an entire genre. I am telling y’all right now, read this book. If you’ve never read New Adult before, please start with this book. Take a chance, keep an open mind, and go with it. I cannot recommend this enough. *ARC received in exchange for an honest review!!*
Firstly, thank you to the publishers for sending me a copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
I'm hardly a fan of the 'teacher & student' genre of erotica. I'm over 30, so it summons up a bit of a man-child eye-roll from me. There is little sexier than a dude my age who hasn't grown up yet.
That said, in pure fantasy terms this is a fun piece of erotica with the necessary hot sex scenes and a not entirely annoying teen protagonist. It's a fast, fun read - definitely worth checking out if the synopsis sparks your interest.
I'm hardly a fan of the 'teacher & student' genre of erotica. I'm over 30, so it summons up a bit of a man-child eye-roll from me. There is little sexier than a dude my age who hasn't grown up yet.
That said, in pure fantasy terms this is a fun piece of erotica with the necessary hot sex scenes and a not entirely annoying teen protagonist. It's a fast, fun read - definitely worth checking out if the synopsis sparks your interest.
Spoiler
What I didn't like about this:1. Maise was arrogant and full of herself. She was completely up herself, constantly pointing out how beautiful she was.
2. Evan's secret. The fact that he'd had an affair with a student before and that he blamed the student for pursuing him. The way he talked about the whole thing was shitty. I'd liked him somewhat until that point but then I thought he was terrible. It was like "Oh yeah, my name is really Eric. I had to change my name because I knocked up a 17 year old student who pursued me and she was nothing like you. I didn't even like her. Blech."
3. The relationship. So Maise and "Evan" meet on a rollercoaster ride at a fair. They then spend some time together and they have sex after she assures him that she's 21. Then afterwards, she makes an excuse to leave. When she finds out he is her teacher, she's all about it and so is he. He only resists for like a week before he's trying to find ways to bang her. Keeping it classy. They both justify it by saying she's 18 and they met before they knew they were going to be teacher/student. However, they know they have to hide it because it's actually not legal. And they both get off on the fact that it's wrong and also because they are carrying out the student/teacher fantasy.
4. The last 25% of the book. It got awkward fast. Once Evan's past was uncovered, it got weird. They broke up and then Maise tracked Evan down to his new school and they had an awkward period where they were not really together but fucking around. Then they were mostly together and Maise wanted Evan to move to L.A with her and after all they'd been through, Evan was not into it. Kind of like "Oh, you're young. I just want you to be happy so I don't think I should go with you."It was just unnecessary!
5. No feelings. I had no feelings for the characters or their relationship. I didn't care.
6. The flowery writing. Sometimes the writing was okay and other times it was super flowery.
7. Weird side plots. Mother is a drug dealer who owes a lot of money to drug overlord who threatens Maise at some point. Girl in class who is a coke addict and blackmails Maise into dealing her drugs. Wesley is the only friend Maise has and seems cool until he shows his movie in film class and it's all creepy material he's gotten from stalking Maise.
So yeah. It wasn't great for me. It was readable but it had a lot of faults. Lots of people love this book so I'm in the minority, it seems. I'm okay with that. It wasn't bad but it wasn't great.