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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
This is not a perfect novel, but in spite of that, I still give it a 4, because it was that enjoyable.
It's not going to change your life or anything, but as far as entertaining, engaging, diversionary reads, it delivers.
Especially if you are twisted enough to enjoy taboo breaking, which I do.
Best part of the book? The protagonist, Maise, who is smart, and a smartass. She owns her sexuality, owns who she is and that she is aware she is still becoming that person. She's resourceful and independent and it's great to read a book featuring a character who doesn't get hung up on the Madonna/ whore dichotomy. One wonderful scene involves her sitting at a desk into which someone has scratched "Rhianna=slut"; she wants to add "Chris Brown=domestic abuser" but figures she'd get busted by the teacher before she could finish.
Also, the girl is self-aware enough to buy Lolita-style heart shaped glasses while going on a road trip with her lover (who, of course, also happens to be her teacher). You have to admire the sass.
It's not going to change your life or anything, but as far as entertaining, engaging, diversionary reads, it delivers.
Especially if you are twisted enough to enjoy taboo breaking, which I do.
Best part of the book? The protagonist, Maise, who is smart, and a smartass. She owns her sexuality, owns who she is and that she is aware she is still becoming that person. She's resourceful and independent and it's great to read a book featuring a character who doesn't get hung up on the Madonna/ whore dichotomy. One wonderful scene involves her sitting at a desk into which someone has scratched "Rhianna=slut"; she wants to add "Chris Brown=domestic abuser" but figures she'd get busted by the teacher before she could finish.
Also, the girl is self-aware enough to buy Lolita-style heart shaped glasses while going on a road trip with her lover (who, of course, also happens to be her teacher). You have to admire the sass.
DNF at 50%
It is quite funny but all that sex is just way too much for me. And I also don't like insta-love trope so this one just isn't for me.
It is quite funny but all that sex is just way too much for me. And I also don't like insta-love trope so this one just isn't for me.
I almost didn't finish this book. I liked the writing. i just couldn't get behind the story.
I am a mother, so I think that's why this was so hard for me to read.
It's about a high school senior, having a very sexual relationship with her 33 year old teacher. It's extremely disturbing. Especially the moments that they acknowledged how messed up it was that they were attracted to each other because they were student and teacher.
There were even moments when she had little fits of clarity. Because he had slept with a student before. It was wrong and creepy.
It isn't the same as an adult consenting to a relationship with an older partner. SHE IS STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL. Huge red flags should be going up everywhere. This isn't even a cautionary tale. I wish it was, it would have made me like it more. It's infuriating to read books like this. Because if she was just a year younger, it would be considered rape. If she was just a few weeks younger even.
i just wish she would have been in college. Or even just a few years older. I would have had a stomach for this.
I am a mother, so I think that's why this was so hard for me to read.
It's about a high school senior, having a very sexual relationship with her 33 year old teacher. It's extremely disturbing. Especially the moments that they acknowledged how messed up it was that they were attracted to each other because they were student and teacher.
There were even moments when she had little fits of clarity. Because he had slept with a student before. It was wrong and creepy.
It isn't the same as an adult consenting to a relationship with an older partner. SHE IS STILL IN HIGH SCHOOL. Huge red flags should be going up everywhere. This isn't even a cautionary tale. I wish it was, it would have made me like it more. It's infuriating to read books like this. Because if she was just a year younger, it would be considered rape. If she was just a few weeks younger even.
i just wish she would have been in college. Or even just a few years older. I would have had a stomach for this.
I can't believe I read all of this awful book. I want to review it. All the while reading it I had all of these thoughts about what I would say in my review, but now that I've just read the final page all I can think to say is thank God I didn't throw it out the friggin window because I'd have broken my damn kindle! ...real review to come I'm sure.
This book is beautifully written, which is really refreshing in a genre that is jam packed with books reeling with grammar and spelling errors. Calling this a new adult novel makes me feel like I am diminishing the excellent prose, but it is definitely new adult. Unteachable made me uncomfortable from the beginning, but I feel that way about most stories involving a teacher-student relationship. It felt different than other taboo love stories or a Nabokovian deep dive into the psyche of a predator. The characters were really well developed, including the MC, Maise. She exhibits agency the entire book, regardless of how much sex she has and with whom she has sex. The prose read like a nostalgic dream sequence. I thought I knew where the plot was going to veer, and then it would change directions on me. Unteachable could have been a different book about an eighteen year old taken advantage of by a predator, but that wasn't this story.
This was a great teacher/student story. I loved Maise, Leah Raeder seemed to take all the usual YA cliches and turn them on their heads, which was refreshing. Instead of it being obvious but unsaid that she has Daddy issues, Maise will freely admit it and and knows exactly why she does what she does, there's no questioning, angsty monologue- all her cards are on the table.
[b]''Thanks, Dad, for leaving a huge void in my life that Freud says has to be filled with d*ck.''[/b]
Maise's voice was spot on; she wasn't the typical whiny teenager and was quite funny in her cynical, deadpan way.She knows she's gorgeous and she uses it to her advantage, there's no cutesy self-deprecation here.
What I really liked about this was that the relationship wasn't over the top or unrealistic, it was intense and it felt like a real progression. They even acknowledge the reasons why they're drawn to each other, that it's dangerous and forbidden. There's no wishy washy dialogue or proclamations of undying love. Evan isn't the typical honorable teacher, he admits that her age is part of the thrill, as does she. It's a little creepy when we find out Evan's past, and it should have been explored more fully imo, because you are left thinking, 'Right, has he got a pervy predilection or...?' That said, everyone in the story is 'of age' and there's no blurring of that boundary (at least not in the UK where I come from- the age of consent is 16). There's definitely that forbidden element which I guess is what's so appealing about student/teacher romance.
Overall, I would have liked Evan's character to be fleshed out a bit more, but Maise was a brilliant heroine who really stole the book for me. A solid 4 stars for brilliant writing, I'll definitely be looking out for Leah's future releases.
[b]''Thanks, Dad, for leaving a huge void in my life that Freud says has to be filled with d*ck.''[/b]
Maise's voice was spot on; she wasn't the typical whiny teenager and was quite funny in her cynical, deadpan way.She knows she's gorgeous and she uses it to her advantage, there's no cutesy self-deprecation here.
What I really liked about this was that the relationship wasn't over the top or unrealistic, it was intense and it felt like a real progression. They even acknowledge the reasons why they're drawn to each other, that it's dangerous and forbidden. There's no wishy washy dialogue or proclamations of undying love. Evan isn't the typical honorable teacher, he admits that her age is part of the thrill, as does she. It's a little creepy when we find out Evan's past, and it should have been explored more fully imo, because you are left thinking, 'Right, has he got a pervy predilection or...?' That said, everyone in the story is 'of age' and there's no blurring of that boundary (at least not in the UK where I come from- the age of consent is 16). There's definitely that forbidden element which I guess is what's so appealing about student/teacher romance.
Overall, I would have liked Evan's character to be fleshed out a bit more, but Maise was a brilliant heroine who really stole the book for me. A solid 4 stars for brilliant writing, I'll definitely be looking out for Leah's future releases.
So boring.
I actually want to burn this book.
Not worth it.
I actually want to burn this book.
Not worth it.
I have read many new adult books. My favourite being beautiful/ walking disaster.
This one didn't come close to it. It was ok but I didn't connect with the characters. I liked Wesley & his Mum but not Maisie & Evan.
The topic of a teacher and student is interesting to read. But while this book was and quick read, it wasn't anything special or new.
So 2 stars - 2.2
This one didn't come close to it. It was ok but I didn't connect with the characters. I liked Wesley & his Mum but not Maisie & Evan.
The topic of a teacher and student is interesting to read. But while this book was and quick read, it wasn't anything special or new.
So 2 stars - 2.2