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A review by andreathereader
Stealing Parker by Miranda Kenneally
3.0
Parker’s mom realizes she’s gay and leaves her family to move in with another woman. Parker’s religious and intolerant town turns their back on the entire family. Parker’s brother turns to drugs to cope, her dad turns to denial, and Parker decides to turn into the town slut.
The characters were hard for me to really get into. The book jumped right into the present day, so we didn’t get to know Parker before she lost weight and turned into a tramp, or her brother before he became a stoner waste-case, or her father before he checked out. It was hard to feel for the characters and what they were going through because we didn’t care for them beforehand. Parker was silly, with her talk of being a slut and “hooking up” and “being with” guys when all she did was kiss them. Big deal, so you kissed a few guys. I think that’s pretty natural for teenagers. Then again, she was a product of her extremely narrow-minded church, so maybe that’s what made the kissing seem so nefarious to her and her friends.
Speaking of her friends, I loved Drew, the 1 person who stuck by her after everyone else ditched her for being the daughter of a lesbian. He was kind and sweet and she was lucky to have him. Coach Hoffman was an… interesting character. He was older, and on the faculty at her school, but I thought he and Parker had great chemistry. He kept on about her age and whatnot, but it didn’t seem to bother him as much as he kept insisting. Parker’s father made me so mad, he was in such a state of denial about the town, Parker and her brother. His solution to everything was “Let’s pray about it.” I think we only saw her brother maybe 3 or 4 times, and he was high every one of those times, so I never got a read on him.
The dialogue was pretty normal stuff, aside from all the “You’re going to hell because your mom’s a lesbian” crap. There were some funny bits and a few witty comebacks, but I was surprised at the tameness of it all. There was a lot of talk about church and religion, it was a central theme in the novel, but I never felt like anything was being pushed down my throat. There was some sex talk, and a few detailed sexual situations, but nothing I would call graphic, or too much for the average teenager.
I wish I hadn’t gone into Stealing Parker expecting something as great as Catching Jordan. But I did, and I was disappointed. It didn’t suck me in or make me care about the characters like I did with Catching Jordan. Maybe I shouldn’t be comparing the two, but I can’t help it.
The cover is cute and simple. I love it.
The sum up:
Stealing Parker is a light story that tries to deliver a deeper message, but doesn’t have the heart to back it up.
The characters were hard for me to really get into. The book jumped right into the present day, so we didn’t get to know Parker before she lost weight and turned into a tramp, or her brother before he became a stoner waste-case, or her father before he checked out. It was hard to feel for the characters and what they were going through because we didn’t care for them beforehand. Parker was silly, with her talk of being a slut and “hooking up” and “being with” guys when all she did was kiss them. Big deal, so you kissed a few guys. I think that’s pretty natural for teenagers. Then again, she was a product of her extremely narrow-minded church, so maybe that’s what made the kissing seem so nefarious to her and her friends.
Speaking of her friends, I loved Drew, the 1 person who stuck by her after everyone else ditched her for being the daughter of a lesbian. He was kind and sweet and she was lucky to have him. Coach Hoffman was an… interesting character. He was older, and on the faculty at her school, but I thought he and Parker had great chemistry. He kept on about her age and whatnot, but it didn’t seem to bother him as much as he kept insisting. Parker’s father made me so mad, he was in such a state of denial about the town, Parker and her brother. His solution to everything was “Let’s pray about it.” I think we only saw her brother maybe 3 or 4 times, and he was high every one of those times, so I never got a read on him.
The dialogue was pretty normal stuff, aside from all the “You’re going to hell because your mom’s a lesbian” crap. There were some funny bits and a few witty comebacks, but I was surprised at the tameness of it all. There was a lot of talk about church and religion, it was a central theme in the novel, but I never felt like anything was being pushed down my throat. There was some sex talk, and a few detailed sexual situations, but nothing I would call graphic, or too much for the average teenager.
I wish I hadn’t gone into Stealing Parker expecting something as great as Catching Jordan. But I did, and I was disappointed. It didn’t suck me in or make me care about the characters like I did with Catching Jordan. Maybe I shouldn’t be comparing the two, but I can’t help it.
The cover is cute and simple. I love it.
The sum up:
Stealing Parker is a light story that tries to deliver a deeper message, but doesn’t have the heart to back it up.