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A review by annek
Wait by A.L. Jackson
2.0
Lovely narration, but…
Reader, I struggled with this book.
My two stars are for the charming choices of Zachary Webber and Andi Arndt and for the lyrical flow of A. L. Jackson's prose. Jackson should write songs or poems for Webber and Arndt to vocalize for us.
The story, the plot and characters, however, needs more than just lovely narration.
Both characters wallowed in their own misery, pain, and poor choices. Neither took any initiative, said to themselves "something bad happened. Let me make sure it doesn't happen again."
It irritated me that there was no character development, not arch to say that these events served purpose to either of the characters or by association, to us readers.
From here on, there are spoilers. You are warned.
To be fair, Austin's reaction to Edie's (first) rape may be Jackson's explanation of how adolescent he was "back then." He interfered, shouted her secret, picked a fight with the sleazy Paul and then set Paul up for a prison stint. Does he tell her, help her take back her dignity? No. He runs away. And so does she.
This bothered me, but I could go along with the idea that a 17-year-old young man may do stupid things with good intensions, but… after three years of brooding on how these actions ruined Edie's and Austin's lives, he does it again? Austin arrived to interrupt sleazy Paul's attempt to rape Edie again (!), fight Paul again, and shout her secret again. Exhausting. For the second time, he denied her of ay choices, dignity, self-respect, or opportunity for growth or closure. This makes him the hero? Really?!?
As if Austin and his constant groaning about how he can't seem think-before-acting wasn’t irritating enough, Edie was more annoying. Yes, the author placed her in a terrible position of having been raped at age 14 and then giving away the baby for adoption. But there the character seemed to have plateaued. Did she do anything to learn how to prevent being attacked in the future or help her deal with the situation? NO! She goes back to live with her brother (for years, presumably) and acts as if nothing happened until Austin spills the beans (see above), then she runs away. She spends three years brooding over what happened, and doing nothing about it, until she not-so-randomly finds Austin, and does more of nothing about herself.
What pushed me over the edge was that Austin spends the whole book moaning about how he will never hurt Edie again. Okay, we get it. Until about 2/3 into the book, when he rapes her, and instantly feels bad. Are we back to those kind of romance books where rape is okay if he feels really, really bad after it? Are you kidding me?!?
…or does he? At the end, Edie tells him she wanted it and that he stopped as soon as she said "no", so it's all okay. What?!? She let him think that he raped her, and it’s okay because…why again? If we are complacent with a little sexual abuse, we can be complacent with emotional abuse? NO. NEITHER IS OKAY!
Other, minor irritations: why does Austin's brother and Edie's brother, who are in the same band, never look for either of them, when they go missing at the same time? How did Edie's brother not know about her pregnancy? I find it hard to believe that no one in her family would keep that from slipping, at least once, over the years. Whose parents would think that it's a good idea to let their 14-year-old daughter spend summers with a rock band?
Truly, the only reason I kept to the end for the book was for the gorgeous voices.
Reader, I struggled with this book.
My two stars are for the charming choices of Zachary Webber and Andi Arndt and for the lyrical flow of A. L. Jackson's prose. Jackson should write songs or poems for Webber and Arndt to vocalize for us.
The story, the plot and characters, however, needs more than just lovely narration.
Both characters wallowed in their own misery, pain, and poor choices. Neither took any initiative, said to themselves "something bad happened. Let me make sure it doesn't happen again."
It irritated me that there was no character development, not arch to say that these events served purpose to either of the characters or by association, to us readers.
From here on, there are spoilers. You are warned.
To be fair, Austin's reaction to Edie's (first) rape may be Jackson's explanation of how adolescent he was "back then." He interfered, shouted her secret, picked a fight with the sleazy Paul and then set Paul up for a prison stint. Does he tell her, help her take back her dignity? No. He runs away. And so does she.
This bothered me, but I could go along with the idea that a 17-year-old young man may do stupid things with good intensions, but… after three years of brooding on how these actions ruined Edie's and Austin's lives, he does it again? Austin arrived to interrupt sleazy Paul's attempt to rape Edie again (!), fight Paul again, and shout her secret again. Exhausting. For the second time, he denied her of ay choices, dignity, self-respect, or opportunity for growth or closure. This makes him the hero? Really?!?
As if Austin and his constant groaning about how he can't seem think-before-acting wasn’t irritating enough, Edie was more annoying. Yes, the author placed her in a terrible position of having been raped at age 14 and then giving away the baby for adoption. But there the character seemed to have plateaued. Did she do anything to learn how to prevent being attacked in the future or help her deal with the situation? NO! She goes back to live with her brother (for years, presumably) and acts as if nothing happened until Austin spills the beans (see above), then she runs away. She spends three years brooding over what happened, and doing nothing about it, until she not-so-randomly finds Austin, and does more of nothing about herself.
What pushed me over the edge was that Austin spends the whole book moaning about how he will never hurt Edie again. Okay, we get it. Until about 2/3 into the book, when he rapes her, and instantly feels bad. Are we back to those kind of romance books where rape is okay if he feels really, really bad after it? Are you kidding me?!?
…or does he? At the end, Edie tells him she wanted it and that he stopped as soon as she said "no", so it's all okay. What?!? She let him think that he raped her, and it’s okay because…why again? If we are complacent with a little sexual abuse, we can be complacent with emotional abuse? NO. NEITHER IS OKAY!
Other, minor irritations: why does Austin's brother and Edie's brother, who are in the same band, never look for either of them, when they go missing at the same time? How did Edie's brother not know about her pregnancy? I find it hard to believe that no one in her family would keep that from slipping, at least once, over the years. Whose parents would think that it's a good idea to let their 14-year-old daughter spend summers with a rock band?
Truly, the only reason I kept to the end for the book was for the gorgeous voices.