Librarian: This book is exactly the sort of book that fits well into current Women's Lit collections. It has three highly sympathetic protagonists, a very readable style, and a timely #metoo plot line. This should slot nicely into the collections of any public library that wants to include it.
Reader: The story is an all too familiar one. Wealthy, privileged, popular teenage boy in some way violates less privileged teenage girl. It's a story that we see all to often, in the news, on tv, and, of course, in our literature. What makes this one different, is that a large portion of this story is told from the perspective of the mother of the boy in question. This makes for an interesting perspective, and one not always seen. Combine this with two other highly sympathetic protagonists (the girl and her father) and you have one very easily readable book. And that's the problem I have with this. Reading about this sort of situation should not be easy. It should be hard and painful. It should make you yell, and weep, and throw the book across the room in frustration. This does none of that. I wish it did, because there are the seeds of something extraordinary here.
Reader: The story is an all too familiar one. Wealthy, privileged, popular teenage boy in some way violates less privileged teenage girl. It's a story that we see all to often, in the news, on tv, and, of course, in our literature. What makes this one different, is that a large portion of this story is told from the perspective of the mother of the boy in question. This makes for an interesting perspective, and one not always seen. Combine this with two other highly sympathetic protagonists (the girl and her father) and you have one very easily readable book. And that's the problem I have with this. Reading about this sort of situation should not be easy. It should be hard and painful. It should make you yell, and weep, and throw the book across the room in frustration. This does none of that. I wish it did, because there are the seeds of something extraordinary here.