This wickedly-humorous novel will have you rooting for its heroine, ice princess Parker Prescott. Make sure to settle into a comfortable chair because once you pick up this book, you won't want to set it down. Griffin is a fresh new voice in the world of young adult literature!

When I first put my hands on a copy of Handcuffs by Bethany Griffin I thought it was a typical teen novel with a racy spin. I didn’t think I would enjoy it. I’m too old to fall into the world of teenage romance, but I found myself drawn into the Prescott’s family drama seeing snippets of my own feelings and emotions on the page. I could not put the book down and I read it in two nights. This book takes a unique situation that draws the reader into a dysfunctional American drama. By watching this More...

So this book gets a 4.5 (rounded to a 5) because, to be honest, it was great. Outstanding. It's nearly 4 AM and I've stayed up all night to finish this book. I admit, my expectations weren't too high. The premise was fantastic, but I was expecting a shallow novel with shallow characters and shallow writing. I was wrong. Surprisingly well-written and subtly suspenseful, this is a great story by a great author. Different types of obsessions are portrayed, and different types of stereotypes are sha More...

Considering this got a lot of local press because the author is local, I was sort of excited to read it. Alas, I found it mediocre and some of the writing just down right silly. The plot meandered and I'm not really all that sure what the central idea was for the story. So, oh well...

Handcuffs is a thoroughly entertaining read for teens and adults alike. It has enough spice to entice and enough substance to enthrall. A fantastic debut from a promising author--I certainly hope to see more from Bethany Griffin in the future!

Loved it! I usually don't enjoy "realistic" teen novels. I lean toward supernatural twists but Parker was a great character. This book shows what teens are feeling and how they handle their emotions. I can't wait for the next Bethany Griffin.

If Parker Prescott went to my school, I would hate her. She's gorgeous, gets perfect grades, and has the hottest guy in the school after her. On top of that, her older sister has paved the popularity path for her already.

I can't hate her in Handcuffs though. Beneath the surface, there's a lot more going on with Parker than anyone realizes. Without giving anything away, I'll just say that Parker Prescott knows how to use her brain for a lot more than just getting good grades. Of course it nearly More...

Reviewed by Jaglvr for TeensReadToo.com

I have to put a disclaimer at the beginning of this review. I went into reading the book expecting something totally different. I believe if I either a) didn't know what the book was about or b) had a better understanding of the synopsis prior to starting it, I would have appreciated the story far more. From the first blurb I caught of the story, I actually expected it to be more of a hostage storyline. I was way off base.

Parker Prescott is the middle chil More...

Another selection for the I READ IT SO YOU DON'T HAVE TO shelf.

Honestly, I'm not sure this book is worth the time it's gonna take me to review it. So I'm keeping this brief. This is not a book about handcuffs. If ever there was an asinine title, this is it. Handcuffs? Really, publishers? I read the blurb and the suggestion is that Parker's boyfriend bringing handcuffs over is the catalyst to some crazy story. I thought he came over and kidnapped her or something. I was all ready for a thrill. N More...

Parker Prescott is in love. The only problem is, she just broke up with the boy in question and now she’s realised that she made a huge mistake. She’s pretty sure he’d still take her back, but what about the reason they broke up in the first place? He was getting way too pushy about the whole sex thing and Parker wanted to wait till he told her that he loved her before doing the deed. But now she wants him back so badly that she thinks she’s willing to go all the way, and not just for him either More...

Be forewarned, this book was an emotionally intense read. I had to literally pause, jump around a bit, then sit back down every once in a while to vent the adrenaline. Im actually stunned when I read books like this, only to realise afterwards, only a few people on goodreads have read them.

The intense moments with the ex boyfriend, the school, the family, the neighbours, the blogging, the everyday life, the mean girls. You experience it all with Parker, and you experience it all from her point More...

PARKER PRESCOTT IS an ice princess. Cold, aloof, a snob. At least, that’s what everyone says on Marion Hennessey’s blog. And everyone reads Marion Hennessey’s blog.Parker Prescott is a middle child. She’s the good one, the dependable one, the one her parents trust. Well . . . she used to be.
Parker Prescott’s parents want her to break up with her boyfriend. But she already did, two weeks ago. And then she realized it was a mistake. He came over. He had the handcuffs in his pocket. Everything went More...

3.5 stars. To begin, let me say that I can't believe I read a book called Handcuffs. As trashy as the title sounds, however, the book itself wasn't sleazy. It was actually an interesting story about a high school student whose life seems to be falling apart after she's grounded by her parents and can't get over (or stay away from) her ex-boyfriend, all the while trying to help her family with their problems and dealing with online bullying from a former friend. Parker was a likable main characte More...

Parker has such a perfect teenage voice that I felt like I was visiting my own past teen self.

The tension in this book! I was completely sucked in - especially with the escalating high school warfare and Parker and her boyfriend/ex-boyfriend (supreme hotness) who's relationship is complicated and sexy in the best of ways.

Griffin writes with a subtlety that captures those teen feelings of identity and belonging and high school hardships and... lust :)

I especially loved the intricate ways Parker More...

Handcuffs is guilty of having a synopsis that's kind of more compelling for me than the actual novel. There was nothing inherently wrong with it, and I really, really enjoyed the last, oh, 20% of the book, but the build-up left me not particularly caring about any of the characters. To avoid any spoilers, I'll say that if I'd known that Handcuffs was a novel about a family's reaction to the bad economy, a layoff and hard times, I would have probably approached it with a different mindset. As far More...

The familial relationships in this book reminded me of the ones in Tangerine by Edward Bloor and I love that kind. Parker is such an interesting character, too. I only had two problems with the book. The first was Parker's brother. He has ADHD and while I'm not too familiar with it (my cousin had it), the way Griffin writes it just seems wrong. The kid seems to be developmentally challenged rather than have ADHD. The second problem was Parker's relationship with her boyfriend. I realize the rela More...

Handcuffs was a great book. Really. In comparison to the past two books I've, read, I fell as if it is 300% better. The characters were very well developed. I really did feel like Griffin was Parker, and she was writing down her life adventure as a sixteen year old with so many problems in her family and love life that she can't even use her fingers. Parker was very funny and normal-sounding. She spoke like most teenagers, and that was really impressive to me. I liked it how she never admitted h More...

Began this on Saturday and finished it the same day. Nicely woven story showing the struggles of Parker Prescott who wants nothing more than to fade into the background - to be invisible while following her gorgeous and popular sister up through the grades, but life is never that simple. Faced with cyber-bullying on a popular blog by another student and struggling with the issue of her ex-boyfriend who she still loves but is unsure of whether she can trust him, Parker must decide which direction More...

Read for professional review.

so far, this is one of the best books that I have read. Parker(the main character) is extreemly reaistic, and I feel like i can easily relate to her. I definatly advise reading it!

This book gives insight into the current pressures of teen life.
There are problems relating to internet blogs, family financial problems, and probably most important to future life, coping with sexual peer pressure.
Although parents may not agree with all the decisions made by the main character, this is a good book to read togather with your teen to open discussions.
No parent truly understands or knows all the problems their teens face in highschool. But looking thru the eyes of the "Ice Prin More...

Do not let the title of this book deter you from reading, because it's about so much more than a pair of Handcuffs.

I immediately identified with MC Parker Prescott, or Ice Princess as she's called at school. She walks the halls with her eyes focused straight ahead trying to blend in and go unnoticed. But she's sick of being shy so to her being called the ice princess is better, it says she's made a choice to be a snob and reserved rather than shy. Being shy isn't a choice you make, you just are More...

The author's writing shows promise but the plot contained the complete grocery list of YA problems...

I'm not sure what to say about this book. I didn't hate it, but I didn't necessarily like it either. There were things about it I liked, such as the reality of an internet bully and the uncertainty of a teenage romance, but something about this didn't flow for me.

And, seriously, WHY did the ex-boyfriend not have a name?! That annoyed the crap out of me. Was it to make a point that he wasn't important or something? Because he seemed a heck of a lot more important in the grand scheme of things tha More...

This book at time does get boring. At some points of the book, Parker also knwon as the Ice princess seems to me as a boring person. In the book, i just wanted to slap her because of the way she acted when They did something bad to her. There is no interestring part in the book that made me want to hold on to the book. Wow. Just a girl has to break up with her boyfriend because her parents dont like him. She has a perfect sister and her dad has no job. What a great book. Something i would not wa More...

This was an excellent book. All the better for being, a rare thing in teenage fiction, subtle. I'm not a huge sexual chemistry fan (or a romance fan), but I felt it here. That being said, I was amazingly glad that the love interest ended the way it did. That was realistic and mature, because it just was never going to happen. The intricate relationships Parker had with her parents and especially older sister Paige were AMAZINGLY written: the family was definitely my favourite thing in the entire More...

Parker Prescott has always been the dependable middle child. The one her parents love. 'Has been' being the key words. Two weeks ago she actually broke up with the boyfriend they all wanted her to break up with.

But then came the afternoon with the handcuffs when everything changed. Now she's no longer Perfect Parker.

That's really as much summary as I can give--and as much as really anyone else gives--but there's much, much more to the story than what that all makes it sound like. I came into the More...