One Lonely Degree
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One Lonely Degree

3.46 of 5 stars 3.46  ·  rating details  ·  306 ratings  ·  54 reviews
Anything is possible. . . .

Finn has always felt out of place, but suddenly her world is unraveling. It started with The Party. And Adam Porter. And the night in September that changed everything. The only person who knows about that night is Audrey—Finn’s best friend, her witness to everything, and the one person Finn trusts implicitly. So when Finn’s childhood friend Jers...more
Hardcover, 256 pages
Published May 26th 2009 by Random House Books for Young Readers (first published May 9th 2009)
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Kristi (The Story Siren)
I’m not really sure what to say about this book. I liked it, but I didn’t. I liked Finn, but I didn’t. The only thing that I really liked was Martin’s writing.

There were some aspects of the novel that I really thought played well, the dysfunctional family, the forbidden relationship, and Finn’s growth, but everything else was just meh. It kept me entertained, but I didn’t particularly enjoy reading it. The ending is another big issue for me. I like how Martin kept it “open” but I wo...more
Nomes
4.5
I absolutely loved this. beautiful and seamlessly written. It made me ache.
I absolutely loved this. Beautiful and seamlessly written. It made me ache.

I loved Finn - I so related to her - quietly, beautifully angsty and unassuming and genuine - a stunning portrait of a teen muddling through life.

As for Jersey - what a dynamic relationship - so much to read in between the lines. I am crushing on him hard. HARD.

This is contemporary relationships crafte...more
Courtney
Wow, okay. I loved this book.

C.K. Kelly Martin is amazing.

There was so much I admired in her extraordinary debut, I Know It's Over (I loved that book too); Martin managed to bridge the distance between me and a type of story I have never truly been interested in (teen pregnancy) and made me invested, made me care. I may not have been able to relate directly to Nick's experiences, but by the end of them, I was so tangled up in his heartache I was sure I understood exa...more
Alyssa
Alyssa rated it 3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: CANADIANS. And syrup + The Leafs fans.
So my English teacher told me to stop using dashes and to start “utilizing semi-colons; they’re more proper.” I, of course, wanted to trap her in the stinky staff room, considering dashes and semi-colons are BASICALLY the same thing, but I stood by her word and decided to figure out WHAT THE HELL SEMI-COLONS DO.

You use semi-colons to JOIN ALIKE PHRASES SO THEY BOTH FIT IN A SINGLE SENTENCE. I honestly think dashes do a better job of that, and that they’re prettier, but hey. She’s the E...more
Kristy
To be honest, I was merely disappointed with the way this book ended, I thought it seems so incomplete. I felt like the problems were not resolved and that everything did not fall into place. I kind of liked and disliked everything, the characters, and the plot. I was able to see the messed up family relations. Finn's parents are somewhat going through a rough patch, (view spoiler)[and he ended up moving out... but I still do not sense closure between the family members. Neither was their closur...more
Polly
One lonely decree is very realistic and easy to make you read on. Finn is a ninth grader who is going through tough time at home, school and with friends. Finn noticed her parents are heading toward divorce, where her father moved out to rent his own apartment. Her fear toward her father’s leaving was never less; she waited until late night for her father to come home in order to sleep with security. Finn’s best and only friend is Audrey and she shares everything with her including date rape. Au...more
Rachael
Finn’s life has been unraveling ever since that night in September, that party and Adam Porter. And of course, to add even more stress, her parents’ relationship has been steadily deteriorating. Life is almost more than she can bear. It’s a good thing her best friend Audrey is there for her, or Finn wouldn’t know what to do. Thus, Finn ignores her tentative initial attraction to Beautiful Boy Jersy, her childhood friend from way back when, when Audrey expresses her interest. When Audrey goes awa...more
thebookblogger
One Lonely Degree is a great example of a lovely book with many positive additions. Romance, family issues, and friendship faults are all present in this book by C.K. Kelly Martin.

The main character, Finn, is shy. She has only one true friend, Audrey, and she's nervous around boys, especially after what happened to her at a party. And when her friend, Jersy, from her younger years moves back into town, she develops a small crush on him.

Audrey and Jersy start dating, so Fi...more
Reader Rabbit
For fifteen year old Finn, the world seems like it's crashing down. For one thing, her family's falling apart. And on top of that, there's that thing with Adam Porter that happened at the Party and it continues to haunt her. Only one person knows about it and that's Audrey, Finn's best friend. But when Finn's childhood friend, Jersey, comes to town and things between him and Audrey begin to heat up, well, things begin to change.

When summer rolls around, Audrey's parents go off, with ...more
Jennifer Wardrip
Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com

Finn isn’t the girl she used to be before – before the party when her life changed.

Only her BFF, Audrey, knows about that night. Now she’s just a shell of her old self, not wanting to take a chance on anything.

When a former friend moves back to town, she knows he’s gotten hotter. While she’s interested, she can’t bring herself to do anything about her crush. When Audrey asks her if she would mind if she date...more
Carmen
Carmen rated it 4 of 5 stars
Finn is a high school girl trying to deal with the aftermath of a sexual assault. And though she doesn't realize it, I thought that her character was really strong to begin with. Sure, she did find herself in a very vulnerable position but she said no and didn't let the guy peer pressure her. It must've been hard for her to keep it in and still have to see him around. I'm not too sure about what I think of Jersy (no, he's not the beforementioned assaulter) but the fact that he's letting himself ...more
Haley
Anyone who looks at this cover would think it's a romance. Two teens by the swimming pool. Someone's lonely, obviously. The tagline is "Anything is possible..." Their hands are touching just barely atthe fingertips.

But I didn't put this in the romance shelf because it's really not just a romance. It's more about a girl, and romance sort of just happens to be there. And if you read the book, you know the tagline isn't really romantic. Here's an excerpt, a mini-spoiler of the...more
Lacey Louwagie
So, I loved C.K. Kelly Martin's debut novel, "I Know It's Over" so much that I had HIGH expectations for this one. I'm not sure I even would have picked it up if it wasn't by her, but as soon as I saw her name, I couldn't resist (mind you, I still get lots of books for free from my old job, so it wasn't like my non-resistance cost me any money--just bookshelf space. ;))

There were a few moments when I thought this book might live up to the promise of the first one, but in th...more
Alea
Alea rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: read-for-review
This is the first book I've read by C.K. Kelly Martin, I know for shame, I need to read I Know It's Over. I really liked the idea of this book but it played out a bit differently than I would have hoped. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed it and I loved Finn. I mean she wanted to be a graphic designer and move to London or New York, we basically had the same dream!

One thing I was really interested in finding out was what happened at The Party, and I was surprised to find out how so...more
Alex
Alex rated it 3 of 5 stars
I felt that One Lonely Degree is a mix between Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and Waiting For You by Susane Colasanti. But Speak is much more powerful. One Lonely Degree is mostly the cute, light, summer read that while realistic, doesn't have much deeper meaning. It's straight forward.

Audrey likes Jersy. Finn likes Jersy. Finn is too broken up from her "encounter" with Adam Porter to be able to do anything with Jersy. So Finn gives her blessing to Audrey and Jersy, who for...more
Katie M.
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Kelly Muscat
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Tammara
Finn has a terrible secret, and only her best friend Audrey knows about it. Determined to move on without telling anyone, Finn tries to put The Incident behind her, and Audrey does what she can to help Finn when the walls close in. Finn is getting better... but she isn't healed, she doesn't trust, she isn't sure enough of her feelings to move forward. She's stuck

Enter Jersy, a Beautiful Boy, morphed from a childhood friend who moves back to the area after a decade or so. Finn fin...more
Stephanie
Stephanie rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: own
I had tons of mixed feelings about this novel. There were the good and the bad. The unexpected and the expected. The useless excess information and the highly addictive facts that will keep you going.

There were a lot of things in this book that I wasn't so sure about. Finn, for example, was someone I liked but didn't like at the same time. On one end, she seemed like a good girl set out to do the right thing. On the other hand, she's easily swayed and she seems to have little to no b...more
Lauren
Lauren rated it 4 of 5 stars
Shelves: own
After reading C.K. Kelly Martin's fantastic first novel, I Know It's Over, I was a bit weary to see how this one would compare to that amazing and heartbreaking tale. Luckily, by the end of the first chapter, I was already addicted to One Lonely Degree. Leaving me to think only one thought: C.K. Kelly Martin never writes a bad book!

Finn was a character that was easy to love. I was constantly cheering for her to overcome what had happened the previous year and to work out the situatio...more
Yan
Yan rated it 3 of 5 stars
Ms. Martin has a way with manipulating the past into the present and future. The format of her previous book, I Know It’s Over, makes another appearance in One Lonely Degree. She has this way of forcing the past into the present as the prominent setback the character faces and yet still making it seem a part of whom there are. Not just as an unfortunate event that happened but rather what makes them grow. It becomes what they are as they face every day life with the ever lingering past haunting ...more
Whitney
Whitney rated it 5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for: Brynn
Recommended to Whitney by: Courtney
Shelves: fiction, young-adult
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Ashley
My thoughts:
When this book arrived I was super excited. I hadn’t heard much about C.K. Kelly Martin. I loved how she was open to expressing the real emotions of a sexual desire among teens. I also loved that there was an aspect of turmoil in her parent’s relationship. That is a common aspect that authors tend to avoid. The fact that her world began falling apart after a bad night in September was unique. Most stories font pin-point the exact spot.

Jersy was an adorable guy. The ...more
Megan
This book was beautifully written. Right from the start, after reading the first few sentences: "Things don`t always change with a bang. Sometimes they change so gradually that you can`t clearly pinpoint the last moment they were truly the same", I was hooked. The main character, Finn, is so likelable and real that you just can`t help but fall in love with her character. Throughout the whole book she struggles with issues because of something that happened at a party one night, but at ...more
Jennifer Taylor
This book is one of the most relatable books for teens that I have ever read. It has almost everything that could happen in an average teen's life- that is why I liked it. I thought it was way better than her other novel, I Know It's Over. C.K. Kelly Marin did a wonderful job in diving into the life of the main character, and I was honeslty quite intrigued. Although it doesn't have the happiest ever after ending, it just goes to show that not everyones life is perfect.
Mackenzie
What can I say..

One Lonely Degree started off a little slow for me, but in the end it was worth it. I really liked the plot of this novel. Finn was a character that you could easily relate to, because of her family situation and because of her feelings.

I really don't have very much to say about this book, the ending was good. Not great, but good enough for me to give this book 4 stars. If you're willing to spend the time reading this book, I think you should. :)
Zoe Cohen
Finn is an average teenager and likes to keep it that way between her and her best friend Audrey she thinks everything will always be okay. When Jersy her old friend moves back in town and becomes close to Audrey, Finn begins to fall through the cracks. When her parents marriage falls apart and Audrey is sent away she is alone, and causes their relationship to collapse.

This book is relatable to most people because a lot of people have either had a fall out with heir best friend or a ha...more
laaaaames
The thing I really like about C.K. Kelly Martin's books is how she tackles some really complicated emotions in this really amazing balance of:

1. crap everyone goes through
2. crap teenagers go through
3. crap these characters go through and gosh you wish you could DO something to help!

Oh and then also:

4. sexual tension!

I also really liked how this could have been a book about a lot of other things (Finn's past, the parents, Jersy way more...more
Ev
Ev rated it 3 of 5 stars
I was really exited to read this novel. I must say I was slightly disappointed in it. The style of writing was fairly simple. The story line was relatable and the issues seemed were authentic, yet sometimes the romance and family drama failed short to impress me. The protagonist Finn is secretly dealing with a traumatic incident that involved Adam, which in my opinion could’ve been developed a bit more. I found the characters too ordinary and easily forgettable.

However, there were th...more
Michelle Sallay
I didn't get the point of this book. Was it about a girl watching her parents divorce? Was it a girl dealing with sexual assault? Was it a girl in love with her best friend's boyfriend? It wasn't very long and too many issues made this feel utterly and completely flat.

I like Martin's style so she gets more than one start on this one, but it is definitely a miss.
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“Things don't always change with a bang. Sometimes they change so gradually that you can't clearly pinpoint the last moment they were truly the same.” 27 people liked it
“Sometimes it seems so easy to make people happy that I wonder why I don't do it more often.” 12 people liked it
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