Jake Riley: Irreparably Damaged

by Rebecca Fjelland Davis

Jake Riley is a nice guy.
Jake Riley is a loser.
Jake Riley is a good friend.
Jake Riley is dangerous. Everyone has a different idea about Jake. Lainey's friends think he's her boyfriend. Lainey's mother thinks he's sad. Lainey's guidance counselor thinks he is a bad influence on her. None of these people really know the truth about Jake. Not even Lainey. By the time Lainey learns the truth about Jake, she no longer has to wonder about one thing. She knows he's dangerous.

Genres: Young Adult

272 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2003

About the author

Rebecca Fjelland Davis is a novelist and children's book author who lives in Minnesota. She is currently an instructor at South Central College in Mankato, where she teaches Composition, Literature and Film, and Humanities.

Becky grew up on a farm outside of Huxley, Iowa. She graduated from Waldorf College, from St. Cloud State University, and received her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Minnesota State University, Mankato.

She currently lives in the country near Mankato with her husband and Newfoundland dog Freya. Besides writing and teaching, Becky rides her bike a few thousand miles a year, has bonfires with her friends, feeds the birds, and walks Freya on the prairie and in the woods.

She also hauls students on grand adventures, to places like South Africa or art museums in Minneapolis.

Reviews

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently read the book, Jake Riley: Irreparably Damaged, written by Rebecca Fjelland Davis. It contorts a message of how people are treated, what life is like in different circumstances and judging others when you, yourself don't know the whole tale. Lainey doesn't seem to understand Jake, he can be sweet, or he can be dangerously strange. As Lainey attempts figure Jake out she's putting herself into more danger than she realizes.
Jake Riley- loser, creep, mysterious, violent, dangerous, inappropriate, and Lainey's new neighbor. When Jake moves in during the summer Lainey enjoys the company of another teenager on her fathers' farm; they run through the oat fields, get into fun trouble and develop a friendship. In the mists of their blossoming relationship, Jake starts showing his true colors; the reason why his mother didn't want him and why he ended up in a place like Eldora; a reform/ treatment center. Threats are equivalent to promises when it comes to Jake, so when Lainey starts to discover Jake's mess of a past, he threatens her very breath.
I would give Jake Riley: Irreparably Damaged three stars for its' engagingly written plot and head turning conflicts throughout. My favorite part of this book was when Jake and Lainey both missed the bus to help save a run-over squirrels' life. It shows how strong their bond had held them together and it represents the soft side and Laineys' preferred side of Jake. Davis also did a wonderful job at making the book flow. Although I gave this book three stars, I disliked several parts; much of them inappropriately worded or detailed. If I could revise anything in this novel I would change how it ended, the ending was sudden and I feel it could have elaborated more.
I would recommend this fictional novel to someone who enjoys sociological thrillers. This is an easy read, yet still grasps your attention and keeps you captivated.

[Stephanie A. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I figured out the title spoke truth in the second paragraph. What's your excuse, Lainey? Are you an irreparable moron? Actually, what's my excuse for finishing this piece of dreck?

Everything about this book was disturbing, starting with the opening paragraph where they're pulling the lights off lightning bugs. Cover to cover, I saw nothing redeeming in the character of Jake. Are we intended to feel sympathy for him? This is hard to do when he is constantly threatening Lainey with violence, and everybody brushes it off as her overreacting. Most boys ARE packets of strung-out hormones, yet most boys also manage not to grope and verbally harass a girl at every opportunity. Oh, but that's right, we're supposed to think he didn't know any better because he got confused at an impressionable age in the reform center, and found himself enjoying oral sex with other boys. Sorry, where DID I put that compassion and understanding?

The one thing that rings true in this novel is Lainey's frustration when the adults in her school assume that Jake is a bad kid and she's involved with him or otherwise lying to protect him. I remember how it feels when adults jump to conclusions and won't take your word because you're too young. Unfortunately, in this case THEY ARE NOT WRONG, which makes it all the more infuriating when Lainey spirals down into battered-wife syndrome and scrambles to protect him at every opportunity.

The star in this review is for the descriptions of Lainey feeding her "babies," the motley assortment of calves her dad buys her as a lesson in responsibility. I greatly enjoyed those moments, but absolutely nothing else. I kept waiting for the great reveal where we'd find out what Jake really did, but unfortunately, it is an underwhelming reveal that cannot possibly excuse his behavior up to that point.

[Kate Yancey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The cover of this book caught my attention. I read this book in the begeining of 7th grade. And after I 've read this book, I got hooked on books like heroine. I now read books like there is no tomorrow. Anyways, about this book. I read the back and it seemed like a bunch of boring stuff about a kid who is mentel. But then I read about maybe...six or seven pages and started to blush. I'm not kidding. This book has intresting topics pop up into it. It intrested me deeply. I've never read anything like that. (or was allowed to) Some of the topics that came up in this book were; Sex, Drugs, Rape, Phisical and Emotional Abuse. I blushed some of the times I read this. I enjoyed the book, so I read it agian, and I recommended it to my friends too. I got so hooked on books that I just kept reading and reading and reading, that my grades shot through the roof. I read so much that is annoying. (Yes it's true, I annoy people with my super-sonic reading abiltys! =]) This book is what made me into a reading maniac. My teachers were so impressed, because I used to dislike reading and writing, and I never really took the time with a real book. Until I read this one. I just found it on a table, and read it. Now I'm addicted to books almost as if it's heroine (I dont do drugs XD) Til' this very day, I reasd like there is no tomorrow. Acctuallty I'll read anything, if it's in book form. I'm now called the little bookworm. All thanks to this book. =D

[Coralie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about what happens when parents don't listen. Lainey, the main character in the book, is a hard-working farm girl who goes to a small high school. She is an average girl, has some friends, not super popular but not a social outcast. Jake is the son of the man who works for Lainey's father on the farm. Lainey and Jake become friends, after all, the are the same age and live on the same farm. Lainey discovers that Jake has many secrets, and when she becomes scared of him, and tells her parents they think she's being overly dramatic. This author gets it right in terms of life on a farm. I thought the parents were very realistic. They are nice people, they love their daughter, they provide a good home, but they are naive and don't want to believe the worst, and they certainly don't believe their daughter.

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a really weird book.. It was one of the books where you want to stop reading it but you can't! I thought jake had more of a personality than lainey did... I didn't understand how the kids were in grade nine and yet the parents wouldn't listen to lainey when she told them the first time that jake made advances towards her! The parents were horrible characters.. Anyways i guess it deserves two stars because it kept me hooked and that i wanted to see what would happen to Jake!

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great but I dont recommend it to all people. Especially The elderly!!
Te 0's are eyes and the ~ is the mouth.High light the 0's and you have glasses and ta-da!!!!!< you have an elderly person with really cool glasses
0 0
~

[Dr. Alex Gray]

I got to page 150 I just could not get into this book. I found the book boring. It just dragged on for days, it spent like 2 chapters on a squirrel they saved. I could not connect with the main character beacuse I found him super anoying which made it hard to read.

[Chrissy Erickson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is sooo great!!
Rebecca was my fiction teacher in college she is amazing!!

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was interesting. I had a hard time with the way it was written. I'm not sure what it was, but something about the style of writing did not appeal to me.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Despite the opinion of his guidance counselor that he is dangerous and should be put away in another reform school, Jake

[Sheena Lukens · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book! And the author was my English 101 teacher my first year of college!

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

disturbing

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it in a way. It's quite different from other books that I have read.

[Johnna Horton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I highly recommend this YA novel to anyone who works or has contact with children who've been behind the 8 ball their whole lives. Interesting psychological insight.

[Kaity · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book I believe is what set me on a journey to reading in middle school. I really enjoyed how the characters reacted.

[Cole Eckholm · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was a really fast read because of good detail. There was a lot of action and it was extreamly interesting. It's good right from the start. I'd give it 5 stars.

[Donna Gobbell · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just so-so.

[Saidah Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must have liked because I remember that I read this book more than once. I don't remember the plot though.

[Brenna Sydel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad. But squeezing too much into one book. Also the characters are complete naive making this a little far fetched.

[Leigh Paddon · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story about friends, trauma, and how to navigate it all.

[GeoRG!e · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't remember why I read this. It's a good book for teens.

[Claudias Orozco Ramirez · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a strong story about a boy finding his identity. Story is based in Iowa.