Trouble in The Under-Hyped Readathon!

Dec 07, 2015 Linda rated it did not like it

1.5 stars

I really did not get this book. I was expecting something unique and enlightening, based on the interesting topic of the novel (boy volunteers to be fake dad of pregnant teenage girl), but I was horribly let down.

I only gave this book an extra half star because I wasn't particularly offended by the story as a whole, but I did find certain parts to be unsettling.

In terms of writing, this was not well-executed. There were leaps around events, not enough background and buildup, and no 1.5 stars

I really did not get this book. I was expecting something unique and enlightening, based on the interesting topic of the novel (boy volunteers to be fake dad of pregnant teenage girl), but I was horribly let down.

I only gave this book an extra half star because I wasn't particularly offended by the story as a whole, but I did find certain parts to be unsettling.

In terms of writing, this was not well-executed. There were leaps around events, not enough background and buildup, and none of the plot points I think the author wanted to hit on were elaborated upon. There's like a badly taken snapshot of every scene, and that's about it. After reading the book, I still don't understand what was going down with Aaron's past- the lack of explanation and elaboration made the storyline weak and confusing at times.

I either freaking hated some of the characters or felt very indifferent to them. Honestly, I barely made the distinction between the side characters like Tyrone and Rex, and even the antagonist, Marcy, barely appears in the novel. All the characters were either despicable or bland. I even disliked Aaron at multiple points throughout the story, and I usually root for a character like him that is personally suffering and tries to help others too.

The entire situation in general seemed unrealistic. Literally, the story's beginning starts all out with sex and drinking (I'm surprised there weren't any drugs), and a lot of romantic tropes and cliches were used. Also, because the author didn't build background well, I never understood why Aaron volunteered to be the baby daddy- did he really think helping a random girl he didn't even know would be a good idea? It also really bothered me that his and Hannah's relationship developed in the blink of an eye (or a chapter) literally after close to NO interaction. The reader literally has no clue why he knows Hannah is "special" because their relationship just goes from one to zero. Another annoying thing that kept popping up was when the two would call each other their "heroes"- I honestly just hate that cliche.

And finally, the ending. It was, like every other scene, abrupt and lacking. I also hated the way the author wrote the ending because it sounded like a five year-old wrote it- I'd like to think that a fifteen year old who has gone through an entire nine months of pregnancy would have matured to at least see life from a level of maturity that matches her age (at least!!), but no. The loose ends, in general, were not tied together well. What happened to Tyrone? To Rex? To Katie? To Jay? TO EVERYBODY? Nada.

The novel read fast, which was pretty much the only plus, and it had GLIMMERS of hope to be so much more every now and then, but those glimmers soon faded away. Extremely disappointing. ...more

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Feb 27, 2015 Léa rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2015

This book is one of the first books I’ve read about teen pregnancy and it really helped me to discover and understand more about teen pregnancy and friendship and high school and teenage drama. Also, Aaron was such an intriguing character, with his mysterious backstory and troubled past. I was hooked.

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