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Cynthia (Bingeing On Books)
I don't get all the great reviews. When there is a romance between a twelve year old girl and a grown man, that is NOT a romance. It's pedophilia. The guy is a child molester and I hate that people are glorifying this as a romance. I was not rooting for this couple.
Zuky the BookBum
I think this book is very far from horrifying. It's sad, touching and eye opening more than anything. For me, this is the realest love I've read about in a book for a long, long time.
Jessica Ford
I don't believe it glorifies pedophilia in any way. He quite obviously has a case of arrested development for lack of a better term. It is something entirely likely when faced with a lifestyle that was being endured on both of their parts. It is the not so great part of reality that most people are fortunate enough to be ignorant to. He was her only safe space and she the only one whoever saw him as an actual person. I feel like the uncomfortable sexual parts were secondary as their mentality was pretty close to equal. He never took advantage of her and the atrocities they were both born into makes ages almost irrelevant at times. They were both fighting to survive a world horrifically unfair and unjust to them both. I never for a minute thought of it as any kind of romance novel but to find any kind of true love that transcends age, race, and class makes them turn a situation where instead of evolving into addicts and criminals they fight for the only "normal" either of them could ever have.
Julie
As a mother, I was horrified. Kellen over stepped his boundaries and took advantage of a young girl he set out to protect. In away it almost seems like it glorified their relationship. He really was a pedophile that messed up a little girl even more than she was! If he really loved her, he should have kept his hands off of her! It did cause a strong reaction in me and that's a sign of a good book regardless if you liked it or not.
Rebecca
To put this in perspective, another book, "Tampa" depicted a sociopath/pedophile preying on young boys as a teacher and even SHE waited until they were at least 14. People would have a much different reaction to this if it weren't for the "lolita" effect. The sexualization of young girls needs to stop. Hard stop. No grey area here. All the defense centering around "all the had was each other/they protected each other" is bullshit. This is something young girls need to be protected from. This school of thought is dangerous and irresponsible for society overall. The acceptance at the end of the novel made me want to vomit. This isn't a "family." This is a young damaged girl who fell in love with a man who abused her. There's nothing romantic about that. And also, a big fuck you to the publisher for marketing this book as something more than just a story about pedophilia.
Renee
Unless you are easily "horrified" I doubt it. I found it very touching and I couldn't put it down and I read A LOT. I am a mother and grandmother and unlike Julie, the reviewer below, I did not think it glorified pedophilia--it is a subtle, nuanced take on an unusual, but always loving, relationship.
Alyssa
This book will not horrify you. Wavy is unlike any character you will ever read about. An old soul, in a 13 year old girls body. There are times where it pushes the limits but its nothing that I'd consider to be horrifying.
Josiane
I found it very disturbing and a rationalization for pedophilia.
Namoos Qasmi
This book will make you think and feel. There is no horrifying point in it. If that is the only reason for you are thinking to not to read this book, forget about it.
Cheryl
This book is going to make you question yourself. I'm still questioning how I feel about this Wavy Quinn.
Michelle
There is nothing horrifying about this book. Kellen's love grows for her as she gets older. There is nothing in the book about him even looking at her sexually until she has the body of a woman and even then he wants to be good for her. They have a once in a lifetime connection, especially in both of their situations. He did not in no way take advantage of her but protected her and was all he wanted to do the whole time. He loved her for her and no one else would have understood her or been able to take care of her the way he does. Their love was right in all the ways that matter. Would recommend.
Jane L. Schneckloth
This answer contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)
Alexandre Ramirez
@Zuky Your comment has motivated me to purchase this book.
Jen Mcreynolds Sherwood
I think it's interesting that everyone is focusing on the horrifying relationship between Wavy and Kellen. I was horrified by the living conditions their parents placed Wavy and Donal in, the disgusting drug use and sex those children witness, and "the system" failed these children miserably. That was horrifying.
Kenda McIntosh
I found it horrifying in a lot of ways, but not in the way you would expect going in.
Olără
abominable
awful
creepy
distasteful
hateful
horrific
nasty
objectionable
outrageous
repugnant
shocking
vile
vulgar
gross
nauseating
revolting
detestable
frightful
ghastly
hideous
horrid
offensive
repellent
rotten
Bottom line- There will never be enough words to describe how disgusting this book truly is.I have a strong stomach but THIS? No Just NO.I hardly take time to comment but when something as horrible as this book has so many positive reviews it truly makes me wonder what has become of our society when a book which CLEARLY is A PREDATORS GUIDEBOOK / MANUAL is allowed to be published.
I do not know what happened to BRYN GREENWOOD in her past but she should visit a psychologist at the very least and if she truly wants to reform herself,she should go to the nearest police station and register herself as sex offender because mass producing YOUR SICK FANTASY is NOT OKAY no matter what abuse you went through.You are old enough to know better .
awful
creepy
distasteful
hateful
horrific
nasty
objectionable
outrageous
repugnant
shocking
vile
vulgar
gross
nauseating
revolting
detestable
frightful
ghastly
hideous
horrid
offensive
repellent
rotten
Bottom line- There will never be enough words to describe how disgusting this book truly is.I have a strong stomach but THIS? No Just NO.I hardly take time to comment but when something as horrible as this book has so many positive reviews it truly makes me wonder what has become of our society when a book which CLEARLY is A PREDATORS GUIDEBOOK / MANUAL is allowed to be published.
I do not know what happened to BRYN GREENWOOD in her past but she should visit a psychologist at the very least and if she truly wants to reform herself,she should go to the nearest police station and register herself as sex offender because mass producing YOUR SICK FANTASY is NOT OKAY no matter what abuse you went through.You are old enough to know better .
Marcela Railean
Before starting it I hear so many reviews that made me believe that this book is about horrible things. It's not that bad actually. Yes, there are some topics that are not very common and would be considered unethical or illegal, BUT this sort of things might as well happen in real life so the book is not some scary story that want to frighten you.
Erin Robertson
yes but in a wonderful way
Jaylynny
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Dianne Matthews
Maybe, but it's worth it.
Kristin
I hope so. I see that you posted this a year ago. Did your read it? Were you horrified?
Sue Salisbury
You may want to take a look at this review I saw on Amazon to answer that question for yourself. I thought this Amazon reviewer put it perfectly.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
"The book follows the story of their gradual building of a relationship. Wavy is 8 when she first meets Kellen, who is a friend/"co-worker" of her father in his drug business. At first his actions are very innocent. Kellen will bring Wavy groceries and make sure she gets to school. But this quickly develops into more -- on both sides, and it gets graphic and uncomfortable to read.""
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-re...
"The book follows the story of their gradual building of a relationship. Wavy is 8 when she first meets Kellen, who is a friend/"co-worker" of her father in his drug business. At first his actions are very innocent. Kellen will bring Wavy groceries and make sure she gets to school. But this quickly develops into more -- on both sides, and it gets graphic and uncomfortable to read.""
Melissa Grimes
By the end I was rooting for the characters, however there were SEVERAL points throughout that made me very uncomfortable. I missed the part in the description that this was a LOVE story between a very young girl (6) and a grown man. If you are asking yourself if you will be horrified you probably will be. My sister works in sex offender probation and refused to read it.
Jamie
It might. I still don't know how I feel about it and I finished it a couple weeks ago. It affected me so much that I had to take a break from reading - I usually jump into my next book right away. Maybe it's because I have a daughter, I'm not sure.
Susan
That was something that stopped me from recommending it for my book club. The story is told in a unique way.
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