Rating (Out of 5): ~3
Genre: YA Realistic Romance
Publisher: Speak (Penguin)
Release Date: 2005
Spoilers?: No.
Buy it here: Amazon. Barnes and Noble. Book Depository. Powells.
Goodreads Synopsis:
Ted's drunk-driving
accident has ruined his life. it cost him his basketball scholarship,
ended his plans for college, and forced him into AA. But just when Ted
has resigned himself to his new life, Michael appears. The wealthy
father of a bulimic Manhattan rich girl has a tempting proposition. He
has agreed to pay for Ted's college tuition, but there's one catch. Ted
has to secretly keep tabs on his benefactor's daughter, Erica. A
seemingly simple task, with only one minor problem: Ted never expected
to fall in love.
The Cover:
This cover is just okay. It's average, not eye-catching, and gives just the feel of the book, not really an idea of what it's about. It's pretty meh.
Review:
This book was
mostly meh.
Erica is finally
going away to college with her father’s permission, since she’s supposedly
recovering from an eating disorder. Ted is a recovering alcoholic starting
college just out of high school, and he’s been hired to watch Erica.
Given this plot
line, of course this book is going to be dark. I expected Ted’s problems, what
with not drinking in general, let alone as a college freshman living in the
dorms. I didn’t expect Erica’s problem, or the detail in which it was going to
be described. The detail was rather off-putting.
I liked the way
that the book was written, though. With alternating points of view, as well as
the emails exchanged for Ted’s job with Erica’s father and IMs between Erica
and her therapist. I liked the ending, where the characters were at that point.
The romance, though, and the actual writing, was pretty meh, though. I didn’t
feel much chemistry between the characters, or why they were supposedly feeling
more than simply attraction. The writing didn’t pull me in.
This book was
average in the end. I didn’t love it, didn’t hate it.
