Fifteen-year-old Finn has always felt out of place, but suddenly her world is unraveling. It all started with The Party. And Adam Porter. And the night in September that changed everything. The only perosn who knows about that night is Audrey - Finn's best friend, her witness to everything, and the one person (under thirty) Finn trusts implicitly. So when Finn's childhood friend Jersy moves back into town - reckless, beautiful boy Jersy, all lips and eyes and hair so soft you'd want to dip your fingers into it if you weren't careful - Finn gives her blessing for Audrey to date him. After all, how could she possibly say no to Audrey?With Audrey gone for the summer, though, Finn finds herself spending more and more time with Jersy, and for the first time since September, for the first time in her life maybe, something feels right - absolutely, stunningly right. But Finn can't be the girl who does this to her best friend...can she?
(Summary from back of ARC)
Ahhh...can I decline to do a review on this one please? That would be great.
Because I adore C.K. Kelly Martin and I wouldn't want to say anything less than glowing about her book. But I think I kind of have to with this one. It wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be.
The biggest thing that bothered me about One Lonely Degree was how passive it was. Her first book tackled a big issue in a big way (teen pregnancy from a guy's perspective - it doesn't get much better than that) and this book just didn't. I guess you could say that the whole Adam Porter thing was the event that was supposed to add a little bit of tension and edginess to the book, but I didn't see that at all. Nothing really jumped out at me or made me take a second look.
The other thing that bothered me was Jersy. On the surface he was the cute, idealistic guy, but, at least to me, he was a complete man ho (don't laugh at my terminology). He hooks up with Finn's best friend. Like hook-up, hook-up. And then once she's gone, he turns around and tells Finn that it was really her all along. While reading, I was just like, seriously? Really, Jersy? Because if any guy did that to my best friend or to me, I'd slap him across the face and walk away. Not okay in my book. Jersy was just a big ol' slime ball.
Other than that though, this book was quite good. After I realized that there weren't going to be any big controversial events, I resigned myself to reading it like I did Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty. Like it was a fun little account of a teen's life. I listened to the voice instead of any underlying hints and meanings that there might have been. And once I got into that, I decided that the book wasn't half bad. Finn had a really great voice and the way she described things and reacted to different twists in her life struck a chord with me. She reminded me of myself.
I also loved the ending and the openness of it all. Because, really, in real life, nothing turns out perfectly. It's about finding the silver lining and making the best out of what's put in front of you.
One Lonely Degree wasn't a book about some big issue that needs to be confronted or some star-crossed romance, it was a book about life.
And I loved that.
So thanks C.K. You really can do no wrong in my mind.
B
