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mollywetta's review against another edition
3.0
So this is a polarizing book that will not please everybody. But I think it's a quality example of a particular type of book. You can find my full review at wrapped up in books.
summer_winter's review against another edition
4.0
This was such an amazing read, I was torn between 4/5 stars but I have it a high 4.5. I would like to do a full review on this book on my booktube channel when I get back from holiday.
glomdi's review against another edition
2.0
From the beginning this book looked so promising. I love this style of writing; it's like it's swishing around the page but makes sense anyway. However, almost halfway through I realized that this would not be the great book I was hoping for. I was thinking this was going to be an intense, sometimes pissed, sometimes balling your eyes out book. Instead it was just... numb. That's the feeling I got from it. Even the big climax at the end wasn't great. The quote on the cover brags how this will change lives. How so? There's not much unique in the book. It's just saying don't sleep around.
Some light spoilers below.
The story with Sam is completely dull. Anna is sleeping around with many guys and she meets Sam, with his typical(and perfect) family and suddenly feels right at home. And I mean that, suddenly. It goes from Anna being this depressed girl with no future to all of a sudden her life is perfect and nothing can go wrong.
There was no growth (I will not make a dirty joke here!) for any of the characters. Toy was annoying from the start, and just about the worst best friend anyone could ask for. It was all me, me, me, even though Anna has much bigger problems than Toy. And in the end when you get that sudden revelation about her that's supposed to make you feel bad for her and pity, I just felt disgust. She's degrading herself and I'm supposed to feel bad for her for lying to Anna this entire book?
At the end of every book I expect to feel like the story is completed, and if not just some satisfaction from reading the book. (Like [b:Pegasus|7507951|Pegasus (Pegasus, #1)|Robin McKinley|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1265406037s/7507951.jpg|7147745], that was NOT a completed story at all... but it was so perfect!) For Uses for Boys, though, I just feel unfulfilled, and that is not how a book is supposed to make you feel.
Some light spoilers below.
The story with Sam is completely dull. Anna is sleeping around with many guys and she meets Sam, with his typical(and perfect) family and suddenly feels right at home. And I mean that, suddenly. It goes from Anna being this depressed girl with no future to all of a sudden her life is perfect and nothing can go wrong.
There was no growth (I will not make a dirty joke here!) for any of the characters. Toy was annoying from the start, and just about the worst best friend anyone could ask for. It was all me, me, me, even though Anna has much bigger problems than Toy. And in the end when you get that sudden revelation about her that's supposed to make you feel bad for her and pity, I just felt disgust. She's degrading herself and I'm supposed to feel bad for her for lying to Anna this entire book?
At the end of every book I expect to feel like the story is completed, and if not just some satisfaction from reading the book. (Like [b:Pegasus|7507951|Pegasus (Pegasus, #1)|Robin McKinley|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1265406037s/7507951.jpg|7147745], that was NOT a completed story at all... but it was so perfect!) For Uses for Boys, though, I just feel unfulfilled, and that is not how a book is supposed to make you feel.
jackiehorne's review against another edition
4.0
See full review at:
http://romancenovelsforfeminists.blogspot.com/2013/04/pre-romance-for-yas-erica-lorraine.html
http://romancenovelsforfeminists.blogspot.com/2013/04/pre-romance-for-yas-erica-lorraine.html
mapally's review against another edition
4.0
This is a haunting coming-of-age story. It was well written to depict the focus of her life centering on all things male to get her validation instead of being validated in and of herself. The wistfulness of wanting to go back in time when "boys" didn't impact her life and it was just her and her mom and the joy and peace she describes when she thinks about those times.
I think all women have had at least a few of the emotions depicted in this story at some point in our life. No matter how old we get we still continue to look for validation in the world around us. It could be family, career and community organizations, etc.
The other take away that I didn't really expect in the beginning was a deep sense of thankfulness for my family and the knowledge that I always have them in my corner and to be a fall back if I ever need it. For the big things in life as well as the mundane day to day activities we all go through.
I would like to give this a 5, but I'm sticking with a 4 due to the overall tone that left me feeling a little empty. The story is DEFINITELY very well written to have had me feeling so many emotions in this fast and easy to read book.
Please note: I received this book from NetGalley via the publisher in exchange for writing an honest review.
I think all women have had at least a few of the emotions depicted in this story at some point in our life. No matter how old we get we still continue to look for validation in the world around us. It could be family, career and community organizations, etc.
The other take away that I didn't really expect in the beginning was a deep sense of thankfulness for my family and the knowledge that I always have them in my corner and to be a fall back if I ever need it. For the big things in life as well as the mundane day to day activities we all go through.
I would like to give this a 5, but I'm sticking with a 4 due to the overall tone that left me feeling a little empty. The story is DEFINITELY very well written to have had me feeling so many emotions in this fast and easy to read book.
Please note: I received this book from NetGalley via the publisher in exchange for writing an honest review.
nagam's review against another edition
3.0
[Review originally posted on Rather Be Reading]
After some very in-depth discussions with Estelle and Ginger about Uses for Boys, I’ve decided I needed to pose my questions to you guys and make this more of a discussion post instead of a review. That being said, there will be some spoilers included below, so be cautious of this if you decide to read beyond this point.
Anna’s mom had her when she was very young and her father doesn’t stick around. When Anna is very young, her mother begins an endless cycle of leaving her daughter alone to go out which further progresses into longer periods away and countless marriages and divorces. When Anna is a young (innocent) teenager, she’s targeted by a boy on the school bus who decides it would be okay to touch her boob and use her to masturbate while two boys look on. (Yes, eww.) Immediately, Anna’s reputation is scarred and she seems to fall into her mother’s footsteps. She loses her virginity at fourteen and brings her boyfriend home from school every day where they explore their sexuality without her mother knowing any of this.
While much (MUCH) of the book includes very explicit sex, that’s not what Uses for Boys was about to me. I couldn’t stop asking myself these two questions:
Do we automatically follow in our parent’s footsteps?
Or is Uses for Boys saying that we don’t have to?
Anna had a choice from the moment she was on the bus to make very different decisions than she did. WHY didn’t she say no to this hormonally deranged boy? WHY did she all of a sudden think this boy touching her was okay? (There had been no previous thoughts or mentions of sex before this scene. Her mother didn’t bring men home with her – she kept her relationships very distanced from Anna aside from when she got married.) WHY did this sexual molestation on the bus lead to every other bad decision Anna made?
I suppose, to me, it was so blatant that Anna’s mother telling her “their story” (about her young pregnancy and having a daughter to cure her lonesomeness) morphed into Anna’s own story. Anna was trying to find her way without any guidance, with her mother’s story as her only example. Seeing step-fathers constantly come and go does psychologically alter how we view our own relationships and what we expect of them. The boys Anna sleeps with and the sex she has is a result of her mother’s example for her. But why did Anna choose that for herself? Why didn’t her loneliness lead to strong friendships instead of a detrimental drop-out-of-school-for-a-boy-at-sixteen relationship?
My biggest misunderstanding was in that the blame seemed to be placed more on the boys and less on Anna making poor decisions and her mother’s inability to lovingly care for her daughter. Yes, that situation on the bus should never have taken place and maybe the domino effect wouldn’t have cascaded from there, but as I previously mentioned, Anna wasn’t over-sexualized before that situation. Because of that boy, Anna’s life begins to take a downward spiral into drugs, alcohol, and sex. In the end, I was very much hoping that Anna’s sad story would have a happy ending. While things do begin to look brighter for her, I again felt a little distraught that it was a guy who led her to see there was a better life to be had. I was hoping that by the end, Anna would have a huge revelation and she would evolve without needing to rely on boys.
For some, Scheidt’s writing style has been a turn-off, though I found it to be quite unique. It worked well as a tool for understanding Anna. The writing is very stream of consciousness and less structured, demonstrating how much of Anna’s life is spent alone without anyone there to direct her through life.
As you can tell, Uses for Boys definitely made me put on my analytical thinking cap, turning this into much more of a discussion post. Have you read this book? How do you respond to the many questions it posed for me?
After some very in-depth discussions with Estelle and Ginger about Uses for Boys, I’ve decided I needed to pose my questions to you guys and make this more of a discussion post instead of a review. That being said, there will be some spoilers included below, so be cautious of this if you decide to read beyond this point.
Anna’s mom had her when she was very young and her father doesn’t stick around. When Anna is very young, her mother begins an endless cycle of leaving her daughter alone to go out which further progresses into longer periods away and countless marriages and divorces. When Anna is a young (innocent) teenager, she’s targeted by a boy on the school bus who decides it would be okay to touch her boob and use her to masturbate while two boys look on. (Yes, eww.) Immediately, Anna’s reputation is scarred and she seems to fall into her mother’s footsteps. She loses her virginity at fourteen and brings her boyfriend home from school every day where they explore their sexuality without her mother knowing any of this.
While much (MUCH) of the book includes very explicit sex, that’s not what Uses for Boys was about to me. I couldn’t stop asking myself these two questions:
Do we automatically follow in our parent’s footsteps?
Or is Uses for Boys saying that we don’t have to?
Anna had a choice from the moment she was on the bus to make very different decisions than she did. WHY didn’t she say no to this hormonally deranged boy? WHY did she all of a sudden think this boy touching her was okay? (There had been no previous thoughts or mentions of sex before this scene. Her mother didn’t bring men home with her – she kept her relationships very distanced from Anna aside from when she got married.) WHY did this sexual molestation on the bus lead to every other bad decision Anna made?
I suppose, to me, it was so blatant that Anna’s mother telling her “their story” (about her young pregnancy and having a daughter to cure her lonesomeness) morphed into Anna’s own story. Anna was trying to find her way without any guidance, with her mother’s story as her only example. Seeing step-fathers constantly come and go does psychologically alter how we view our own relationships and what we expect of them. The boys Anna sleeps with and the sex she has is a result of her mother’s example for her. But why did Anna choose that for herself? Why didn’t her loneliness lead to strong friendships instead of a detrimental drop-out-of-school-for-a-boy-at-sixteen relationship?
My biggest misunderstanding was in that the blame seemed to be placed more on the boys and less on Anna making poor decisions and her mother’s inability to lovingly care for her daughter. Yes, that situation on the bus should never have taken place and maybe the domino effect wouldn’t have cascaded from there, but as I previously mentioned, Anna wasn’t over-sexualized before that situation. Because of that boy, Anna’s life begins to take a downward spiral into drugs, alcohol, and sex. In the end, I was very much hoping that Anna’s sad story would have a happy ending. While things do begin to look brighter for her, I again felt a little distraught that it was a guy who led her to see there was a better life to be had. I was hoping that by the end, Anna would have a huge revelation and she would evolve without needing to rely on boys.
For some, Scheidt’s writing style has been a turn-off, though I found it to be quite unique. It worked well as a tool for understanding Anna. The writing is very stream of consciousness and less structured, demonstrating how much of Anna’s life is spent alone without anyone there to direct her through life.
As you can tell, Uses for Boys definitely made me put on my analytical thinking cap, turning this into much more of a discussion post. Have you read this book? How do you respond to the many questions it posed for me?
trisha_thomas's review against another edition
4.0
"Your so smart, Anna," she says. "You could do anything."
This is not a warm and fuzzy story. It's not a story that will comfort you, make you swoon over a boy or keep you snuggled up next to a fire.
But this story is powerful.
This is Anna's story. If you look beyond her deeds and her acts, and you look only at who she is - she was taught so young to be something to everyone else but never to be something to herself.
She spends her whole childhood trying to be the girl her mom needs, the girl the boys need, the girl Toy needs, Nancy needs, Joey needs, Josh needs. Never...herself.
And as a native Oregonian, I loved reading about our streets, our town and our landmarks. and I thought the writing style, although many found frustrating, I thought fit the story perfectly. It's how she is, short and abrupt.
I thought it had a lovely lyrical quality - with so few words, they said so much.
And this line, on page 128, literally caught my breath
This is not a warm and fuzzy story. It's not a story that will comfort you, make you swoon over a boy or keep you snuggled up next to a fire.
But this story is powerful.
This is Anna's story. If you look beyond her deeds and her acts, and you look only at who she is - she was taught so young to be something to everyone else but never to be something to herself.
She spends her whole childhood trying to be the girl her mom needs, the girl the boys need, the girl Toy needs, Nancy needs, Joey needs, Josh needs. Never...herself.
And as a native Oregonian, I loved reading about our streets, our town and our landmarks. and I thought the writing style, although many found frustrating, I thought fit the story perfectly. It's how she is, short and abrupt.
I thought it had a lovely lyrical quality - with so few words, they said so much.
And this line, on page 128, literally caught my breath
Spoiler
"How the abortion makes us family."thisismenow's review against another edition
4.0
While Uses For Boys is certainly a fast read, it's definitely not an easy read. I had a hard time settling on a rating, and I wasn't even sure how to review it. The story tackles a lot of heavy issues.
As a child, Anna seemed to be the most important person in her mother's life. At least until boys came along. It changed her world, and her relationship with her mom is strained because of it.
I liked the way the story was told. The story covers many years, and it was strange being so inside of Anna's head. She's such a lonely girl, and she lives in her head, telling stories the same way her mother would tell them to her as a child.
The story is very depressing. There were even times when I wondered if the sadness would ever lift, but there's such a raw, realness to the story. Sometimes it was tough to stomach what was happening. This definitely is not a book for younger readers.
Aside from my sadness for Anna, I felt a real sense of anger toward her mother, who is very absent throughout much of the story. Anna was alone so much of the time, and when her mother was home, it was as if she'd checked into a hotel overnight before heading out again.
Anna's mother seemed to find validation and happiness through men. Even though I don't think Anna understood that was what was happening, she mimicked this behavior, which led her down a very rough road.
Most of the guys she felt herself drawn to weren't guys I would necessarily call bad people. They certainly weren't good for her, though, because they seemed to be just as flawed as Anna. And some of them were just out to take advantage.
Aside from a girl she was friends with when she younger, Anna has few friends. A girl named Toy, who's life was much like Anna's, is her best friend, but like Anna, everything is like a story that needs to be narrated.
When she finally meets Sam, things slowly begin to shift for Anna. Even though it was hard to ever really get a feel for any of the characters because Anna was so vague about them, Sam seemed like a pretty decent guy, but it's his family that really opened Anna's eyes.
For so much of the story, I kept wondering how it was possible Anna couldn't see how wrong things seemed to be in her life, but then I realized that she'd never really had a good example of how a family should function.
By the end of the book, I was really worried that it was going to end on a depressing note, but it felt like there was a moment when things finally clicked for Anna. I wouldn't call it a happy ending, but a hopeful one.
I really enjoyed the writing in this book. Some part of me wants to say that I wished there was more of a happy balance, but I know that wasn't the point of the book.
As a child, Anna seemed to be the most important person in her mother's life. At least until boys came along. It changed her world, and her relationship with her mom is strained because of it.
I liked the way the story was told. The story covers many years, and it was strange being so inside of Anna's head. She's such a lonely girl, and she lives in her head, telling stories the same way her mother would tell them to her as a child.
The story is very depressing. There were even times when I wondered if the sadness would ever lift, but there's such a raw, realness to the story. Sometimes it was tough to stomach what was happening. This definitely is not a book for younger readers.
Aside from my sadness for Anna, I felt a real sense of anger toward her mother, who is very absent throughout much of the story. Anna was alone so much of the time, and when her mother was home, it was as if she'd checked into a hotel overnight before heading out again.
Anna's mother seemed to find validation and happiness through men. Even though I don't think Anna understood that was what was happening, she mimicked this behavior, which led her down a very rough road.
Most of the guys she felt herself drawn to weren't guys I would necessarily call bad people. They certainly weren't good for her, though, because they seemed to be just as flawed as Anna. And some of them were just out to take advantage.
Aside from a girl she was friends with when she younger, Anna has few friends. A girl named Toy, who's life was much like Anna's, is her best friend, but like Anna, everything is like a story that needs to be narrated.
When she finally meets Sam, things slowly begin to shift for Anna. Even though it was hard to ever really get a feel for any of the characters because Anna was so vague about them, Sam seemed like a pretty decent guy, but it's his family that really opened Anna's eyes.
For so much of the story, I kept wondering how it was possible Anna couldn't see how wrong things seemed to be in her life, but then I realized that she'd never really had a good example of how a family should function.
By the end of the book, I was really worried that it was going to end on a depressing note, but it felt like there was a moment when things finally clicked for Anna. I wouldn't call it a happy ending, but a hopeful one.
I really enjoyed the writing in this book. Some part of me wants to say that I wished there was more of a happy balance, but I know that wasn't the point of the book.
raquelzc's review against another edition
5.0
I can't believe I never knew of this book until recently. I don't even remember how I found it but I am so glad I read it. It is such a raw story and so full of bottled uo feelings that it's so perfect for any young adult and older teenagers.
sassysoda13's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
3.0