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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Why are all teen books so sad? Depressing and I could not put this book down. I loved all the characters.
This book started off really well, lots of character development and was a great plot in the making. But then it got lost in the weeds really. THe story hit a plateau and it was a bit of torture to keep going. I would recommend it, as the story itself is good. She just lost the excitement that the book started with. To be perfectly fair, I have not finished the book due to its lack luster middle section but I hope to get back to it. I have high hopes it will pick up!
Fantastic young adult fiction that delves into the obsession with sex, relationships with the opposite gender and repercussions that follow.
Mesrobian, Carrie. Sex & Violence.
Evan's dad's job requires him to move a lot, so Evan's always been the new guy at school. When he's sent to a boarding school in North Carolina, however, he is attacked in the shower and nearly dies. Later, he and his dad move to the middle of nowhere, Minnesota, so that Evan can heal.
I didn't really like this book. First, there wasn't much of a plot. Second, the ending wasn't really an ending. Third, too much of the book was ambiguous. For example, it's hinted at that Evan's ... girlfriend is probably too strong a word ... is gang-raped right after he's beaten nearly to death, but it's never stated specifically. And the reader never finds out what Evan's planning to do after the end of the story, either. And he doesn't realize much about himself while he's in Minnesota, so there's not much resolution to this story. Add that to the graphic violence, prodigious profanity, numerous instances of teen drug and alcohol use, and the graphic sex scenes, and I just don't see what the fuss is all about. This book will NOT be added to my middle school library's collection, and I will be recommending other books to my students.
Recommended for: older young adults
Red Flags: sex, violence, lots of profanity (on practically every page), drug use, alcohol use
Overall Rating: 2/5 stars
Evan's dad's job requires him to move a lot, so Evan's always been the new guy at school. When he's sent to a boarding school in North Carolina, however, he is attacked in the shower and nearly dies. Later, he and his dad move to the middle of nowhere, Minnesota, so that Evan can heal.
I didn't really like this book. First, there wasn't much of a plot. Second, the ending wasn't really an ending. Third, too much of the book was ambiguous. For example, it's hinted at that Evan's ... girlfriend is probably too strong a word ... is gang-raped right after he's beaten nearly to death, but it's never stated specifically. And the reader never finds out what Evan's planning to do after the end of the story, either. And he doesn't realize much about himself while he's in Minnesota, so there's not much resolution to this story. Add that to the graphic violence, prodigious profanity, numerous instances of teen drug and alcohol use, and the graphic sex scenes, and I just don't see what the fuss is all about. This book will NOT be added to my middle school library's collection, and I will be recommending other books to my students.
Recommended for: older young adults
Red Flags: sex, violence, lots of profanity (on practically every page), drug use, alcohol use
Overall Rating: 2/5 stars
This was one tough read. Not because the writing or the content or anything like. It was tough to read because the teens were so real and my adult brain kept shouting “Ugh! Don’t. Stop! Don’t! That’s gonna leave a mark.” Evan Carter is the perpetual new kid, moved from boarding school to boarding school around the country after his mom dies and his dad disconnects. Read More
This book, a Penny Kittle recommendation, was a fabulous read and will definitely be getting added to my classroom library. The writing itself wasn't knock-your-socks off or anything like that, but it did address several big, powerful themes for teenagers. Additionally, the narrator, who started off as a giant asshole, really changed and I found myself hoping he'd be okay. This will be an EXCELLENT read for reluctant readers--especially boys.
Sex & Violence is set mainly in Minnesota, a place I've never been and one that doesn't often appear in literature, where the lake-centric landscape is an integral part of life. The teens who populate this book have permissive parents and whole summers to spend at their families' vacation homes, partying and having adventures. S&V completely transported me to that world. Delicious!
Most of all, I was transported into the mind of 17-year-old narrator, Evan Carter, as he spends the summer with his father at their cabin at Pearl Lake recuperating from an attack that has left him physically and mentally broken. On the surface, Evan's the kind of guy who's easy to hate--rich, self-entitled, has no use for girls beyond sex. But Carrie Mesrobian does a great job of portraying Evan's vulnerability and insecurity, making him a very complicated, compelling character.
As habitual loner Evan learns to develop friendships with the other teens at Pearl Lake--particularly Baker, a girl unlike anyone he's ever met before--and navigates his tricky relationship with his widowed father, his humanity deepens and he emerges as someone you can't help but root for. His story will stay in my mind a long time.
Most of all, I was transported into the mind of 17-year-old narrator, Evan Carter, as he spends the summer with his father at their cabin at Pearl Lake recuperating from an attack that has left him physically and mentally broken. On the surface, Evan's the kind of guy who's easy to hate--rich, self-entitled, has no use for girls beyond sex. But Carrie Mesrobian does a great job of portraying Evan's vulnerability and insecurity, making him a very complicated, compelling character.
As habitual loner Evan learns to develop friendships with the other teens at Pearl Lake--particularly Baker, a girl unlike anyone he's ever met before--and navigates his tricky relationship with his widowed father, his humanity deepens and he emerges as someone you can't help but root for. His story will stay in my mind a long time.
Evan always knows how to identify The Girl Who Would Say Yes. And since he moves around so much, it's easy to identify, hook up, and move on. But a brutal assault shakes him up more than he wants to admit, he has to slow down and recover in one place. And there's nothing to do but reflect and stay quietly in one place.
Well, Evan was a character unlike any I've encountered before, and I loved that. He's not stereotypical, he doesn't fit a mold, even if the reader might think so when the story starts. It's a coming of age story, sure, but it's also a frank look at teen sexuality, emotional and psychological trauma, PTSD, and relationships. It's incredibly engaging--I read it in one sitting. Definitely going on my teen shelves this fall.
Well, Evan was a character unlike any I've encountered before, and I loved that. He's not stereotypical, he doesn't fit a mold, even if the reader might think so when the story starts. It's a coming of age story, sure, but it's also a frank look at teen sexuality, emotional and psychological trauma, PTSD, and relationships. It's incredibly engaging--I read it in one sitting. Definitely going on my teen shelves this fall.
While it certainly contains the titular activities, this book isn't nearly as sensationalistic as its title might imply. More than anything, Sex & Violence is a fantastically-voiced, layered character study. The description "layered" applies to narrator-protagonist Evan, the other characters in the book, and their relationships; and it applies to the meanings of, manifestations of, and connections between sex and violence that Evan gradually comes to grasp in unstated, embodied ways. This is a depiction of real people and life, complex and complicated and lived.
Evan moves through life adrift from any real connections. Since his mom died, his remote dad moves them from place to place before he can make friends--and what's the point since they'll move on before long anyway. His one consolation is the easy, casual sex he's become an expert at finding and leaving. Until he and an adventurous partner are beaten to within an inch of their lives by a couple of jealous brutes. Now Evan is scarred, scared, and broken. His dad moves them to his childhood cabin on a lake in Minnesota for a summer of recovery, where a group of peers takes him in and makes him one of their own. The road to self-acceptance and trust is a long one, though, and it takes Evan much time and many experiences before he is able to figure out who he is and think about moving forward again.
This book is masterfully written; honest, realistic, and believable; sometimes brutal, sometimes tender, always moving; engaging and entertaining and readable even as it's heavy and substantial and meaningful. This is good literature.
Evan moves through life adrift from any real connections. Since his mom died, his remote dad moves them from place to place before he can make friends--and what's the point since they'll move on before long anyway. His one consolation is the easy, casual sex he's become an expert at finding and leaving. Until he and an adventurous partner are beaten to within an inch of their lives by a couple of jealous brutes. Now Evan is scarred, scared, and broken. His dad moves them to his childhood cabin on a lake in Minnesota for a summer of recovery, where a group of peers takes him in and makes him one of their own. The road to self-acceptance and trust is a long one, though, and it takes Evan much time and many experiences before he is able to figure out who he is and think about moving forward again.
This book is masterfully written; honest, realistic, and believable; sometimes brutal, sometimes tender, always moving; engaging and entertaining and readable even as it's heavy and substantial and meaningful. This is good literature.
This is one of those books that stuck with me for a long time after reading it. At first, I really disliked Evan as a protagonist, but as I learned more about him through his letters to Collette and as he starts to open up to Baker, I really started to care for him and get the full extent of his trauma. I think that it verges on New Adult territory and definitely would only recommend it to mature teens. I think that books that really get the PTSD experience are few and far between, but this felt very real. You root for Evan to get back to some sense of normal or at least be able to take a freaking shower, but know it will take a lot to get him to feel safe anywhere. It was a very emotional and visceral read for me and I think it deserves all the accolades it has received.