The Truth about You & Me

by Amanda Grace

Smart girls aren't supposed to do stupid things. On her first day at Green River Community College, Madelyn Hawkins meets Bennett Cartwright, her biology professor. He's funny. He's interested. And he has no idea that Madelyn is only sixteen. When they're together, Madelyn feels more alive than she's ever felt before. And she knows Bennett feels the same way. She also knows that if she tells him her real age, their relationship will be over. So Madelyn makes a simple decision. She won't tell him.

• ISBN10: 073873957X
• ISBN13: 9780738739571
• Publish Date: 8 September 2013
• Publish Status: Active
• Imprint: Flux
• Format: eBook
• Pages: 264
• Language: English

Reviews

[Rowena]

Madelyn is really smart. Her high school has a college program where kids from their school can participate in the program and attend college courses during the day to earn college credits and finish high school, only to enter college as a junior. That’s how Madelyn meets Bennett. Bennett is her biology professor and he’s ten years older than her. He doesn’t know that he’s ten years older than her so when she starts seeing Bennett around town and strikes up a friendship that turns into something more, he’s trying to do the right thing and stay away because he’s her professor. He has no idea that he should stay away from her because she’s minor. But Madelyn does. She knew all along how old she was and what they were doing could get Bennett in trouble but she does it anyway because she’s got some big time feelings for him.

And here’s what I don’t understand. When you’ve got minors in your class, aren’t professors supposed to be made aware of that? When students are part of a high school program, aren’t the teachers and administrators of the college supposed to know? I can’t believe that Bennett was a professor and didn’t know that he had minors in his class.

And another thing that I don’t understand is how girls can think that they’re in love with a guy that is so much older than them and think that the relationship can survive lies that can land the guy in jail. If you love someone, why in the world would you risk their job and their future jobs by getting them in trouble for cavorting with minors? It never fails to amaze me at how selfish these young girls are…that they think only of the lust coursing through their veins and not the consequences of their actions.

It was hard to get through this book. I spent most of the book wanting to choke Madelyn out and even in the end when she’s trying to “save” Bennett from jail, I couldn’t like her. I didn’t think that she was a bad person but she was a selfish person and even though she learned her lesson, she still wasn’t a character that I could say that I liked. But I did like the way that this book ended. It ended the way that it was supposed to end and even though I didn’t love this book, I didn’t hate it either.

[Angie]

I received an ARC through NetGalley.

This is my second book by Amanda Grace, and it will certainly not be my last! The Truth About You and Me was simply fantastic! I'm very interested in student-teacher relationships, so this was a must read for me. It also grabbed my attention because, like me, Madelyn is starting community college at 16 years old. She's still technically enrolled in high school, but she's taking college classes for credit at both schools. There she meets Bennett, her sweet and gorgeous Biology professor. There's an undeniable attraction there from the beginning, but anything between them is sadly forbidden. Doubly forbidden, since she's underage and his student. However, Bennett restrains himself and says they have to wait until the quarter ends and Madelyn is no longer in his class. He doesn't know she's 16 though. They spend the next 10 weeks really getting to know each other, until one night ruins everything.

The first thing that I loved about The Truth About You and Me was that it's told in second person! It's formatted as a letter to Bennett from Madelyn as she unpacks all of the lies and tries to set their story straight. I really wish more books were written this way. It felt much more personal and real, getting Madelyn's feelings and all of the events straight from her. The only drawback was there were no natural stopping points. There is a break at around 77% where she starts a new letter, but that's kind of far in. However, that didn't even matter because I didn't want to stop reading at any point! I did briefly to eat lunch, but that was it. It was so easy to fall back into Madelyn's letter and the heartbreaking story she has to tell.

I do have to mention that Madelyn and Bennett are not together for most of The Truth About You and Me. Most the book is focused on them simply hanging out, which is already kind of toeing that line between innocent and inappropriate behavior. There's also a lot of attention on Madelyn's feelings, not only concerning her growing feelings for her professor, but on her life in general. Her parents have essentially mapped out her entire future, and it's not what she wants. Talking to Bennett really helps her see that, and she finally has someone who understands where she's coming from. She may be in college, but she has no clue what she wants to do beyond that, and that's okay. Her relationship with Bennett really helped her with her self esteem and being able to stand up to her parents, even as it almost ruined his life.

I won't go into the details of the ending, but I liked it. It's not over-the-top or a dramafest. It's just a very real consequence to Madelyn and Bennett's actions. The letter format actually does spoil The Truth About You and Me, since we know right from the beginning something had to have gone wrong. However, it's not how I was expecting, and the outcome was different than what my mind had conjured up. The big climax was a little weird, but I was so caught up in Madelyn's emotions that I didn't really care. I'm sure these kinds of things happen, so whatever. I liked the ending, and that's that. I just loved this book in general.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.