Screwed

by Laurie Plissner

[boghunden]

This is kind of difficult. I'm torn between a great story and bad writing.

The first thing I noticed, was how bad the writing was. I don't mind that it's told in third person, but when the author refers to every female character as "she" and every male character as "he", it gets hard. I mean, whom is she refering to when? It was very confusing. I don't like when I have to sort it out myself, who she's refering to. This was a problem all through the book.

The plot is a whole other story. This was such a painful story, and how I wished I could just put down the book and tell myself, that "it's just fiction." Unfortunately, I know it's not just fiction. Things like this actually happen. That makes me so incredibly sad! I loved Grace and I just wanted to hug her tight and comfort her.
Now, there were a few things I didn't like as well. One of them, I can't exactly tell you, as it would be spoiler-ish, but the other thing is the ending. It was too easy to just let the whole family drama left open. I like open endings, but I think the story itself had enough of that.
I liked the way all the characters were described. I want to say I liked them all, but that'd be a lie. I definitely didn't like Grace's parents.

This is rated as a YA book, but I wouldn't recommend it to people under the age of 16. I'll recommend this book to people who're into realistic fiction and I'll let them know, that this isn't your typical YA book, this is a cruel story about a girl who's being judged by her one "mistake." I'll also be sure to let them know, that there's a possibility they'll get very emotional - I sure did.