EducatingParents.org rating: Danger - Explicit Content
Still under review but from what we've seen, contains vulgar language and discussion of rape

I cannot rate this book, horrific as it was for me to read. This book is very short, and very very important for all human beings, particularly those with a Y chromosome between the ages of 12 and 79, to read several times. 1st person unreliable narrator, incredible ... I have more from my notes to post later.

Was hard to figure out what was going on... Was hard to even tolerate the main character. Was hard to buy into his whole thought process. I have read books that deal with this hard topic, that are written much better (speak by laurie halse anderson comes to mind) ( )

True rating: 3.5

This book is definitely more of a novella? short story? instead of a book. The entire thing is 164 pages and a lot of it is shorter pages. I probably would have finished the whole thing in one sitting if I hadn't been at work when I started (that pesky job just gets in the way of my reading time!).

From the first page, you are thrown into a present day situation where Kier and Gigi are alone in some type of room, and Gigi is accusing Kier of raping her. Kier is pleading with her to calm down, that she had agreed and enjoyed it, and mostly for her not to call her dad, boyfriend, etc. From there on you mostly get flashbacks that serve as back stories. Everything is from Kier's POV so you have no idea how reliable it all is. He basically tells you about how he is a good guy, tells you about his childhood and family, about his time as a football star, prom... all leading up until his graduation day.

As the story goes on, you start to find out that Kier probably isn't giving the whole story to things and you are really only getting what he thinks happen, which may or may not be true. Several times something happens and then you find out later that it wasn't the way he portrayed it, but he tries to defend himself by saying how good of a guy he is and good guys don't do stuff like that.

Honestly, I thought this guy was looney toons from the get go. Reading his story was very disturbing, especially knowing it was all leading up to what you only got a glimpse of at the beginning with Gigi. Through the book, you find out about Kier's alcoholic dad, Kier's own problem with alcohol, Kier's drug problems, and how immature Kier is. I didn't feel sympathetic towards him at all, even when things were really down and bad for him. The entire time I pretty much kept the stance that this dude is nuts and he is a creep and he is one of those guys who does very bad things but can't possibly take responsibility for them. I also believe that Kier has some sort of mental illness, but the jury is still out on that since the author doesn't provide any information or detail on it.

I gave the book 3.5 stars because I thought it was an interesting read, albeit a disturbing read. I probably would have given it a 4 star rating if the ending would have been a bit better. It leads up and leads up, and then..... just sort of ends. I was reading and then was like "what? huh? that's it?"

I think I would recommend it if you are a fan of books such as Pretty Girl-13 by Liz Coley (the mental illness portion and unreliable narrator and the whole WTF is going on part) or The Collector by John Fowles (the crazy dude who thinks he is helping and loving the lady by kidnapping her). If you are looking for a filler book to read in between series or books, this one is a good one to pick up since it is very short and fast paced.

3.5/5 stars

For this review and more, visit my blog:
http://southernbredsouthernread.blogspot.com/ ( )

Keir is a good guy. A pretty decent kicker on the football team, tight with his dad and sisters, friendly with everyone, well-mannered. He's also been in love with Gigi ever since childhood. He would never do anything to hurt her ever. When she accuses Keir of raping her late after a graduation party, Keir can't understand how she could even think that of him, a good guy who loves her. The way things look really aren't what they seem or so Keir wants us to believe.