Rating: 4 stars
Date begun: November 22nd, 2012
Date finished: November 22nd, 2012
When Jacqueline is dumped by her preppy boyfriend two months into her sophomore year at college, she's suddenly forced to re-examine her life choices. She has no friends outside the circle of their mutual ones (, she's stuck at a university she followed her now ex to, and she's failing a class for the first time in her life because she's gutted after the breakup and can't stand the thought of seeing her ex several classes a week. After a party, not long after the dumping, one of her ex's frat brothers try to rape her, and would've succeeded if she hadn't been rescued by a mysterious stranger, who luckily happened to be crossing the parking lot and witnessed the assault.
Jacqueline manages to get her econ professor to let her make up the missing midterm, and promises to attend tutoring sessions to catch up on the missing work. She doesn't tell anyone about the attack, not wanting to make a fuss. While she'd never really noticed the cute guy who rescued her, she now seems to run into him everywhere. He works at the campus Starbucks, he sits in the back row of her econ class, more busy sketching than taking notes. Her roommate designates Lucas the mystery man as the perfect rebound guy. Jacqueline strikes up a flirtation with Lucas, but is also trading bantering e-mails and texts with her new econ tutor. Is she really ready for a new relationship at all, and which guy is the right one for her?
Another one of the Young Adult nominees for the Goodreads Choice 2012 awards, this one caught my eye because my friend Erica read it and rated it highly. As one of the subplots deals with sexual assault and the aftermath of that, this could be a difficult book for some to read. The frat boy who attempts to rape Jacqueline continues his threatening behaviour, and spreads lies about her alleged promiscuity following her breakup. He also goes on to rape another girl, and Jacqueline has to decide what to do about coming forward so he can be charged with the attacks.
Having defined herself almost entirely as Kennedy's boyfriend since early high school, Jacqueline is forced to take a long hard look at her life after he suddenly dumps her, and she doesn't like what she sees. With the exception of her room mate, most of their mutual friends take his side, as he is the handsome, popular frat member, while she is the independent, arty girl who never quite fit in. Jacqueline is very good at double bass, an unusual instrument for a woman to play, and tutors local high school kids as a part time job. She could've applied to a music conservatory, but followed her boyfriend to university instead. Lonely and adrift, things get even worse when she's attacked. She doesn't want to tell her room mate, who's dating the attacker's best friend. The description of Jacqueline's loneliness and self doubt is very well done. You kind of want to slap her for being so trusting, naive and oblivious that she meekly followed her douchebag boyfriend to college, but you also feel sorry for her, and can't help but want her to succeed in turning her life around, preferably with a hot new boyfriend and some new, better friends.
Once her attacker actually rapes someone else, Jacqueline has to come forward and admit that she was attacked as well, and the book deals with the difficult situation many rape victims find themselves in, trying to prove that the sex was not consensual. Jacqueline and her room mate start taking self defence classes, and all the things they do to help her feel more empowered and safe again were very well done.
Jacqueline's struggle to become a stronger, more independent person were in many ways more interesting than the romantic subplot. To begin with, Lucas is pretty much the hot, dashing stranger. She's not sure if she likes him because he rescued her from a traumatic situation or whether there's something more there. He's very secretive about his background and past, and to begin with there's a few complications and misunderstandings, that thankfully get resolved fairly quickly. The romance angle is good, but the main reason to read this book is for the character growth in the protagonist. Although if rape and sexual assault are bad triggers for you, it might be best to give it a miss.
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