Review: Trashy stuff
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 12 1, 2013
First things first.  If you read this book, you'll spend 400+ pages with these characters and end with a total cliffhanger.  Some readers are okay with that, but since it isn't clear from the item description that you will have to pay to get an end to the story, I wanted to point that out.Apparently this book is an early work by the author and parts of the work make that clear.  The editing is pretty poor -- non-standard punctuation, some unusual formatting choices (like having the character sign their name after every text -- not something I've ever seen happen in real life), and factual errors (attributing songs to the wrong band).  The editing is so bad that I couldn't really recommend this book to anyone.This is the story of Tessa and Lucas.  Tessa and Lucas are both high school seniors.  Budget cuts have caused redistricting and so they meet for the first time their senior year.  In keeping with well-established YA tradition, Tessa is apparently beautiful, but nobody has ever noticed before Lucas notices her.  He quickly decides that he has to have her, despite the fact that she is rude to him. Tessa is this weird mix of virginal and straight-up crazy.  When she isn't protecting her precious flower of womanhood, she's drinking like a sailor on shore leave (in one scene, she drinks an entire bottle of wine in a manner of minutes) and tearing her shirt off.  As her relationship with Lucas progresses, she gets crazier and crazier -- sassing her grandmother (who only appears for a single scene, apparently so Tessa can get slapped in the face), making out with near-strangers, puking in ditches, and cat-fighting with pregnant rivals.  These parts of the book were hilarious in a Jerry Springer-type way, but it didn't help me feel like I was reading a book about a consistent character or someone that I could relate to.  If a guy made me act this crazy, I'd seek therapy, not promise to love him forever.In response to their daughter falling head-over-heels for Lucas, Tessa's parents just seem to throw in the towel.  When Lucas drives his car into a tree after getting high, they react by inviting Lucas to come live with them for the rest of the school year.  What now?  Even seeing their daughter is going off the rails -- getting drunk, crying, freaking out -- for Lucas and the whole up-and-down relationship, they're fine with him living there.  Even after he gets another girl pregnant, they're fine with Lucas coming into her room every night?  There is a word for this type of parenting and it isn't the type of thing that you associate with positive outcomes for teenagers.There is some foreshadowing with Tessa having the same terrible dream every night where four people die.  I finished this book by a force of will, just powering through it as I knew it would soon be over.  But when I reached the end and realized it was cutting off virtually mid-scene, I was so angry.  No resolution of any of the plot threads, just cut off, probably so readers will buy the next book. Given that things probably won't be wrapped up until the end of the fourth book, no thank you.  I imagine we have about 1,200 pages ahead of Tessa drinking and acting crazy, Lucas doing things that he will regret, and Tessa's parents standing by and wringing their hands.