Review: Boarding School Power Games
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 22, 2013
Synopsis (unspoiled): This omniscient point-of-view story is a head-hopping trip into British boarding school sexual politics. While there are many characters, the main plot line involves nearly fifteen y/o Ellie attempting to thwart 17 y/o Nate from realizing his sexual conquest of Ellie's naive cousin, Rose.At first, Nate isn't interested in Ellie. She's too young for sex (apparently 16 is the minimum age of consent in England) but he becomes intrigued nonetheless--she's a sassy, sexy girl who doesn't fawn like all the others. He devises a roundabout scheme to lure her in, and then dump her callously. Ellie senses this, however, and manages to stay one step ahead in the game...for a while.For all the racy themes here, THE FLIRTING GAMES is an innocent look at the games some kids assuredly play. Minimal kissing, sexual manipulation, and tart language make this a book appropriate for teen readers. It's like Melvin Burgess's DOING IT, without the "doing".Good points: The reader will enjoy the banter and the scheming. Ellie is very likable, and Nate becomes more than, well, we have a term for guys like Nate state-side--the polite euphemism is D-bag. Thankfully, he's not rubbish in the end.In all, it's a good start to a series.