Review: WOW!!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 5, 2013
I am not overly surprised when I read a book by Katie Ashley that has you on an emotional roller-coaster and turning each page wanting to see what is going to happen next. Believe me, Nets and Lies is NOT a romantic love story in the sense that "The Proposition" and "The Proposal" were. It's a hard hitting, emotional book that had me walking away from it several times to get myself together to face what was possibly going to happen next. Rape, sexual addictions, teenage angst, facing your past and looking to the future and coming out a better person barely covers everything that happened in this book.Melanie and Jordan are not friends. One, the high-school sweetheart ready to lead her team to the championships under the guidance of a wonderful coach, in love with the coach's son and looking forward to a life together with him. The other, a mean-spirited girl bent on revenge for her broken-heart, her broken past, her sexual escapades ... what better way to get even but to cry "Rape"?Jordan and Will have a teen-age love that they want to bring to the next level. They know that this is it for them; they know that the love they feel for each other will carry them through their lives. Senior year is bringing them everything they both ever dreamed of - both are the Captains of their basketball teams, good students and looking forward to college. Then, everything changes - their lives, their love, their hopes for the future. Rape. How does she tell Will, how does she cope, how is she ever going to face everything without telling the truth. Just lie .... to save herself, to save Will, to save Coach T, to save her future. She has no idea how she will survive if Will ever finds out that his father, Coach T, raped her.Melanie was raised by her mother - a self-centered woman who thinks that the world owes her something. She raises Melanie to believe that men are dirt and good for only one thing; don't ever let one get to your heart; get what you want and get out. When Melanie comes home upset that the man she was seeing broke up with her, told her that it was over, her mother convinces her to cry "Rape" to get her revenge. Life will never be the same again as she openly accuses Coach T of rape then tells the authorities that she wasn't the only one - Melanie Reeves was raped too!Will cannot believe that his life is falling apart around him. Accusations against his father, the girl he loves changing, the arguments at home. He has no choice but to stand beside his father.Melanie has told everyone that she wasn't raped and everyone knows that Jordan is a liar, cheat and "easy". The school and all it's students are standing behind Coach T and turning against Jordan for her lies. But then Melanie has a break-down and the truth finally comes out. Now, how does he stand behind the father that took the innocence of the girl of his dreams, how does he face the public knowing what his father has done, how does he tell Melanie that he knew his father was capable of exactly what she was now accusing him of? His biggest fear - will he lose her, will she be able to still accept him, does she still love him?Watching the three of these teenagers change and come through all the lies and accusations was amazing. I hated Jordan for her lies and I prayed for Melanie to come through this a stronger person. Jordan's mother is the personification of a "stage mom" - hell, she even helped her make up the lie. Coach T - well we won't go into my feelings for what he did or for the type of person he is. Rape is an unforgivable act ... Rape by your coach and mentor well, castration isn't good enough in my book. But, the transformations of Melanie, Will and Jordan were unbelievable as they all realized the mistakes that were made, the transgressions that were committed and what needed to be done to right the wrongs. Melanie faces the rape with Will by her side ... Jordan faces her life and how she was living it with the help of Nick, an ex-addict who shows her that the past is the past and the future can be so much better.Katie Ashley's writing was simple, to the point and extremely emotional. She brought love, hate and betrayal alive. She showed you what a manipulating, bitter mother can really be like. She turned two girls into woman before your eyes and gave them both a future that they could be proud of. Even though "Nets and Lies" touched on some taboo subjects, it was an extremely well-written book that brought true life to life. Unfortunately, it's a story that we all know too well, can be true in today's environment. Having teenagers, we can only hope that we would be there for them as Melanie's parents were and not as Jordan's; they we have brought them up to be strong people to face the life ahead of them no matter what curves are thrown at them; and, to trust in their hearts and love.