In Laurie Boyle Crompton's Love and Vandalism, Rory is a teenage artist secretly plastering graffiti lions all over New Paltz. She definitely doesn't want her father, the Sergeant, to find out that she's the criminal defacing their town. Their relationship is under enough strain from past familial tragedies and transgressions. As Rory continues her art work, her identity is discovered by a new boy in town, Hayes. He is drawn to her lions because of his own circumstances and wants to forge a friendship with her. The story builds to her boldest spray painting creation to date. Along the way mistakes are made, secrets are revealed, and maybe healing is possible. This is a book that explores grief, redemption, and how artistic sacrifice can impact a life.

There were elements of this story that I found to be slightly outlandish and unbelievable. I also found some of the twists a little predictable. Much of this you will have seen before. However, Crompton does write a swoonworthy romantic lead. I think many of my students would enjoy reading this book and might not take issue with my above criticisms.

“Love and Vandalism” was not what I expected from the synopsis. This isn’t really a book about crime and punishment or about blackmail. It’s really a book about redemption and personal growth. Rory is a vandal in her spare time, painting beautiful lions around town with spray paint. She hides this from her father, who is not only very anti-art but also a policeman. She and her father have been very distant for the last year or so, and Rory’s choices have not always been the best. This new boy, Hayes, suddenly starts showing up everywhere and catches her painting one of her lions. They are undeniably attracted to each other, but both seem reluctant to give in to their feelings (a theme throughout the book).

Things are not as simple as they seem, and as we read more and more, we learn a lot more about Rory and her family’s history plus about Hayes and his history that make each character much deeper and the story much more difficult (emotionally) to read. The book really grew on me- although I was a little worried from the get-go (when Rory goes to some random guy’s house to hook up and smoke pot) about how I would be able to connect with this character, I found that the story and personality became more clear as we learn more and more about her.

This was an emotionally difficult book to read- it confronts/presents suicide, drunk driving, alcoholism, rape, and drugs. Neither the questions nor the answers in this book are simple. This book is really only appropriate for older audiences. That being said, it is really well written- we witness a lot of character growth and rebound/recovery. As Rory and Hayes pick up the pieces of their own lives, we view a lot of healing and progress- not always pretty, but it’s there the same. The way that this growth/emotion is reflected in Rory’s art is really beautiful. I feel like overall the really huge issues that this book tackles were handled well- the mistakes the characters make are acknowledged as such and become a platform for learning/nothing is glorified or treated with too much levity. It’s a heavy read- but definitely worth it.

Overall, this is a really poignant tale of healing and recovery. Although it’s not a light-hearted/summery read, it is difficult to put down and highly memorable- a book that is worth a read and maybe even a re-read. Please note that I received an ARC from the publisher through netgalley. All opinions are my own.

So, well.. actually I don't know where to start. The book was good. Interesting. Intense. Well written. I just... guess it was different from what I expected.
I didn't like Rory for the first half of the book. She was really annoying and treated everyone like cr@p. I didn't like that side of her. Even knowing why she was so angry and scared to love anyone, it was still too much. I'm glad she worked it out at some point.
Hayes.... there were times I liked him and other times he got on my nerves. He acted really selfish and hurt Rory really bad. I seriously wanted to slap him. Is it crazy that I liked Scott much more than Hayes at some point? I found him really cute. And a really good friend. Kinda hot too.
I liked Kat and she also was a really good friend to Rory.
So, all in all a nice read.