I am not sure how to review this one. I thought it was a good book, but it took a little bit to get into it. It felt like it was a little too young for a YA book. I also didn’t like how the ending didn’t seem to wrap the book up. I feel like this book just wasn’t for me, and others would enjoy it.

I was initially attracted to this book because the author and I share a first name, but I was not disappointed. First, I want to give the warning that there is a little bit of parental abuse in this book, in case you're sensitive to that. This book is about Grace and her experience as a sophomore at a boarding school. She goes about most days as a loner until she saves a boy named Wade with her slingshot, and then her life is changed.

Although I didn't go to boarding school, I found myself relating to this book quite a bit. I was able to reminisce on high school and shitty parent days just a little.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC, and allowing me to read this debut novel.

This is a DNF for me. I really disliked the main character and just couldn’t understand why she was so mean. I also started cringing from the first page due to extreme/inappropriate crushing on a teacher. I hope this gets into hands of readers that love and need it.

Thanks to Partners Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC of Mercedes Helnwein’s Slingshot in exchange for an honest review. The book will be published on Tuesday, April 27.

Despite its bright and cheery cover, Mercedes Helnwein’s Slingshot is not a sweet YA rom-com. From page one, it defied my expectations. I absolutely loved it.

Grace Welles is fifteen and miserable. She attends an undistinguished boarding school paid for by her father—Grace and her mom are his second family; his wife and daughters have no idea that Grace and her mom exist. So, this special education is his way of assuaging some guilt.

At the opening of the novel, Grace is ugly crying in the bathroom because has realized that her all-consuming crush on her biology teacher is unrequited, and she is devastated. Grace prides herself on being too tough to be hurt, but she had convinced herself that Mr. Sorrentino’s academic encouragement meant something more . . . until she meets his fiancée.

Grace is a super prickly character. She can be mean and snarky and unpleasant. She doesn’t really have any friends at school, though she and her roommate tolerate each other, and she takes herself out of contention for any cliques or friendships or groups. She focuses on the classes she’s interested in (so not math or PE), puts her head down, and just survives.

Things change when Grace “saves” a new kid, Wade Scholfield, from being beaten up by three popular upperclassmen by shooting them with a slingshot. Grace insists that her intention wasn’t to be helpful but just because she didn’t like the guys who were targeting Wade. She’s not interested in being pulled into a friendship fueled by his gratitude, and she’s resentful that the school punishes them for the altercation by making Grace and Wade clean the cafeteria every day after dinner. Eventually, though, she can’t help but like Wade.

This is where, normally, everything would get simpler, Grace would become nicer, and she and Wade would dive into a relationship that ends happily at the end of the story. This isn’t that kind of book. Slingshot, like Grace, is complicated and messy and (I think) really moving. Yes, Grace and Wade do have a relationship, but for me, the beauty of this one is watching Grace grow up a little bit and then make some big mistakes and then grow up a little bit more. She doesn’t do a 180, so don’t wait for that, but she does figure out some things.

There’s a lot more to Slingshot, but there’s also great joy in the discovery of this story and this character. This is a complex, complicated debut for Mercedes Helnwein, and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review!
*minor cursing in both book and my review*

Tbh I was expecting a lot more of a lighthearted book and was surprised at how much I liked this, angst and all.

The main character, name’s Gracie and she’s so melodramatic but she knows and accepts that and it’s glorious. Is she a bit of a bitch. Yes and I loved it. She messes up and overreacts and even though I saw how that would backfire I still feel for her. She’s just cruising through life fucking up and relatively fixing it and then moving on. She’s really just vibing and I’m jealous. Without spoiling anything I just gotta say babe you should’ve seen what was coming.

Love interest: Wade, he’s cool, he’s very chill and I loved their chemistry. While I love Gracie I do think Wade is too good for her but hey you do you man. I feel like I could’ve used more background about him but with what I’ve got I like him.

Side characters: Beth- I know objectively she’s not a great influence and all that but she’s kick ass. She could stab me and I would thank her. Georgina- I like her vibe. I would love to have her as a roommate. Derek- he had a pretty shitty first impression but I don’t hate him. Mr. Sorrentino & Judy- man they had to deal with a lot and I’m in awe of how well they handled it. If you haven’t read the book this is probably making no sense but too bad.

I read this in an afternoon, the ending was well written, it was entertaining and I’m super thankful I got to read it early. I know this review probably sounds like playing it up because I got an arc but I actually just loved it and am dramatic af. I’m not sorry. All in all go read this book that’s not a suggestion it’s an order.

tl:dr I loved the book now go read it

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. This book is well written and the characters are described well. I enjoyed Wade, Beth and Gracie's characters. The pacing of this story is great. I enjoyed how it is set in Florida. It has forbidden romance vibes. The family relationships is good. The friendships is great. You are sitting down reading this book you are walking along next to the characters experiencing everything.

This was a coming of age story...a 15 year old girl named Gracie who has lessons to learn. This starts out having our main girl getting highly upset over a teacher announcing his engagement. Gracie had honestly thought they were soul mates...she gets really upset cries and confronts her teacher. I feel bad for her but I’m also confused as to how she really thought they would be together. Being an emotional teen can be tough. I felt like she was kinda whiny and selfish. She does however befriend, Wade who was bullied! These two are immediately friends but they eventually become them! Wade is super sweet and adorable! I do wonder why there’s a lot of curing and how sex can be so casual for such young teens....somethings should have been said was to me adult like. Even though this book may have not been for me, it def could be for other:)

DNF

I really wanted to like this book and the cover really drew me in, but OMG is it cringy. From the first few pages, I was turned off so much by the main character and it did not get better. She seems like am immature brat, who really has no reason to be.

15 year-old Gracie is a social misfit in a boarding school matriculated by her absent father. Convinced she was in love with her biology teacher, her sulking and bitterness ended up attracting a new kid, Wade. With no real friends, Wade opens up a new world for Gracie that changes her in a way she didn’t know was possible.

I couldn’t really place what this book reminded me of. But if you take an angsty teenage Kristen Stewart mashed with the amount of profanity in Superbad, that’s pretty much what SLINGSHOT brought to the table. It’s got Sundance indie cult film vibes that starred an emotionally negative teen who felt like she had no place anywhere until she realized she was in love with this kid Wade. If I’m being honest, the opening chapters made me uncomfortable. But, as I kept reading (the last 75% of the book was quite bingeable), I was caught up in Gracie’s drama that I needed to know how it would all play out for her. This wasn’t a story of hearts, rainbows, and happy endings. It was about personal growth, real love, and struggle.

I DNF’d this books at 55%. I couldn’t stand the main character. She’s just plain mean. And even once she starts to be a little nicer, she has sex with her best friends ‘nemesis’ (her words for him) and then decides just to never tell her best friend (who has become her boyfriend) about it. I just couldn’t stand how Grace talks/thinks about other people. It just genuinely made me uncomfortable. So I’m going to give an average rating because I didn’t finish it.

This book was so sweet and endearing. Oh what it is to be young and experience your first love, although this was under much different circumstances. I felt that the setting was so bizarre as I can't picture a boarding school in the swamps of Florida but hey, it worked.

Unfortunately I DNFd this book.

It just wasn't for me. I hope it gets some love from other, but I just didn't mesh with the style.

It's going to be a very loud no from me, friends.

First, thank you to @netgalley and @wednesdaybooks for the eARC to read and review! I wish I had more positive things to say... (and let me give a brief CW here for discussion of language that supports rape culture). SLINGSHOT by Mercedes Helnwein is a debut, YA novel about Grace, a social outcast at her third-tier boarding school; one day, she saves the new kid from the school bully with her trusty slingshot, and friendship, followed by romance, ensues.

Within the first few pages, the phrase "raping my eardrums" was used to describe bad music and, unfortunately, this phrase was repeated several times throughout the book. There was never a critical conversation or call out about this language, it was just casually used with no regard to rape culture, the gravity of sexual assault, and without an educational follow-up. Especially with so many movements and resources related to sexual assault and rape culture, I don't understand how an author, editor and publisher all agreed that language, used in that way, was appropriate.

Next, this novel seems to be trying to capture the all-consuming feelings that typically come with a first love in high school; however, to me, it just came off obsessive and made me feel gross. Almost none of the characters were likeable. And, there is a sad "plot twist" that uses psychical child abuse to explain a character - but again, there is no educational follow-up, real consequences, or critical discussion of this character's situation. It just seemed to be thrown in to help us understand this quirky character and why he may be shy or "different."

With so many great YA novels out there, many that tackle difficult topics with grace and education, I would not recommend adding this one to your TBR.

CW // physical child abuse; mental abuse; sexual content; bullying; language that supports rape culture

I really liked this book. I connected to the story right away. 15 year old Grace is at boarding school. She's in love with her teacher and fantasizes that he's in love with her, too. She's devastated to find out he doesn't think of her that way and goes out of her way to avoid him.

Grace is the product of an affair and her schooling is paid for by her father who has another family, which she knowsa bout but has never met. She finds boarding school life lonely because she's different than most of the other kids who come from wealthier circumstances. She carries a slingshot and uses it to stop bullies from hurting the new kid, Wade. Grace and Wade are drawn together and become close.

This story and characters are real and relatable. I loved it.

For me, when reading, there is a fine line for an MC to be quirky vs annoying. It's a very very fine line and most times they land on the quirky side. But, for me, this one was just annoying. But I know this quirky girl is definitely going to work for many. Her view on the world, her frustration at it and her constant fantasizing about it being better - definitely going to work for many. So I'll compromise and give it 3 stars.

Because I do love the cover, I did find a few spots funny, the overall message was a good one and the playlist at the end was really good. I just wish I'd liked the MC while she was on her journey more.

<i>A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.</i>

Slingshot
Mercedes Helnwein

Tis book is about 15 year old Gracie who lives in a boarding school in Florida with no friends, with a toxic parental relationship, and has a raging crush with her teacher (yikes!). By instinct, she witnesses someone being bullied and saves him with a slingshot- and there starts the beginning of this friendship with Wade. There are a lot of content warnings in this book such as violence, use of alcohol and smoking, lots of sex talk and cursing, as well as very imperfect characters and some unlikeable including the main character. The ending is left unresolved, but for me I felt that it was not a deal breaker for me as I do enjoy an open ended ending in some of my reads, and that is okay. I had some issues with the appropriateness of the content and the age of the characters in a high school setting. It seemed unrealistic for me and did distract from the reading of this YA novel with great potential.

I have been waiting on this review for awhile after finishing the book as I'm really not sure what to say about it besides... it just wasn't for me. I'm sure there's an audience for this book, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to read it - but I wouldn't read it again and I didn't enjoy it.

Grace is 15, at boarding school, and alone. No friends, living in the life of a rich kid without being rich. One day, she uses a slingshot to save the new kid from being beat up by the school bully. And just like that, she has the friend she never wanted in Wade. But Grace makes a ton of mistakes and ends up destroying their relationship, and friendship, before learning Wade's deepest secret.

So, let's start on the characters. Grace is mean. She is quite literally a rude person to everyone she comes in contact with. She starts off the book over the top in love with her teacher? And unsure why he didn't love her back? To be honest it creeped me out. And throughout the book she continues to be mean to everyone around and it's supposed to be her "quirkiness". But really she just makes bad decisions and lashes out. Next up, the plot. I found myself 50% into the book and wondering what the point of this book is. It felt like I was reading and reading and nothing was happening.

I think this book did bring up important conversations around sex, love, friendship, and family life. There were aspects that I found enjoyable, but overall it didn't do it for me. I'm sure it has the right audience out there, and I hope those readers find it!

**Thank you to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

My first read of April was PERFECT. It was a funny, quirky, (light) teen rom-com! 😄

Gracie is an angsty, Smashing Pumpkins listening, sorta rude, lonely 15 year old who isn’t quite sure who she is yet. In true emo fashion she thinks her soul mate is her biology teacher and makes a fool of herself. Enter Wade (a skateboarding nice guy), Beth (a senior who seems to have it all together), and Georgina (the bubbly roommate) who help her navigate her sophomore year and to grow up, just a little bit. 😄

YAs for me fall into 2 categories. Great story, well written and engrossing, OR lackluster, non relatable and too easy. Luckily this fell into the great category. This book was just SO good and I absolutely loved it. I also enjoyed that there’s a playlist to go along with each chapter. My personal favs, a lot of 90s rock. 🤘🏼

What I also liked about this one is that it didn’t have that happy fairy tale ending. It was realistic and raw and I thought it was fitting to the story and just, well, perfect. When I started this one I was a little unsure because I thought Gracie was just a huge B... but she got better as the story progressed. Thank goodness. 😄

This novel comes out April 27th from @WednesdayBooks! Thank you to them, @MercedesHelnwein and @NetGalley for sending me the advanced copies!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. I really enjoyed my time reading this book! It made me laugh, shed a tear or two, and made me appreciate life's moments. This story takes you back to high school when everything was a question and you felt like you didn't know how to fit in. This book is more than a love story, it is about someone learning about the meaning of having a deep connection to someone that can lift you off your feet and rip your heart out at the same time. Overall I recommend this to those looking for a quick read that will make you appreciate life a bit more.

I really, really wanted to like Slingshot. I like an unconventional teenager because I was an unconventional teenager. But this story fell so flat for me. Grace was so, so unlikeable. I don’t even really mind an unlikeable person in a story if they at least have a redeeming quality. This character didn’t even seem to have one. She’s just mean to be mean. The opening chapter features Grace making a fool out of herself for cursing out her teacher for having a fiancee when she believed that they were soulmates. I get having a crush on a teacher, but this was way, way over the line. I did keep reading to try to give the book a chance but at 20%, I gave up. Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday books for the ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.