I had high hopes for this book, troubled sarcastic girl falling in love but struggled to read it, while there was potential, with the storyline it just didn't work for me so can't recommend it

DNF 22%

I tried with this book multiple times but ultimately couldn't get into the story. Nor could I get past some of the more troubling themes that are front and center at the beginning of the book. Maybe I'm the prude? Either way this one just didn't work for me. : (

Actual rating: 3,5

I always had a weak spot for book covers, it is well known true, so when I saw the beautiful design for Slingshot, I knew I had to read this novel even before I read what it was about.

I went into it expecting nothing, as more and more not-so-flattering reviews showed up. I still wanted to give it a fair shot.

From the very first chapter it was obvious why so many people dislike the story. The main character, who is not only unlikeable, but rude, shallow and in her mind above everyone else, cries because her teacher got engaged.

The writing style is also not the most appealing, but it easy to read.

I read somewhere that this book is either retelling of Catcher in the Rye, or written for it's fans, and I agree with that, because it very similar to said book, as both characters are jerks (and I dnf Catcher, just so you know).

However, as I read more and more, I got really invested into the story.
It even made me emotional at some parts.

I appreciate how the author chose a different family situation for Grace, as she is a love child, secret from her father's "real" family.
I like how it was discussed in the story, but I'd also like it to be more explored, if maybe Grace demanded more from her father.
Her situation also gives more light to why she was acting the way she did, because in that kind of situation, you have to have emotional scars, whether you are aware of them or not.

In the end, I ended up liking the book. I guess I just needed some time to get used to Grace and her narration.

Would I recommend it?
Yes, but be aware that you probably won't adore the main character.

I’m going to be very honest here, this book just wasn’t for me. DNF @ 25%, and I’m honestly surprised that I made it that far. I just couldn’t connect with the characters. I loved the cover art for this book, it’s adorable.

Overall not my cup of tea, but I’m sure it will be someone’s. Overall rating: ⭐️/ 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

I almost put this book down from the first page, when the main character is talking about her relationship with her Biology teacher. Luckily, this relationship is completely in Grace’s head and barely factors into the rest of the plot. However, this book left me with very mixed feelings.

The good: Grace is a quirky, acidic character. I think a few select teens would relate to her, but not most. I found this book interesting and readable; I flew through it in two days. I thought the portrayal of first love, and the dumb ways teenagers act while they’re trying to figure out life and themselves.

The bad: Other than being how Grace and Wade met, Grace’s slingshot never made another appearance in the book, so I wonder why that title was chosen. I also thought that Grace and Wade absolutely did not act like sophomores in high school. In fact, none of the teenage characters seemed to act like high schoolers. There’s a place for some controversial themes in YA literature, but the language in this book would absolutely exclude it from the YA section in the library. It also suffered from a lack of focus, with threads that were followed being dropped partway through the book.

All in all, I think this is a quirky book doesn’t have broad appeal, and would have a hard time finding its audience.

Gracie was a character who was very hard to like. And while it made sense in the grand scheme of the story and is supposed to make you realize how great love makes her feel, it also makes it very hard to enjoy the book when she is awful most of the time. I would like to read a book about her parents’ lives, as they seem to have a weird, but loving, dynamic. Overall, not my cup of tea, although I love the cover art for the book!

This books does a good job of capturing the head of a teenage girl at a boarding school, discovering relationships for the first time. I really enjoyed Gracie and Wade's friendship at the beginning of the book and appreciated the friendship they formed. I liked that Gracie was a more blunt and abrasive character and stood up for herself throughout the book. I liked the complexities of the characters' backstories.

There were some things I did not enjoy: First, the book placed a lot of emphasis on the concept of virginity, which felt a bit awkward and not as feminist as other parts of the book felt. I didn't enjoy how much she was in love with her teacher and felt their interactions to be inappropriate. Gracie also had the "not like other girls" trope, which I find to be overdone and often unrealistic. Finally, though the writing itself was well done and descriptive, I felt like I was being told more than shown all the way through this book. These things made it fall flat for me.

While this book perfectly captures what it's like to be 15, it missed its mark for me. I hated being 15 and wouldn't go back even if someone paid me. It's the type of book I wanted at 15; I would have loved seeing someone struggle with questions of love and family and friendship. I couldn't get invested in any of the characters because no one seemed to like each other and everyone was one dimensional with zero character development.

**Thank you NetGalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review**

This book is definitely interesting. It is not your usual contemporary or romance. I don't think there is a single character that is one dimensional. I honestly don't think this book is suited for a younger YA audience as there is a lot of dark topics.

The main character Gracie is not a very pleasant person when you first meet her, but you do see her soften a bit throughout the course of the book. This is mainly due to possibly the one (mostly) good person, Wade. Their relationship progression was sweet and probably about one of the only wholesome-ish type things to happen.

I enjoyed reading this book probably because it was not really like anything I have read before. It was dark and unexpected, dramatic, and just heartbreaking at times.. but it was so original. Definitely an interesting take on a high school drama.

DNF 25%

Super cute cover, but I just didn’t really engage with this story. I couldn’t find anything (characters, plot, romance, setting, conflict, etc) to hook me in and keep me going. Too many books to read for me to force myself along. I would say I’m going to give it another try later, but if I’m being honest, I don’t think I will.

I had such high hopes for this book after it's comparison to works by John Green and Rainbow Rowell, but it missed the mark for me. Right off the bat we're thrown into the melodrama of Grace who is agonizing over the loss of her soul mate to his new fiancée. The soul mate being her biology teacher who is 20 years her senior. We started off weird and gross and just got weirder. I don't think this needed to be included in the book or it at least should have been handled differently. Grace knowingly talks about their potential relationship being wrong so she doesn't seem naïve at first, but then she turns around to say they must be in love because they high-five....

The author didn't seem to have a real sense of what 15-year-olds are like. She wrote Grace young and melodramatic sometimes, while others each of the teens were depicted as seemingly older and jaded in ways they really shouldn't be yet. Gracie is selfish and self-centered throughout the book and never really seems to grow as a person.

In the end, this books wasn't for me and I'm not sure who I would be able to recommend it to. I think a lot of issues could be fixed with a change to the ages of the characters and some changes to content.

Slingshot follows Grace whilst she discovers sex, relationships, and herself. I feel like if you go into this book expecting to be in the head of a 15-year-old girl, you can actually enjoy the story and things make much more sense. Of course she’s going to be dramatic and believe a ton of ridiculous things, she’s fifteen-year-old!

I really enjoyed all of the drama and the over-the-top reactions Grace had. I absolutely could not relate, but I could absolutely picture a teenager reacting that way. The story was definitely entertaining.

With that being said, Grace undeniably suffers from the "I'm-not-like-other-girls" syndrome. I was able to look past that, but only up to a certain point. Girl-hate is a big no-no for me. In fact, I removed one star from my rating solely for that reason.

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

When Grace saves Wade from getting beat up, she doesn’t do it because she likes him, or even wants to talk to him, it’s just instinct. Wade however, has decided they should be friends. Over time, their relationship starts to become more and suddenly Grace realizes her feelings for Wade, around the same time that she crushes his heart.

This is a tough one to review. It was a very well done look at young/first love and the high school experience. However, I didn’t feel like it was resolved in the end, and it felt a little but too YA for me if that makes sense. I love a good YA read, but this one just felt too juvenile, which is weird since they were talking about and having sex. Overall, this book was just ok for me. As I was writing this review I saw someone else mention Sally Rooney in their review, which makes perfect sense, and also explains why this book just wasn’t for me! @irishgirliereads will probably love it!

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-Arc.

I did not love or hate this book. While I found the main character hard to relate to for the most part and very unlikeable throughout the majority of the book, it was still mostly an interesting story. The end though was a very non ending. It felt rushed and I'm actually still a little unsure what happened.

Okay, no. This was Bad. I couldn't stand the heroine in this book she was so obnoxious and treated everybody badly, the hero was way better than her and the end just seemed rushed and nothing Made sense to be honest. This book is full with unlikable characters that you don't want to rule for. Frustraiting read

This one really didn't work for me. I just found Gracie to be so unredeeming I didn't enjoy this at all.

I'll be blunt, I put off reviewing this book because it just wasn't for me. What I couldn't get over was the main character Grace. If there was ever a time a character's name didn't match her personality, this is it. I don't know if she was supposed to be one of those characters we love to hate, but there's nothing about her I liked, let alone loved. From the minute the book began she acted like a toddler having a hissy fit over something she couldn't have, but what's worse is that she she had a crush on her teacher and that is what she couldn't have. I have no problem with books where teachers and students have relationships - My Dark Vanessa is a great example of the topic well done - but Grace just comes off as delusional. Her reasoning for why she thought her teacher loved her back was flimsy at best, yet she ran with it. Her retaliation for his rejection was also extremely juvenile.

Fast forward to her relationship with Wade; she met him by saving him with her slingshot - one of the rare times the slingshot is even mentioned in the book. Wade was clearly good for Grace, he grounded her and she softened during their time together, but the whole time I couldn't help feeling she didn't deserve him. The way she treated him during Spring Break was sad. And as for Wade, he acts like he has a big secret and when we finally find out what that is his character makes much more sense. And that brings me to the gas station scene - the only scene in the whole book that felt real and made me want to keep reading. Unfortunately, the whole book fell limp after that and then it was over.

Egads. I'm not sure what to compare this book to or to whom to recommend it. Honestly, if you really want to read this go for it obviously, but if you're on the fence, just don't. This book will be released in April.

On an aside, I do want to bring up the book's Goodreads page. As of this writing, the reviews are skewed to either you love it or you hate it, there isn't much middle ground. Taking a closer look at the five star reviews we find typical advanced readers who rate five stars to kiss the publisher's butt and keep getting early copies, and then there are a lot of sock accounts purportedly by the author herself. Several accounts have no friends or are only friends with one or two other sock accounts, and they have all given the book five stars without an actual review. File this one under "authors behaving badly."

part cute and fluffy and part disturbing (as to the age and situation and deception). I was not so fond of whole thing with the teacher. It was okay of a story for me but not very enjoyable. Maybe others will find the topic not troublesome and like the story better than I, For me it was a two star.

Thanks to NetGalley for the e-Arc.

The description doesn't say the book starts with the 15yo main character expressing her love for her biology teacher and being infuriated he got engaged, because she's convinced they should be together.

So that's a no thanks from this teacher. DNF.

This was unexpected. It is much grittier than I was anticipating, and not at all a fluffy YA contemporary by any means. Gracie is unapologetically abrasive... and I low key love her for it. Wade is a cinnamon roll with a dark chocolate drizzle. There are cute moments and poignant moments and viscerally embarrassing moments... much like high school, really. And it dips its toes into some dark waters and touches on some deep issues, enough to be heavy but not enough to be suffocating.

I almost cried, but I definitely laughed. I felt for the characters, and I KNEW the characters. It really brought me back to high school in so many ways.

Gracie is very alone, and very much by her own making and okay with it... until she isn't. I think everyone can relate with having a truth they live with that they have convinced themselves they are okay with until life forces them to see that they are not. And the boarding school setting has these teens experiencing this coming of age with shocking little adult intervention... which allows for a very believable level of chaos to be achieved.

A good book, but not if you are looking for fluffy teen dramatics. This is gritty teen dramatics at their finest.