2 1/2 stars
All the angst of sophomore year has been captured in Helnwein's novel, Slingshot.
The meanness, the insecurity, the dramatic pondering...testing the boundaries, figuring out who you are, choices dictated by hormones--all are included. The writing is honest in the ugliest way. The main character is a real jerk. The language is crude and all the adults are clueless. It was an uncomfortable read; thankfully, I'm not the intended audience.

This book was a tough one. It was well written but it dealt with a lot of difficult issues. The first chapter was definitely a unique approach that quickly went left. The MC, Gracie isn’t a ball of sunshine. She is rough around the edges and for most people that was hard to overlook. It’s even harder to embrace once you realize that abrasive nature is just her. I like a character with edge and most books have sunshine, syrupy sweet characters so she breaks away from tradition in that sense. However, Gracie pushes everyone away and so for a while you are locked in her thoughts and her world. It’s only when she opens up to others that you see her soften a little. I wish more time was spent on her falling in love and less time in the lead up to their relationship. We watch Gracie as she experiences love and the complications that come from poor decisions. My only issue was the character didn’t really grow. She may have let love in but she was still cold towards everyone trying to reach out to her. Overall, I felt this book was well written and tells an important story. I would recommend it to others.

Thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for the ARC.

I hate to give the book such a low rating, but this one just wasn't for me. I can appreciate the fact that the main character, Gracie, is dealing with a lot of issues that teenagers have. However, I just couldn't connect with any of the characters and I didn't really feel like I really liked any of them. I likely should have DNF'd it, but kept going. I do really appreciate NetGalley and St. Martin's press for providing me with an advanced copy to review.

Mouthing off, a crazy crush on her biology teacher - Gracie is kind of a mess at boarding school, but maybe it shouldn’t be a surprise. She’s always felt like an unacknowledged “side project” for her Dad, who lives with his oblivious other family in California but who shows up a couple of times a year in Florida to check in with Gracie and resume his long-term love affair with Gracie’s mom. Gracie has grown up knowing that pretending ignorance about her dad’s other family is an important mental health survival strategy for her mom, and she’s good at playing the game but it gives her absolutely no tolerance for nuance or lying. Her default social skill is pushing others away.

When Gracie sees Senior Derek bullying new kid Wade, she jumps right in to administer justice with her slingshot and a piece of gravel. Wade is pretty much Gracie’s opposite in temperment, and despite Gracie’s prickly rejections, he pursues a friendship, and eventually a romance with her. Wade is all-in for Gracie, but she continues to tell herself that she is holding the relationship lightly, belatedly recognizing the depth of her feelings only after betraying Wade with Derek and keeping it a secret.

I really disliked Gracie for most of the book. She was self-centered and critical, slow to accept friendship or kindness and seemingly a stranger to empathy. When she learns how Wade’s family has wounded him, Gracie’s inability to go along to get along results in a violent spasm of truth telling to her family, Wade’s family, and Wade that is the catalyst for some self-understanding in the midst of painful loss. In the end, Gracie reminds the reader that all these things happened when she was only fifteen. She’s an unforgettable character. EARC from Edelweiss.

Spoiler free review

“Love is love. It’s all that matters.”

Slingshot starts with our main character Grace sharing how she thinks her teacher who is about 20 years older than her is her soulmate. When she discovers he has a wife she went completely nuts and screamed at him endlessly. At first, I thought the book would somewhat revolve around this incident, perhaps something like revenge or whatever but no. Overall that part was really irrelevant to the plot.
Continuing with talking about the plot, I didn’t get it much. There wasn’t any direction to a major conflict in the story. It was simply just the readers following the life of Grace a high school student and reading about small gossip and teenage “love” problems. There wasn’t any spice too it just bland. Let’s talk about the main character. I didn’t like Grace as much as I thought I could have. Yes, she can be a bit relatable at times. But I didn’t like how she thought she was super ugly when she was just as pretty to catch boys' attention. Then again everyone is flawed, not just in this book but in life. Because well, we can’t all be perfect. Ending this review, I did like how the author had included a song for each chapter in the book. I thought it was a cool idea.

“It wasn’t just that I thought we were soul mates—I knew we were. I just knew. My reasoning was that when you know things on that level, they don’t need to make any practical sense, because love is a bigger truth than logistics, and basically anyone who wanted to have a problem with that could go suck it.”

Reviewed: 1/29/2021
ARC COPY
Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for letting me read a digital copy of this book.

(quotes/saying are from arc and may change)

Where to even start with this read!!! What a cute YA book that crushed me. Was not a fan of the opening scene with her teacher, and honestly did not like that whole plot point at all (gross). Did enjoy the no-nonsense, march to her own drum, free spirit main character Gracie. I grew to lover her over the course of the book and her story. Wade was cute and broke my heart. The ending of this book left me feeling sad and heartbroken for the two. Enjoyed this sweet YA!

Unfortunately, the first few chapters were not my vibe at all and I’m not interested in reading more. The synopsis sounded interesting, but I’m never going to take the MC seriously after this teacher-crush thing.

And honestly it’s one thing if it was a new grad teacher and a sr in high school but 20 YEARS older is a bit much for this delusion. It felt so out of left field when it likely is a big igniting factor behind the MCs journey - maybe put it in the synopsis so readers don’t start this in total confusion. Idk it just didn’t work for me. I don’t like to rate books a 1 so I’ll give it 2.

DNF after three chapters.

I'm sorry to say that I couldn't finish or enjoy this book.

The book opens with the main character Gracie crying in a bathroom over a teacher whose engagement she has just discovered. She claimed to be in love with said teacher, and while I understand that teenage crushes are one thing, the degree to which Gracie claimed to love this man was honestly just strange and somewhat embarrassing to read.

After reading the first three chapters (uncomfortably and not without cringing) I thought I'd look at some other reviews before deciding whether or not it would be worth it to continue on and read more of the book. The main piece of information that I gained from reading those reviews was that this book contained a lot of underage sex – something that I'm not desperate to read loads of – and a relationship between a 15 year old and 18 year old – the thought of which purely made me uncomfortable. While three years may not be much of an age gap when both parties are older and more mature, it doesn't seem right when one party is legally considered as a child and the other, an adult,

It's possible that, despite what I read in other reviews, the book looked up after the first three chapters, but, personally, I found reading the first three to be an uncomfortable experience. I feel that it's extremely unlikely I'll read further.

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! No spoilers. Beyond amazing I enjoyed this book so very much. The characters and storyline were fantastic. The ending I did not see coming Could not put down nor did I want to. Truly Amazing and appreciated the whole story. This is going to be a must read for many many readers. Maybe even a book club pick.

Love at first sight! Not only do I love the cover but the story is beautiful. It's more than your typical girl saves boy. Grace makes you laugh and reminds you what it feels like to be a teen. Mercedes's writing sucks you in right from the start and makes you fall in love with the characters. I think this story did a great job at showing how you don't know what people are really dealing with inside and how many of us wear a mask to hide things. There were so many surprises and I'm glad I wasn't able to figure out the story right away. I didn't want the story to end. I have so many questions!! I recommend this book to everyone! It will start dialog that needs to happen. This is one of my top reads for 2021.

* Warning there is abuse in the book.*

Nice book. it was a bit long and I feel like the character was a bit immature at times. but other than that I enjoyed the book

I really wanted to like this book because of the synopsis but it was awful. No one acts their age and the main character is obsessed with her teacher. This book was a mess from start to finish and for a 15 yr old to have sex, drink, smoke, curse, etc is highly inappropriate. Yes, we all have growing pains and angst as teenagers but this character was delusional and out of control.

A no for me. Do not waste your time reading this garbage. Cannot recommend this.

Thanks to Netgalley, Mercedes Helwein and St Martin's Press Wednesday for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Available: 4/27/21

This read was a case of the cover made me do it and unfortunately this one just did not work for me.

From the minute this story opened up on 15 year old Gracie’s delusions about her romance with her biology teacher, I knew this was not the story for me. Gracie was so unlikeable that being in her head was painful. She was mean and spiteful under the guise of being “sassy” and I could not find myself rooting for her to triumph.

The side characters just weren’t enough to keep me intrigued. Wade was the tiny bit of light that helped me finish this story and even then, just barely. He was such an interesting and complicated character but his attraction to Gracie seemed so unrealistic.

Which brings me to my next issue with this story. The ending. With such a melodramatic final third of the story, the ending felt flat, rushed, and forced. Wade’s ending seemed so out of character for the personality we came to know throughout the book. I closed this one feeling like I didn’t know any of these characters at all. The pacing just didn’t work. Maybe someone out there will find some enjoyment in this story, but it definitely will not be me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Slingshot was entertaining and funny with its fresh story and characters. It's a remarkable YA debut novel for YA contemporary readers.


My Rating: 3 Stars

Slingshot was fresh, enjoyable, and had a range of characters to offer to the reader. There was not one boring moment in the book. It questioned some of the normative behavior a teenager is expected to have. Grace doesn't want to be nice. That doesn't mean she wants to be mean either, but she doesn't know how to be good to others. This is how she is, and she wants to remain that way; I could relate to that. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys reading contemporary YA novels with a touch of romance with quirky characters in them.


Thank you, NetGalley, Wednesday Books ( St. Martin's Press ), and the author for this eARC.

This was not my favorite YA book. It seemed like it was trying to be too adult with a 15 year old main character. It focused a lot of sex (which I don't mind) but it wasn't in a great way? The inappropriate crush/relationship between student and teacher was uncomfortable. Grace seemed like a very confused girl which I understood but it also came across as the author wanting to right an adult fiction book but couldn't so she took the adult themed character and put her in a high school boarding school. It was just a little all over the place and I was unsatisfied with the ending.

Gracie and Wade both go to a private boarding school. The name of the book is based on one of the beginning scenes where new student Wade is going to be beat-up and Gracie saves him with the help of her slingshot. At the same time, Gracie is spiraling down from rejection in different areas of her life.

That said, the beginning was a bit slow for me. Be forewarned there is a lot of cussing and sexual talk/situations. I absolutely loved Wade, and mistakes are made as they figure out their relationship. The ending is the part I loved. No spoilers, but It gave me the reader what I was waiting for, an unlikable/pitiable character/Gracie that learns to care about others, be honest, and grow. Once we turned this corner I was hooked.

Thank you #netgalley and St. Martin’s Press/Wednesday Books for allowing me to review #slingshot

My favorite aspect of this book was that it did not talk down to teens, but instead discussed the emotional complexity and angst of being a teenager in language that they are more than capable of understanding. Wow, was this an angsty read, and at the beginning that part of the narrative comes on a little strong and the main character, Grace, is introspective to the point where it gets a little bit overwhelming. Later in the book however, that introspection and angst propels the story to a place it might not have been able to go otherwise, where we are able to see real growth for Grace and also some of the realizations that come with growing up (such as the idea that yes, everyone around us is a real person too-with emotions and feelings and perspectives of their own). The odd boarding school setting reminded me of the book Oligarchies, and the friendships and relationships that Grace had felt authentic to the way that teens discuss their feelings and interact, especially the way that her female friendships could be sticky and confusing, but also loyal and compassionate in the way teenage girls can be. I also liked that her parents were portrayed realistically, as so often in teen books I feel that there is a sort of respect and moral standard that the teens must use when referring to their parents (i.e. they are just trying to do what is best, they have a lot on their plate so there should be some excuse for any mistakes they may make) that does not read authentically. I enjoyed this book a lot and would recommend it-especially to the particularly angsty teen in your life (everyone's got one).

ARC RECEIVED FROM NETGALLEY FOR HONEST REVIEW

Slingshot is about Gracie Welles, a 15-year-old Florida boarding school student, navigating life through high school. She rescues the new student, Wade, from being bullied by three seniors who "stuck together like a chemical compound" and they develop a friendship like no other.

I'll possibly try reading further into it, but after reading the first few chapters, I just <i> know </i> that this book isn't for me.

I'm not a big fan of the writing. There's a lot of description and dialogue that I find unnecessary and quite distracting to the plot. (Honestly, I don't even know what the plot is anymore). Anyway, maybe I'll go back to this and try to read more to get even more insight. I just feel like the main character is trying SO HARD to be the different girl that it's quite annoying. This feels like a Wattpad book - and not the good kind.

This...was just not for me.

This book starts off with the 15-year old protagonist thinking that her teacher is her soul mate?? Which made me very uncomfortable, as well as all the smoking, drinking, cursing, and all of the talk of sex. I might have been more comfortable if the characters were older than 15!!! Because there is a big maturity difference from teens who are 14/15/16 to those who are 17/18! There was also a lot of cheating-and yes, teenagers make mistakes-but everything in this book just felt excessive and melodramatic. And none of the main characters are likable, nor do they have any redeemable qualities! Such a frustrating read. I had such high hopes.

The biggest point that I want to get across is the fact that this book made me uncomfortable, and I think a LOT of changes need to be made and addressed before I would ever recommend this to anyone.

"To all the jerks and soul mates of my youth" I like that dedication.

This is a story about first love, first heartbreak, friendship, and the process of growing up. With some bad decisions that made me helplessly rolled my eyes out.

The opening chapters with Gracie crushing over her teacher don't bother me much, since it just like a girl crushing to a celebrity. The teacher did nothing weird, just simply being a teacher like many others but Gracie has a daddy issue. Her mom is the side-woman of her dad. Her dad has a whole family and kept secret about Gracie and her Mom from them (I should put TW on this since ngl I almost flipped myself). Resulting in her craving some fatherly love since she's rarely seen her dad. There's a part where she's jealous of her neighbor because she got lectured by her dad telling her not to go out with boys. I think it's why she's being delusional over her teacher.

🔞 I'll keep it real here 🔞 I wished the author made the age a bit older (Gracie is 15) because of the whole casual sex, smoke, and booze thing. Also not sure if the amount of profanity and mentioning of (view spoiler)are suitable for the age range that this book catered to. But idk, it's been a while since the last time I read YA contemporary.

Safe to say I give 3.5 stars since this book is just not for me but still entertaining to read. Plus I love the illustration of the cover.