I’m going to be incredibly honest when I say this book made me pretty uncomfortable. In this climate having the 15 year old character be infatuated with her teacher, while maybe a real thing teenagers thing, isn’t entirely appropriate for a young adult/teen title. Not to mention the mention of 15 year olds, a minor and still in high school having sex with an 18 year old - regardless if they’re in high school or not.

I don't even know what to say about this one except... don't bother. Grace was a terrible protagonist and I lost interest in her within the first chapter, where she's extraordinarily awful to her teacher, who she thought she was in love with. I understand that young people at this age have crushes on teachers, that wasn't the problem. The problem was that Grace was an unapologetic jerk who never once came to understand what was wrong with the things she said and did.

It was just very difficult for me to get through this one because Grace was awful to everyone around her and there wasn't anything overly engaging about the romance, which felt very immature and whirlwind. There was a lot of back forth, secrecy, and I just never entirely felt comfortable with anything occurring in this story.

Slingshot by Mercedes Helnwein, a YA novel due to be published April 27th, 2021, is a book I was not comfortable with and wouldn't recommend. The premise and concept of the story was uncomfortable; a 15 year old student falls in love with a teacher and then experiences intense anger when the student discovers her teacher is engaged. I am uncomfortable reviewing a book portraying an inappropriate relationship.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's press for the opportunity the review this title.

I don't know what I just read. Also that blurb is kind of true but not at the same time?

My Blurb:
After her crush on her teacher does not end up in a happily ever after, Grace Welles finds herself dealing with the very real possibility of being forever alone at age fifteen. While skipping class to avoid an awkward conversation with said teacher, Grace inadvertently saves the new kid, Wade Scholfield, from Derek McCormick using her skills with her slingshot.
With some advice from too-cool-for-school Beth Whelan, a new relationship with Wade (who really wants to be her friend), and surprising interactions with Derek, Wade's nemesis, Grace finds her 15th year one that will forever change her.

Yeah, there's heartbreak and Wade & Grace are at the center of it. But also this book is more about Grace than Grace's relationship with Wade that ends up breaking his heart. Also the crush on the teacher plays such a large role that it NEEDED mentioning in the blurb. Also Derek and Beth both play significant roles in the story. Derek is the reason Wade & Grace meet. Beth is there offering her advice. They both play way more of a role than the titular slingshot.

I'm all for a protagonist that isn't perfect, but they have to be likeable. Grace Welles was many things, but likeable was not one of them. She's a jerk. She only shows interest in writing, Smashing Pumpkins, and RARELY Wade for the course of the novel. Oh, and Mr. S, her biology teacher, who she crushes on. We find this out in chapter one. When he introduces her to his fiancé, she loses it. IN CHAPTER ONE. Like cussing him out for being a reasonable person and not crushing on an UNDERAGE student. Being mean to the fiancé for ruining her change of being with the teacher. Cue Christmas Break. But this crush continues to be a plot point. Grace actually destroys some of Mr. S's property. She sneaks a letter in his desk because she can. She waits for him by his car to talk. None of this is adequately addressed. First off, student crushes on teachers make me REALLY uncomfortable. I have had peers talk about the attractiveness of teachers (AND I HATE WHEN I HEAR IT). One of my parents is a teacher. It's just VERY UNCOMFORTABLE. Plus this level of stalking and creeping up in the teacher's personal space raises tons of red flags.

But you know what? I kept reading after chapter one because hey, I've heard TONS of good things about this book.

And then Wade enters the scene. He smooths out some of Grace's rough edges. I'm torn between shipping because he seems good for Grace and worrying about him being friends with her. I don't mind his insta-crush because hey SHE RESCUED HIM WITH the titular SLINGSHOT. But at the end of this novel, I'm wondering did they love each other or the idealized version? But Wade, for the most part, was one of the better things about this novel. Beth and Derek provided some interesting things to the plot. (TBH I'm not sure what to think of either of them because they had some good and TERRIBLE moments.)

ALSO WHAT'S UP WITH GRACE'S EXTRACURRICULARS?
We are told that she decided to try out to be a witch in the Scottish Play, which she referred to as Macbeth. We are told she pulled an A in biology. (These two things were to impress the teacher she had a problematic crush on.) We are told that this girl is involved in Model UN. As someone who debated and participated in LD debate, mock congress, and Model UN, to say I was shocked was an understatement. I had to reread that line. Model UN, is not something you can wing. It requires some amount of effort; effort that Grace (Gracie?) is not motivated to put in. Additionally, she randomly tries out for volleyball and gets on the team? The only way these two are possible is if there's literally no one else and she's just there. I don't understand HOW or WHY she was motivated to try out.

Regardless of the blurb not matching what sort of resembles a plot and the mess that is Grace, this book did have some good one liners. However, there were so many issues (the above mentioned) and casual sex and smoking. Also there was an incident regarding a sub not reporting seeing a HIGH SCHOOLER SMOKE. Also I found it difficult to remember that Grace was a Sophomore? Like maybe her actions would make more sense if she was a little older (maybe a Junior)? Probably not, but still. Additionally, Grace had almost no character development. Wade had a little more, but not much. Like these characters are supposed to be the central characters and they didn't really grow? At the end of the book, Grace was still doing some of the same problematic things she did before (like using people). I think Derek was the only character that experienced any character growth. All in all, the ending was kind of disappointing. Not a lot of character growth and the ending didn't really tie up to story. The last chapter introduced a major loose end and I'm really confused to WHY it ended like it did???

All that being said, I wish to thank NetGalley and Wednesday Books (St. Martin's Press) for the eARC. I really appreciated the opportunity to review and read this book.

HARD PASS on this one for me folks. 🤮 15 year old MC in love with her teacher. Like crying in the bathroom because the teacher is engaged.

I think it would be easier to read if the MC is 17-18 years old & the teacher and MC have an actual relationship (not that I condone that, but I’ve read a few like that). Also this is not a romance. This is just simply a student convinced that the teacher is her soulmate. Bleh. Hard pass.

Thank you to the publisher for this advance readers copy of Slingshot in exchange for an honest review.

I received a copy of SLINGSHOT by MERCEDES HELNWEIN. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

FIVE Stars and here’s why:

I loved this story. It’s a must-read for everyone. Gracie is not your typical YA heroine, and that’s what kept me riveted to the book. Her unconventional family and the way she navigates high school as well as her personal life is totally unapologetic, and that’s what makes her the perfect role model for today’s youth. And the use of a slingshot as an emotional support system tool is brilliant. But what kept me turning the pages in a total book hangover, was the heartwarming story of love, friendship, and the will to persevere despite everything. I was riveted by Grace’s voice from start to finish.

Highly recommend.

This is the first ARC I have received and I was really excited about it. Based on the cover and description it seemed right up my alley. I read a lot of YA fiction and romance. I don’t usually find it hard to connect with the characters despite being 10+ years removed from high school. This book was one of only 2 books I have started and not been able to finish in the last two years. I can tolerate a lot in a book if there are parts that keep it engaging enough that I want to finish it. This book unfortunately just did not have enough positives to keep me reading and engaged to outweigh the aspects I did not find enjoyable.

The main character is a 15 year old girl at a boarding school in Florida. The opening scene involves her sobbing because she found out her teacher she is in love with is engaged. While she acknowledges it would be illegal for anything to happen, the plot involving her feelings for the teacher continue. Student and teacher relationships (even one sided ones) is a trope I find it really hard to enjoy or connect with. I think it’s problematic and too much media normalizes or glamorizes it. This is not an actual romantic or sexual relationship between Gracie and her teacher but the pining for the teacher aspect was one reason I found it hard to connect with this book.

The other main reason I couldn’t finish this book was not being able to connect with the main character at all. I made it to about 25% of the way through the book, hoping that there would be good development and I could connect more. I found her personality to be very abrasive and off putting with no redeeming qualities really. I don’t expect characters to be perfect or behave perfectly but I couldn’t find anything likable about this character unfortunately and the way she treated everyone around her was awful. She did not seem 15 either. Her inner monologue did not resonate with being a teenager. It was written in first person narration which I think contributed to why it was hard for me to get through since I didn’t like the narrator. It also reinforced what felt like really outdated tropes and stereotypes about teenage girls (for example you couldn’t eat pizza in the dining hall as a girl or you would be seen as a pig by other girls- you had to eat salads). Another example of a problematic aspect that made it hard for me to be engaged is a character, who is a senior, saying to the 15 year old main character: “Mr. Sorrentino [the teacher] is a man. He has a wiener. You can do whatever you want with him!” I have never heard a teenager use the word wiener and just found that whole sub plot very hard to stomach and not enjoyable to read about at all.

I am sure that there will definitely be people who can connect with this book and character but unfortunately it just did not do it for me! I am giving it two stars because the writing style was fine, there was nothing special about it but it was fine. There was a lot of swearing which just seemed unnecessary and supposed to maybe exemplify how tough the main character was? I didn’t really get the point and some of the language used made it hard for me to get lost in a story.


Thanks to Net Galley for providing the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was so cringe and I just can't
We start off in the first chapter where a 15 year old girl is convinced her teacher is her soul mate??? and she gets mad at him for being engaged???
The romance was so so so bad in this book and if any of that was mentioned in the synopsis, I would have said no. None of the characters act their age and the story felt like it was written by someone who never experienced what high school was actually like.
I just can't.

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for an ARC of Slingshot which is to be released April 27, 2021.

While I truly appreciate the opportunity to receive this ARC, unfortunately, this book was a DNF for me. This is due to several factors. First, the main character, Grace, is 15 and is in love with her teacher. Literally in love, as in thought they were soulmates and cursed him out when she found out he had a fiancée in love with him. This is not necessary at all for character development unless the author’s goal was to show how mean-spirited the main character can be.

This brings me to my second issue: Grace is truly an unlikeable and abusive main character. She pushes everyone away from her and there are no endearing qualities - she is no “diamond in the rough” type character where past the tough exterior she is a good person. She is just cruel.

For me, I could not finish more than a few chapters. The main character ruined the book with her surly attitude and immature, childlike reactions. I think a similar story line could have been executed in a much more inventive manner with a main character that readers actually want to root for.

MAJOR coverlust with this one: when I saw the cover for Slingshot, I was immediately enamoured and knew that I had to request this.

Unfortunately, the story was not executed in a way that I particularly enjoyed, womp womp. :( I'd read a couple reviews prior to starting and was thus already bracing myself for the 1) uncomfy side-plot crush/romance with Gracie's (15) teacher, and 2) profanity, sex, smoking, etc. Yet I still didn't find myself on board.

While I didn't necessarily think that Gracie and her friends were unrealistic—her blossoming friendship+ with Wade was v v v cute—I did find that the instalove (my most detested of tropes) and constant dropping of the word "love" utterly grated on me.

And the ending!! Gracie's character development is minimal and I was ultimately left wanting.


Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Based on the description, I really thought I would love this. At the very opening, I liked the character’s voice and the tone but I felt like the whole “being in love with your teacher” thing to be creepy and trite. I sadly did not finish this book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
All opinions are my own.

1 star
This book was so terrible. I hate myself for finishing it, when I lost interest about 10% of the way through. The optimist in me is like, it can't get much worse. Oh no, it really can.
The book starts with this weird, rambling chapter about a 15-year old girl who is convinced that her biology teacher is her soulmate. High ick factor.
So I plugged along, and everything about this book is terrible. The plot is terrible (and real nonsensical). The main character is completely unlikable, and not in a "it's fun to hate her while we read along." No. She is just a terrible person and makes some real cringe-y decisions.
The writing in this book also leaves a lot to be desired. Other reviewers have noted that it's similar to a teenager's diary, and I couldn't have put it better myself. It's just... bad.
Definite miss for me. Not recommended.

The best word to encapsulate this book is YIKES, and the only reason I gave it 2 stars was because there was something inexplicable that hooked me in and would not let go until I finished, until I knew how this ended. Basically, this book feels like the author’s attempt at compiling every nasty thing she’s ever wanted to say or do but couldn’t due to strict social conventions. The main character, Gracie, was so incredibly rude and obnoxious—for no good reason either, just because she could. And everyone let her get away with it. I don’t think I’ve read a more unrelatable character or a more dramatic, exaggerated plot.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with a free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

DNF after 3 chapters.

Unfortunately, this book really is not for me. The book opens with the main character, 15-year-old Gracie, sobbing in the school bathroom because she just found out that her biology teacher, who she was "in love" with is engaged. At first, I thought it was like a little high school crush, which fine, teenagers have crushes on their teachers all the time and are "devastated" when it really sinks in that nothing would ever happen between them. That is not the case with Gracie. She honestly believed that they were soulmates and that he felt the same way. Even though she points out that it would be illegal for anything to happen with them, and then she basically cusses him out and says rude things about his fiancée to him, hoping that it will make him change his mind and realize that he's in love with her as well. I'm not sure what I was supposed to take away from that chapter except for being incredibly uncomfortable and cringing every time Gracie talked about how in love she was with him.

I happened to check out a few other reviews and it looks like one of the main plot points in this book is casual teenage sex, some of which takes place between the 15-year-old main character and a 17/18-year-old high school senior. That does not sit well with me. The maturity of 15-18 year-olds is vastly different, and teenagers with that large of an age gap should not engage in any sort of relationship, let alone a physical one.

I could barely get through 3 chapters of this book and I don't see myself trying to pick it up again.

Thank you, Netgalley, for the advance read!
I'm a complete sucker for any story that brings two lonely outcasts together, so you had me at hello with this one........especially if the outcasts are also suffering the outrageous slings and arrows of adolescence.
And I give credit to author Mercedes Helwein for being unafraid to portray 15 year old Grace Welles in less-than-likable mode........and you can feel yourself aching for the way she treats Wade, the fellow outcast she manages to save from a bully beating with, of all things, a slingshot.
One qualm I do feel, though. It's as if the author already pre-imagined a TV or film version of this book where all the young teenagers are played by baby-faced 20 year olds still able to convincingly pass for 15.
But even with the swearing and the sex and the assorted poor choices made by Grace, I didn't stop waiting for her to reach a level of self-awareness that you could feel the story was headed for.
And as someone who suffered a fair share of hurt, heartbreak and bullying throughout the high school years, much of the stuff in here rang painfully true.
Even for anyone who'd rather prefer their YA romances sweet and comforting, I'd still recommend "Slingshot".......Grace may be tough to warm up to, (and maybe even doesn't deserve the boy she mistreats)......but like every good book, you'll find to follow Grace and Wade's story to see what happens next.

DNF @ 3%

I usually try to give books until at least 20% to win me over, but this was so supremely uncomfortable that I just couldn't. The narrative opens with the teenage MC asserting that she's Not Like Her Classmates and that her biology teacher (twenty years older, is never shown doing anything that unequivocally crosses the line) is her soulmate, then having a complete meltdown when she discovers that he's engaged and doesn't return her feelings. Next we get a lot of ableism, including both cr-words and a lot of <i>my mom is gorgeous but insane, and her delusions are ruining my life</i>; it feels like a ploy to gain the reader's sympathy through tragic backstory, painting the MC as a victim who has never done anything wrong ever.

This book has great potential. A beautiful plot, a little familiar character and a good sense of humour.
I especially enjoyed the explanations given, like the protagonists 'family' and the "boarding school". It was hilarious.

But, in certain places the writing is a little confusing, the story at times does not make sense. I would like to suggest the writer to revisit certain parts. Make the book a little more clear. Explain the places , the way he described the boarding school itself.
Some places the story proceeded too fast to comprehend, while in others it was so slow it felt like the book was dragging.

All in all, great story. I hope the author revisits certain parts and the books gets published.

All the best!

*𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘣𝘺 𝘱𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘷𝘪𝘢 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸

Slingshot had such potential. The cover is simple, yet eye-catching. The synopsis promised an interesting book, but the story itself fell through for me.
Things get messy and unrealistically melodramatic, I would have liked some parts to been been changed, like made them older but okay.
I wasn't really a fan of Grace Welles like at all but Wade was so adorable and in end this was quick read!

I’m really unsure where to start with this because from the first chapter I was honestly flummoxed. This book was one of the most bizarre stories of a teen romance ever and I didn’t find it realistic in the slightest.

THE WRITING:
First of all, I’m not sure how old the author is but it was like trying to read a fourteen year olds diary who is trying to act older than they are. I just didn’t vibe with it at all.
THE PLOT:
I mean, plot who? The book felt like a chaotic mess and I didn’t understand half of what was going on.
THE CHARACTERS:
I’m not sure what teens this author knows but they acted so much older than they were and they didn’t feel authentic. I didn’t care for any of the characters. Gracie was selfish and annoying and the first chapter is her swearing at her teacher because he’s engaged and throwing a strop. It’s just not realistic.
OVERALL:
This wasn’t for me. I don’t want to sit here and bash the author but I feel like this books message was lost along the way and I didn’t like it at all.

I received this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This might be a case, in which, I am too old to read books about kids in high school. I had the hardest time liking o getting into this book. Maybe I am too old. Maybe this book was too young for me, But I didn't really like Gracie from page one. She acted awful with her teacher. The way she spoke to him was crazy!! And from that point on, we were on the wrong foot and there was a hard time me even going on.

I tried to like it, but I just couldn't.