dnf at 100 pages

I have not being having the best luck with my arcs recently. First Down Comes the Night and now this? Unfortunately, its been a lot harder to capture my attention recently so this might even be no fault of the book itself. But at the same time, I feel like even without my reading slump this book is just not for me.

I won't go into a full review of why I didn't love it, because that doesn't feel fair considering I didn't give it a full chance to redeem itself. However, I am pretty sure that I wouldn't have enjoyed it even then for a few reasons.

The book started with the protagonist being angry that her teacher, who she thought was her soulmate, had a fiancée. Yeah... not my thing. Then the characters who were meant to be 15 were acting like they were 18 and I was turned off even more. I personally am not a fan of reading about excessive smoking, drinking, swearing etc. I therefore was not a fan of the protagonist.

I have also seen some sock puppet reviews of this book which lessens my respect for this book and its author.

I would recommend reading reviews from other people who finished it to get a better picture of the entire story. There will probably be some people who will enjoy this book, but I can't help but think that it will be a very niche audience.

Thank you to St Martin’s Press for this ARC

Release Date: 27 April 2021

There are parts of this book I liked and parts I didn't. The storyline was good, but wasn't a romance as much as a coming of age story. Grace is the outsider at a low-tier boarding school in Florida, her single mother is still somehow involved with her father, who has a first family in Beverly Hills, but pays for Grace's tuition and is somewhat present on his own terms. She meets Wade when he is being bullied and she pulls out her slingshot and hits the bully, Derek, and they become fast friends.

And then spring break happens and most of the students leave school, but not everyone. Grace decides to take cool-kid Beth's advice and makes a choice that she has to have known would not go over well.

Grace's super smart, super sarcastic personality was a little much at times, as was Wade's also super smart, but also amazingly open and kind, character. Everyone was a little too. Too much. Too clever. Too honest about their feelings in ways I don't think people are.

And, honestly, I'm not sure how Beth's character even became a thing. She is there to give Grace cigarettes and bad advice and then later admits to not knowing what she's talking about. And then she sort of disappears.

So, this book gets a 3-star meh rating from me. It's not terrible, but it's nothing to write home about. I can see a lot of readers not liking the ending, even if they love everything else (and I know a lot of readers will revel in Grace's snarkiness).

My thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I really tried to get through this one, but I could not STAND the main character.

At the beginning I was really confused about her age because some of the thoughts she had felt literally like a middle schooler thought them? Then I realized she was a senior(?) in high school and wow. It just felt really off to me.

I am unfortunately DNFing this one. I've basically been in a year-long reading slump and can't get myself to reading anything unless I'm absolutely in love with it.

Normally unlikable characters really don't bother me much, but something about her attitude really irked me.

Regardless, won't be finishing this one. If you're interested in reading this, def give it a try! It just didn't work for me.

I really, really wanted to like this book. It had all the elements that I usually love – boarding school setting, a good love interest that genuinely felt three dimensional, and a strong MC narrator. I had hopes for this book going in, and was pretty disappointed in what I found.

First off, we’re introduced to the MC and narrator, Gracie. It’s immediately established from page 1 that this fifteen/sixteen year old girl (I was stunned to find out later she’s only 15 at the beginning) is “in love” with her biology teacher. The voice seemed immature and condescending to all the other students, calling them a “raging hormonal bloodbath that was the majority of life at school”. Now, I’ve never been to a boarding school, but I was recently a teenager, and I definitely wouldn’t call it that. Another time she says she considers the students “juvenile and moronic in their pursuit of amusement,” which sounds especially harsher when you realize she’s simply talking about the dormitory common room crowded with students. Gracie seemed to take the “I’m not like other girls” trope to the extremes. She trashes on girls who eat more than salads and talks about “always eating the wrong meal.” Basically, it felt like reading some giant high school stereotype.

We’re supposed to root for her and the love interest, but I just could not get behind her decisions. I won’t spoil anything, but the choices she makes had me so annoyed I almost felt that the love interest deserved someone more respectful of his time.

NOW, this being said, I did read the entire book because the love interest, Wade, was written very well. He had a tragic backstory that slowly revealed and seemed like a genuine person that I was rooting for more than the actual MC. I loved his character and needed to find out what happened in the end.

Overall, I feel like the synopsis of this story was a tad misleading. Some of the events mentioned are glossed over, and a big part of the synopsis only happens at the very end. I was let down by the ending and felt slightly betrayed in where it had been leading to. The witty banter and Wade’s character were the key points of this novel, thus my 1 star.

I enjoyed this book. It was a lot of fun even if I got super frustrated with the characters. I think most fans of YA would like this one.

Thanks to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for the digital arc. THIS BOOK IS BRILLIANT. If I had only had this book as a teen— but I enjoyed it now as an adult. The writing is top-notch. The characterization is not easy. But it is heart-breaking, funny, well-observed, relevant, and poignant. There are kids out there who need this book. John Green meets Sally Rooney. I don’t think the cover does this any favors, as it makes it seem a lot lighter than it is, when this is just so real, tear your heart out, visceral, teen need. This book!

This was a really interesting read. I don't usually pick up YA but this book just blew the genre out of the water because it was so unexpected. It heeds to the thoughts running through our heads and what we think at certain times even if they are weird or unexpected to other people.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the earc in return for an honest review.

Not what I expected, but not in a bad way. I love a good contemporary filled with romance and this is definitely all that and more. In addition to an emotion-filled romance story, there is plenty of other drama in Grace's life that brings about twists and turns in this story.

One this I have to mention is about the ending. It's no cliffhanger but be warned because not all the strings are tied up and though I know it can be meaningful to leave it somewhat open-ended, I'm a sucker for a happy ending.

So what kind of story is this? If you're looking for a coming-of-age novel with romance, drama, and heart-clenching emotions of someone experiencing life, this is the one.

First, I do think this book is very relatable. I had a real hard time with a few things like Graces character and wades characters. One is very rude and the other is an angel that deserves the whole world.

ABSOLUTE PERFECTION. If you loved Holden Caulfield’s crabbiness as a youth but wished there were a less misogynistic version, Gracie Welles is exactly what you need in your life. She gives no fucks, she behaves *atrociously,* she’s obsessed with the Smashing Pumpkins, she’s hilarious, AND she learns a lot about vulnerability and friendship and love.

This was such a cute and quick read! It definitely reminded me of the type of book I would enjoy in high school, but I think it translates well to an older audience who's into Young Adult as well. I found that Gracie as a character had strong character development and I would have liked to see more of Wade's side of the story, but obviously this was the Gracie show. Overall, I'd recommend if you're looking for a nice summer read that has a school setting!

This book was definitely not for me. Gracie who is 15 attends boarding school. She has no friends and a major crush on her teacher. Which is gross and I did not want to read about it. So I dnf’d this book.

I feel like maybe Helnwein is trying too hard to establish Grace as an outsider. It wants to be like a John Green novel, a charming group of outsiders having adventures and establishing a life apart from the mainstream, but it falls short of that. The characters are flawed but perhaps going too far, to grating or obnoxious.

This book has made me feel all the feels and then some. The characters are all beautifully flawed and real and the situations they find themselves in are so relatable. The ending completely broke my heart and honestly, a part of me wants to really dislike it for that but I just can’t because it is just so honest and realistic.

I enjoyed this book. It’s your average YA contemporary. Nice character development throughout but the plot was slow at times.

I got through about 25% of this book, but I just couldn't get into it. The protagonist was just SO salty I had a difficult time relating to her. We were introduced to and were describing a lot of side characters that I got lost in why they mattered.
The pace was too slow for me, and the language was too descriptive. There wasn't enough dialogue to keep the pace adequate.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from NetGalley.

Slingshot is about a boarding school where almost outcast Gracie Welles falls in love with her science teacher and all the angst when she finds out that he doesn’t return her interest and is engaged to be married. She finally finds herself when she saves new student Wade Scholfield from getting beat up with her slingshot. Wade forces her to finally become his sort of friend and then the romance begins.

While this is a typical teenage love story, everything is overblown and overly dramatic, it was a quick, fun read and I enjoyed the book, being my first read from this Author Mercedes Helnwein.

Slingshot
By: Mercedes Helnwein

Rating: 🌟🌟💫/5

Quote: “In fact, I’ve got this whole theory that if you were a little less weird and mean and also, you know, dressed better and stuff, none of these girls stand a chance against you”

First of Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the e-arc copy.

This book was a little cringy. Still figuring it out, how in the world I finished this book.At first we have the protagonist who is 15 years old believing that her Biology teacher is her soulmate. I mean, what?

The characters were in high school but acted like they were in collage. They had “casual sex” at 15. Is this a thing? Do I need an update? Anyways, this books wasn’t for me at all. And it’s not even the fact that is not targeted for me.

I could not stand the main character is the classic pick me girl (I’m not like other girls 🙄). I really liked Wade, it was cheese but hey, what 16 year old isn’t?

TW: Abuse

Hmm, how to describe my feelings about SLINGSHOT by Mercedes Helnwein? One the one hand, I often found Gracie, our main character, almost too abrasive to be around. She was prickly and often vulgar and sometimes just plain not nice to those around her, which made being in her head difficult. But I also think Helnwein did an excellent job of capturing the heightened emotions a teen like Gracie would be feeling at that age, but then it would too often step over a line that I felt passed believability. And maybe that's fine because this is a work of fiction and not real life! A perfect example of this from the book - Gracie's crush on her teacher, Mr. Sorrentino. It's completely believable for me (because I experienced it too) for a teenage girl to have a crush on a teacher, but it was Gracie's reaction and actions after she had to face reality and realize the crush wasn't going anywhere that I found to be a bit too much.

I did really enjoy the relationship between Gracie and Wade, but even more so, I loved the friendship between Gracie and Beth. I loved how Beth took Gracie under her wing and took on that older sister role a bit.

Overall, I liked tis book enough that I could see myself recommending it, but only if I know the person won't get turned off by an "unlikeable" protagonist.

This book is just not for me. While the author makes the attempt at several serious issues, she does so while creating scenarios that are outlandish to the point of being unbelievable. While this story takes place in a boarding school, it is portrayed with the idea that the adults are unaware of problems and actions committed by the students. And while this works with some books, it is so clear that the main characters are having serious issues that there is no way teachers wouldn't intervene; multiple serious fights? You're spending lots of time with the counselors at minimum. Severe drop in grades and cussing out teachers? Same thing. Actually seeing Grace and Wade receiving consequences for their actions (beyond the trite detention and cleaning the cafeteria) and having to work through their issues would have made this book much better.
I also wasn't a fan of how the characters spoke; from the immense use swearing to speaking like a disillusioned 30something. Practically every other word Grace says is swearing and she brings out the big guns more often than not. While I am aware teenagers swear, this is excessive. Teens are conditioned to act a certain way around adults and teachers, no matter the struggle of a mentally unstable mother and other difficult situations that their home life is, so this just feels like it's being used for shock value. I feel like, with Grace and Beth in particular, that she spoke in a way that didn't match her age or maturity level. They're spouting off about outlooks on life and love and passion, and their actions did not match up with this "enlightened" speaking.
The author really missed the mark in execution of what seems, in theory at least, a solid, substantial and interesting topic.