This book was just "meh" for me, unfortunately, so I did not finish it. It might be a case of "it's not you, it's me," though! Thanks for the opportunity to preview the title.

Slingshot
2.5/5⭐️ for Slingshot by Mercedes Helnwein. Thank you very much to St. Martins Press/Wednesday books and NetGalley for sending me an ARC to review!

Slingshot and I didn’t really hit it off right away, in fact, and the beginning honestly made me wildly uncomfortable. However by the end of the story, we came to an understanding. It definitely covers a lot of important topics and issues when it comes to being a teen...first love, family/parental issues, school dynamics, and just growing up. I also definitely respect how the author really commited to having our MC Grace be quite raw, angsty, and ultimately, unlikeable. I believe this will resonate a lot better with people closer to Grace’s age, who have had similar experiences to her, or who like this kind of character. She’s definitely not the most well fleshed out character I’ve ever read, but I am glad that the author gave her some growth and personality traits by the end beyond just hating everyone and everything. She learns a little bit about making friends and getting along with others even if she doesn’t like them. Grace learns to deal with her first love & heartbreak, and also reckons with her difficult family dynamics at home. Her relationship with Wade and how she cares for him helped soften her a bit and made her a little likeable. Wade himself was a sweetie, and I found him to be a good balance of genuinely good, but also with some real issues from his home life and other circumstances. Sadly, though, I didn’t get a whole lot from our secondary class of characters. The teachers felt like mainly stereotypes, and all the other students at the school blended together a bit due to not much character development. In a YA book like this with a school setting, the MC friends and classmates can really add dimension & interest to the overall story. Again, this doesn’t necessarily mean this is a bad book or that others won’t really enjoy it, but I just wasn’t expecting all this from the cover and synopsis. Finally, I think that the beginning element of Grace having such a big crush on her Bio teacher, and it being an element nearly to the end of the book didn’t sit well with me at all. Her believing that they were soul mates and her reaction to his engagement left me very uncomfortable and definitely shouldn’t have been the opening hook. There are way too many situations of student abuse by teachers that I’m quite wary. Yes, I understand that sometimes students can have silly crushes on teachers, but to take it to this extent is...ugh. The only thing that kept me from not DNFing the book is that the teacher clearly sets proper student-teacher boundaries and shuts any conversations about this topic down right away.
Take all of this as you will.

I wanted to like this book about mostly aimless, depressed, boarding school teens coping with dysfunctional home lives, sexual misdirection (pick the guy you least want to lose your virginity to, because...?), typical teen growing pains, and first love. But it was hard to get past Gracie, the main character & narrator, who by turns, is delusional, mean, depressing, grating, and occasionally inexplicably insightful. There are many triggers: a child's (she's only 15) obsessive romantic fixation on a teacher, emotional and physical abuse, cruelty/bullying, cavalier sex and drug use, etc. The main male character (Wade) was very likable. But Gracie, Beth, the "wiser" older teen dispenser of questionable advice, and the mostly clueless adults were hard for me to invest in.

Grace Welles is a high school student at boarding school in Florida. But not one of those boarding schools filled with rich kids and super high achievers. Her boarding school takes those who can’t get into those elite schools, or whose parents can’t pay for them. But Gracie likes it there, for the most part. She keeps to herself through bad attitude and mild brattiness.

But then she falls in love. She just knows for sure that her science teacher is the one. And then she meets his fiancee. She is heartbroken and does not deal with it well. And then she sees Derek, one of the older students she doesn’t like much, and two of his friends picking on another student, she doesn’t really think it through before she grabs a couple of small rocks and loads her slingshot, aiming for his cheek. The first shot lands, and the boy they’d been ganging up on was able to get away.

He runs over to Grace, grabs her, and they run back into the school for safety. Except they run into a faculty member and end up in the principal’s office. He introduces himself as Wade, and they find out their punishment together—cleaning up the cafeteria after dinner every day for a week.

Despite Grace’s determination to keep to herself, she finds herself making friends. Offbeat senior Beth offers her advice on love. Wade turns out to be okay to hang out with. Her roommate Georgina is okay to talk to sometimes. And even Derek isn’t quite as bad as she first thought. Grace takes chances on these friendships. And she finds that she’s fallen in love. And that love changes everything for her.

As Gracie navigates the difficult emotions that come with love and sex, friendship and family, she loses the walls that had been keeping her from others—the self-absorption, the anger, the immaturity. She comes to understand that we’re all the same underneath it all—we’re just trying to do the best we can, making mistakes, taking chances where we can, and trying to heal from it all. And the more she understands, the better person, better friend, better partner she becomes.

Slingshot is a powerhouse of a novel about all the emotions and drama of high school and first loves. Debut author Mercedes Helnwein has written a book that takes readers back to being a teenager, for all its good points and bad.

I liked this book a lot, but it’s been a minute since I was a teenager. Even though the main character is only 15, there are some weighty issues in this book that might not be suitable for younger teens. Many of the characters are a little older than Grace, so their attitudes and ideas about love and sex are more mature. Slingshot is probably not for everyone, but for those who want to read about a strong high school girl, to better understand the social awkwardness that comes out of family dysfunction, or to remember the melodrama of first loves, this is a novel that sparkles with imagination and attitude.

Egalleys for Slingshot were provided by St. Martin’s Press (Wednesday Books) through NetGalley, with many thanks.

“Slingshot” contained just about every poorly done trope I despise in young adult fiction. This book definitely has an audience, but unfortunately that audience isn’t me. This book was marketed as more of an older coming of age story, experiencing a lot of life’s most memorable firsts, but right off from the beginning it relied on a young, delusional, and entitled narrator, who was altogether unlike-able. I believe this book would be better marketed towards a middle grade audience. Yes, massive gasp, because this story contains mention and discussion of sex and other things, but the narrator behaved closer to that of a middle schooler than a young adult. The themes would be far more relevant to a younger audience.

Even if the blurb sounded interesting I didn't like the characters and the story didn't keep my attention.
Not my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

15 year-old Gracie Welles is stuck in a mediocre boarding school in a Florida swamp, paid for by her wealthy father to help keep her illegitimate existence unknown to his "real" family, with not much companionship besides her collection of books. Embittered with the notion of love existing after being rejected by her adult biology teacher, Gracie has surrendered herself to eternal loneliness. Until one day, that loneliness is interrupted by the new kid, Wade Scholfield, who she rescues from senior bullies with the pull of her slingshot. Wade is funny and sweet, and manages to bring out some goodness from Gracie's cold and spiteful outer shell. The budding romance between the two is riddled with mistakes, and Gracie has to decide what she really wants from love after breaking Wade's heart.

Slingshot is a complicated story replete with many of the confusing emotions that go along with being 15 and lonely. Our protagonist Gracie is placed in an unstable situation with her parents, so her behavior and tendencies to self-isolate and lash out were understandable and often relatable to how I remember feeling at that age. However, the book was a little difficult to get invested in towards the beginning, as Gracie was often mean without any real provocation. She thought herself to be better than others, especially harping on the internalized misogynistic idea that she wasn't like other girls because she liked horror novels, was emotionally detached, listened to classic rock, and other stereotypically male behaviors. The foil to Gracie's sometimes insufferable nature took place in the form of Wade; a warm, funny, complicated yet endearing character who I couldn't help but root for. The depictions of love and sex in Helnwein's novel were often unhealthy, but in a way that felt familiar to navigating those emotions as a teen Altogether, Slingshot is an intricate, imperfect love story about facing our mistakes in order to grow from them.

(Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change upon final publication.)

Slingshot is a Young Adult contemporary novel that I would categorize as realistic fiction. It is not a sweet cute YA romance.

This book is completely different from most YA books that I read. The narrator is 15 year old Grace (1st person POV). She goes to a boarding school in Florida.

Most of the kids at her school have money, but she doesn't. This book is very difficult to rate. There were things that I liked. And other things that I found quite disturbing. The book looks at serious issues like bullying and teens having sex. But I really wish that the main character had been a bit older. She does not act like a 15 year old. And the things that she said and did made me super uncomfortable.

Grace is not a very nice person. She is rude and inconsiderate. But she is befriended by Wade (who has his own problems). There were things about their relationship that I enjoyed. And I found everything to do with the gas station scene to be compelling. But overall I wanted more.

I sort of enjoyed the last part of the book. But I wanted a better resolution at the end. The cover is really pretty. But it sort of made me think that it would be a sweet YA romance.

This ARC was offered in exchange of an honest review:
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4*
Pros: This is not a heartwarming fuzzy-feely story, the characters are not meant to be likeable. Which makes this book so much more interesting. Delves deep into the thought processes leading to poor choices, rudeness and meanness, and general confusion of a complicated teen life. Offers a good look into parental relationships and their complexities. Best of all, dilligently showcases all the ugliness, and horrible thoughts and feelings we have as people, that are often hidden or polished off in books.
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Cons: Although immersive and easy to understand, it was hard to relate to any of the book's events or characters' actions. I also do not recommend this read to teens, since it includes a wide array of difficult topics and bad decisions that are not treated as such (as the infatuation with a much older teacher, toxic and controlling relationships, and so on).

I adored the takeaways from this book, and it showcases someone who strives to get back up regardless of how hard it is. The love story is a plus, very cute and romantic, but what gets me the most is a courageous person who works hard to be someone and learning from mistakes. An enlightening and good read!

Slingshot by Mercedes Helnwein is a fun, fast-paced read that pulls you in from the beginning and does not disappoint.

I normally really love books that share tween love.. first love is always so wonderful (or sometimes not). Although this book may have been meant for YA.. or much younger, the story plot was just OK. You have very young characters with a mature plot- and although I know some kids have experienced certain things at this young of an age, I didn’t want to read about it.

I was about to DNF this book, but I trudged through hoping it would redeem itself, but it didn’t. Unfortunately this book didn’t do it for me.

Thanks NetGalley for a copy of the ebook for an honest review.

I went into this book thinking it would be some cute contemporary ya. It was not. The book started with the main character, who is fifteen by the way, crying over how she was in love with her teacher. First off. What the hell? If I had known that would be a side plot line I wouldn't have picked up this book at all. As a teenager myself it was very uncomfortable to read because I go to a private school which is pretty similar to a boarding school and no one I know does that?

Not to mention she doesn't act like a teenager at all. Sure, I cuss and I'm sure there are people my age who have sex but it's such a consistent topic of this book it made me incredibly uncomfortable.

Also, there's a difference between morally grey and asshole and Gracie crossed that line multiple times by manipulating both Wade and Derek. I hope Wade stays far away from her. Same goes for Derek, who might have been the only character I was fine with.

Not to mention she had a senior mentor encouraging these terrible things??? I had a senior mentor too around 15. He never encouraged me to "spread my legs" in order to get a teacher to be into me in that way (to be fair I also never considered trying because the thought is so irrevocably disgusting to me).

Gracie is definitely a character. She is not the typical high-school student. She reminded me a little of Vada from My Girl or even My Girl 2. It's probably the whole in love with the teacher thing. Plus I feel like Gracie and Wade can be a little childish at times. The whole situation with her father was different. I liked that about the story. It wasn't your typical family setting for most YAs. 15 can be a hard time in your life and this book shows how it can be pretty well.

Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for letting me read this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is a rare situation for me when I'm so conflicted that I really am not sure what to say. I will say that when I saw this book and read the blurb I was very excited to read it. While reading it was when my troubles began. I mean maybe it is all my fault. I honestly feel that I went into this book with a few set ideas about everything and that could have ultimately caused my downfall as far as this book was concerned. To be frank, I expected something a bit more sweet and maybe poignant and what I got was something was harsh and had a very sharp edge. I am a self proclaimed romance junkie and I enjoy books from all across that spectrum. from sweet to erotica and from teen to books that feature more mature couples, so I don't feel that any personal preferences effected how I felt about this book. In the end though I can't say I was a big fan. While I feel the story concept had plenty of potential it never delivered what I was looking for. I thought Wade was the one true high point of this book and boy do I feel he definitely deserved a better love interest because I could not stand Gracie.

I found this book shockingly, uncomfortably relatable, and would fight anyone to defend its heroine, the precocious 15 year-old Gracie Welles. I, too, was sent to a "prestigious" boarding school at that age by a well-meaning dad who didn't really understand the realities of what I needed to survive it, and I too spent countless hours while there listening to the Smashing Pumpkins' Siamese Dream, which is an album that I can say with the utmost sincerity saved my life (along with Soundgarden's Superunknown.) Luckily for me, I was even then possessed of the social graces that make it easy for me to make friends and get along, unlike sophomore Gracie whose main connections to the social life at her Florida boarding school are her rich jock roommate Georgie and her biology teacher Mr Sorrentino, on whom she has a completely inappropriate crush. When she discovers that her "soulmate" is engaged, she freaks out and starts skipping out on his classes.

Playing hooky one day finds her saving new kid Wade Scholfield from the violent attentions of popular senior Derek McCormick and two of his goon friends, using the titular weapon. When she and Wade are busted immediately after for not being in class and for being in possession of a weapon, they're put on dining room clean-up duty together. Gracie doesn't want to make friends despite Wade's overtures, but the more time they spend together, the more she thaws. And soon their friendship is getting complicated, even before Gracie decides to take the terrible advice of ultimate Cool Girl, senior Beth Whelan. When Gracie almost inevitably loses Wade, how far will she be willing to go to get him back?

Other reviewers have called this book a cross between John Greene and Sally Rooney, and that's a really good description. Slingshot unpacks the innermost thoughts of a complicated and vital fifteen year-old as she navigates her first real love and its realistic push pull. I can see why it's being marketed as Young Adult -- tho shudder to think that in the current marketing climate, classics like Bonjour Tristesse, The Lover and <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/957817872">Rainey Royale</a> would be labeled the same* -- but it's shorn of so many of the easy wins and comfortable tropes of the genre that it really feels deeper and harder, more <a href="https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/01/18/normal-people-by-sally-rooney/">Normal People</a> than <a href="https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2015/07/29/paper-towns-by-john-green/">Paper Towns</a>, and frankly better than both in my opinion. It's honest about sex and love and the perils of coming of age for sensitive kids with fucked up parents and excellent taste in music. Had I been in a 21st-century American boarding school instead of the 1990s religious hellhole I went to, this could very well have been my story.

The only thing I didn't find 100% plausible was the outburst Anju had at the end. A large part of me hopes that young women decades after my own adolescence are much more cognizant of their own social roles and might actually talk the way she did, tho I did appreciate Mercedes Helnwein's wry observation that the speech does seem too good to be true. I also appreciated the inclusion of <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1oo1EPzQxxMNV10zVtUHHn?si=RNjA2Dy0QQuYBOR0JfPnRw&nd=1">this playlist</a>, not something I ordinarily care about in books, as well as the in-text recommendation of The Wipers, whose Up Front is one of my current favorite songs.

Even if Ms Helnwein didn't rummage around in your personal history to craft this book as she did with mine, discerning readers will find a lot to like in this fierce and messy tale of growing up and finding your first love. The craft shown is impressive: the story folds back in on itself with parallels that feel more artful for feeling entirely natural. Slingshot is not a book for romantics -- <spoiler>Gracie was much more forgiving of Wade's letter than I was, but I hold grudges</spoiler> -- but it's by far one of the most realistic depictions of being a weird and lonely teenager I've ever read.

*and it's not that I don't think YA isn't a worthy genre, it's just that some of its superfans are nucking futs! I've read reviews dinging this book for lacking reality because the fifteen year-old heroine smokes cigarettes and curses out teachers without getting into too much trouble, like how petit bourgeoisie do you have to be to not know the kind of very rich or very poor kids who do all that as a matter of course?! And then the pearl clutching over the very normal plot thread of a teenager having a crush on a teacher! It's only problematic if the teacher reciprocates! V sorry to break my rule on not commenting on other people's reviews in my own but witaf: go meet some people outside your smug middle-class bubble!

Slingshot by Mercedes Helnwein was published today April 27 2021 by Wednesday Books and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9781250253002">Bookshop!</a>

I wanted to really love this book, and for a while, I did. Grace was so good at pushing people away, her armor so thick, that it's no wonder that she let Wade into her life. I liked that she was flawed and that her family life was incredibly flawed. When she used her slingshot to help Wade out, I was cheering her on. She's a hard person to like because of how harsh she is, but I knew there was a reason worth finding out.

I think the issues other readers had with this were a non-issue for me. I think a lot of teen girls develop crushes on teachers. Maybe not to the extent they consider them soulmates, but Grace is unique. But I did have issues reading this, and that's what held me back from really loving this. I didn't care for her referring to people living in trailers as white trash. I didn't like that Anju gave her this totally passive-aggressive apology, and Grace is like, cool, we should be besties. As you can see, this book was up and down for me. But I'm giving it 4-stars because the story is engaging and well-written. Thank you, St. Martin's/Wednesday Books, for sending this along.

Did not enjoy this book. The plot line of the main character being in love with her teacher was way too much for me and it just kept coming back. Didn’t find this relatable or realistic, and didn’t find the main character enjoyable in any way.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this e-arc.

I was so excited to read this book! The blurb really grabbed me, as did the cover. It started off okay but then it got to the point of being really hard to read. Once can only take so much of Gracie’s rude behavior and attitude towards Wade before they are just plain sick of it. She’s downright awful to her teacher once she realizes that their love was just something she made up in her mind.

I wanted to love this book. I kept hoping it would get better but it just never did.

eBook provided for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Slingshot by Mercedes Helnwein joins the ranks of Prep and A Secret History on the self of beautiful written teenage coming-of-age stories set in a boarding school (a very specific, but well worth it genre).

Grace Welles is a sophomore at a third-rate boarding school in Florida. Not because she wants to, but because her dad has a real family in California that doesn't know about her and her mom. So, education.

To survive the pressures of being stuck at school 24/7 surrounded by teenage hormones, Grace has a strict loner policy. No friends. And definitely no camaraderie with her volleyball team roommate. But when her biology teacher and "soulmate", introduces his fiance at the school play, Grace's world comes crashing down. And crashing. And crashing. Until she accidentally finds herself saving the new kid Wade from getting his ass kicked. Suddenly, the world isn't so black and white.

The cover's motto "true love has the worst aim" really positions this book as a YA romance, but that does Grace's story a disservice. Slingshot is about self-acceptance, doing the wrong thing, friendship, rebellion, trying to do the right thing, family drama, and yeah, ok, a little bit of teenage love and sex.

At the end of the day, "Slingshot" deserves a spot on anyone who felt alone as a teen's bookshelf.