Uses For Boys has stumped me. I had a hard time with this and it took me a while to come up with this review. Why did it take me close to a month to write this review? Mostly because I found the entire dysfunctional relationship between Anna and her mother so disturbing. Her mother is a self-absorbed, absentee parent leaving Anna to grow up alone. Seriously, this girl has not one adult in her life to guide her, comfort her or talk to her. She's left to her own devices and frankly I was amazed that she didn't end up in a ditch somewhere.

David Levithan, a writer Nat and I absolutely adore, had said before that we should treat books not as just mirrors but also as windows into other lives. Keeping that in mind, I still found looking through this window to be immensely upsetting. I dreaded every moment of watching Anna being left to fend for herself. What a lonely life! As she got into various predicaments especially sexual situations, I was so uncomfortable and repulsed. I understood why Anna did some of the things she did to feel close to people but her idea of emotional and physical intimacy are so distorted. Now I readily admit that I felt so strongly because I am a mother and I can’t fathom a parent being so completely useless and uncaring. I know that this has colored my perception of this book and I am genuinely interested in hearing another reader's point of view.

Here is a good point though: it's provocative. Despite its graphic nature, Scheidt's delivery of Anna's story is emotionally raw and blunt. There are many painful and disturbing moments throughout that will make you shake your head and want to punch something. But the silver lining is that Anna despite all the crap that happens to her is resilient and does eventually come into her own. Don't get me wrong - she confused the hell out of me. There were times when she was almost robotic about the events happening around her. I don’t think she fully comprehends some of the things that have happened to her in the past but she ends up with more clarity about her mother and her best friend, Toy. To be honest, her empathy towards her mother shocked me.

So I give Uses For Boys 2 and ¾ stars - only because I can't describe it as an enjoyable read. While it was difficult for me to read this, I'm glad to have had something that pushed me out of my comfort zone and given me plenty of food for thought.

My Thoughts:

I wanted so much to like this book. I went into it with bright eyes expecting a cute story about a girl who distracts herself with boys. What happened? It wasn’t exactly a cute story. It was a very depressing story.

Anna’s story starts when she’s seven and the beginning progresses to her preteens quickly. We learn of the deteriorating relationship between her and her mother. At thirteen is when the boy distractions start. Let me say it straight up--I thought the boy distractions were going to be of the making out kind. I was wrong--it was the having sex kind. So, it kind of threw me off.

Since Anna’s mom isn’t around and they aren’t close like they used to be, she dives into this world of having sex with boys without a care in the world. These distractions keep her from understanding real life. She eventually drops out of school, she gets a job, she gets an apartment. She grows up too fast. When she meets Sam, she begins to see the more important things. And although there’s some sort of redemption in the end, it’s still barely hanging by a thread because it just happens suddenly.

Uses For Boys was a hard read. Seeing Anna going through all of this made me want to take her under my wings. It’s a realistic story though, because I know there are a lot of young adults who don’t have a good home life and they look to other things to make them feel something. Yet, I just found it sad and depressing. I didn’t hate the book, and I know some people will find it compelling. It wasn’t for me, that’s all.

My Rating: It's okay

Couldn't download this so I can't really review it. Seems really interesting though, sounds like something I would check out.

Uses for Boys is a gritty contemporary YA about a girl left alone to parent herself. There's a lot of mature content here, and some dark subject material.

My heart went out to Anna, who is constantly left alone while her mother goes off on one date after another, marries a new guy, then splits up with him and starts the process over. As a result, Anna is left to fend for herself. It's hard not to feel heartbroken for her, to feel her loneliness as her mother goes off again and again, to watch both Anna and her mother make all sorts of terrible decisions just to feel important to someone, if only for a short time.

I have such mixed feelings about this book. While the story was deeply layered and awkwardly realistic, I found the writing style to be distracting and the story just made me so sad. Anna was a heartbreaking character. Her mother basically decided she was over her when she was very young, but Anna never really understood why and still needed the love and attention she used to get from her. It's not long before she realizes that boys will give her the attention that she craves so much, but she's too young to see that it's not what she wants or needs. This stood out to me a lot, because I know girls who had similar lives when I was in school. I think that's why it is so sad, because it's so real. And let me tell you, I was so disgusted with Anna's mother. How does a person just brush their child aside? I know her behavior was supposed to make you feel for Anna and it did work, to some extent.

I don't know if there is a specific name for the writing style of the book, but I do know that it was really distracting for me. It felt kind of disjointed and just didn't have a good flow for me. Unfortunately, this definitely hindered my enjoyment of the book. So this one wasn't a complete win for me, but it also wasn't a bad read. It's dark, sad, and serious. I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a layered story filled with some hard truths about people and the different ways we lead our lives.

At first glance Uses For Boys appears to be a young adult novel not one for a mature audience. The book is written from Anna's point of view in a format reminiscent of a diary. More or less a coming of age tale for a girl who has spent most her life on the back burner to her mom's whims.

We start with the "tell me again times" when Anna is a little kid living with her mom before the train of step-dads enter her life. Anna learns that boys will make you feel and give you what you want, but the costs of these 'fixes' for her become too much.

I'll start with what I liked about this book, which wasn't a lot. It felt real and just like something that a friend you know may tell you about. I enjoyed seeing the growth in the character. I loved how it was written and that is what kept me reading the book. The uniqueness to the writing style is great and refreshing.

The things I didn't like. This book appears to be a young adult novel from the outside and I worry someone picking it up thinking that and just being shocked. I was shocked by some of the things in this book. Left wondering a lot where the adults where in this story. Finally my last complaint is the end. I was left feeling like we got no resolution to Anna's story.

Overall I can't really rate this book that high for me as a person to reads to escape and go to new places this book is trash. It left me feeling sad. I give it 2/5 stars.

This book was in no way what I was expecting. That cover sold me fun, romantic read and what I got was so far in the other direction that it is actually ridiculous.