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Finished Undiscovered Gyrl by Allison Burnett (out August 11).
I'm not sure what to say about this book. It's a compelling read, to say the very least. It's definitely good. But the word that I keep coming back to is "disturbing."
A blurb on the back says it's basically an updated Lolita, except that she's telling her own story on a blog. For me, though, it reminded me of Blake Nelson's Girl. That one was about a freshman in high school and Undiscovered Gyrl is about a girl who should be a freshman in college, but she deferred her acceptance for a year.
Throughout the course of the book, Katie has several doomed relationships with men ("relationships" used loosely; "men" used advisedly--one's 32 and one's in his 40s). She's 17 for most of her time with the 32-year-old and 18 for the other guy.
It's just a really sad story and I don't think it's a spoiler to say that it doesn't end well for Katie.
Again, compelling and good. And it's something that should be read, because it illustrates the dangers of drinking and drug use and sex before you're ready for it.
