Book Review: Absorbed
Lifeguard Stacey Chapman is dreaming of love, and drowning in bad decisions.
It's 1996, the summer before senior year, and Stacey attempts MTV cool-girl confidence while flirting with Jessie, a sexy skateboarder she's ogled all year. When Jessie pressures her into sex, Stacey's unprepared and afraid to say no. Too ashamed to confide in her mom or her best friend, Gabe, she conspires with another lifeguard to destroy Jessie's reputation, and in the process they obliterate Stacey's good-girl image. Finding refuge in her art teacher's watercolor workshop, Stacey finally begins to untangle who she has become from the art and music career she really wants. But before summer is over, a botched pool rescue snaps Jessie's spinal cord, and Stacey has to answer for her part in the tragedy.
My Review
Reading this book brought back the nostalgia. What with names like Lands End, Baskin Robbins, and Mervyn's to name a few. One of my jobs when I was in college was working at Mervyn's. So, I really enjoyed the flash back to this time period.
Stacey finding herself in the situation that she did with Jessie was overwhelming. Jessie should have listened to Stacey. Yet, Stacey feeling the pressure to fit in, found herself giving into the peer pressure and bad-mouthed Jessie.
This is a character driven story. I felt for both Stacey and Jessie. What they both did was not right. As the saying goes..."Two wrongs don't make a right."
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