Blog Tour: Unteachable by Leah Raeder {Review}
What better way to start off the new school year than with the ultimate taboo: a steamy student-teacher romance? School’s back in session and Leah Raeder’s undeniably sexy novel, UNTEACHABLE, is the red-hot read everyone wants to get their hands on.
UNTEACHABLE is finally being released for the first time in paperback on October 14th!
Unteachableby: Leah Raeder
Publication Date: March 24, 2014 (ebook)/ October 14, 2014 (paperback)
Publisher: Atria Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Age Group: New Adult
Source: e-ARC provided via the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Page Count: 320 pages
Order Links: Amazon | B&N | BAM! | IndieBound | Blio | Google | Apple
My Rating: 3.5-4/5 stars
Maise O’Malley just turned eighteen, but she’s felt like a grown-up her entire life. The summer before senior year, she has plans: get into a great film school, convince her mom to go into rehab, and absolutely do not, under any circumstances, screw up her own future.
But life has a way of throwing her plans into free-fall.
When Maise meets Evan at a carnival one night, their chemistry is immediate, intense, and short-lived. Which is exactly how she likes it: no strings. But afterward, she can’t get Evan out of her head. He’s taught her that a hookup can be something more. It can be an unexpected connection with someone who truly understands her. Someone who sees beyond her bravado to the scared but strong girl inside.
That someone turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke.
Maise and Evan resolve to keep their hands off each other, but the attraction is too much to bear. Together, they’re real and genuine; apart, they’re just actors playing their parts for everyone else. And their masks are slipping. People start to notice. Rumors fly. When the truth comes to light in a shocking way, they may learn they were just playing parts for each other, too.
Smart, sexy, and provocative, Unteachable is about what happens when a love story goes off-script.
But life has a way of throwing her plans into free-fall.
When Maise meets Evan at a carnival one night, their chemistry is immediate, intense, and short-lived. Which is exactly how she likes it: no strings. But afterward, she can’t get Evan out of her head. He’s taught her that a hookup can be something more. It can be an unexpected connection with someone who truly understands her. Someone who sees beyond her bravado to the scared but strong girl inside.
That someone turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke.
Maise and Evan resolve to keep their hands off each other, but the attraction is too much to bear. Together, they’re real and genuine; apart, they’re just actors playing their parts for everyone else. And their masks are slipping. People start to notice. Rumors fly. When the truth comes to light in a shocking way, they may learn they were just playing parts for each other, too.
Smart, sexy, and provocative, Unteachable is about what happens when a love story goes off-script.
Where do I even start? This book was CRAZY man! Ok, so crazy is kind of tame compared to what I really want to say... as in this was a complete mind f***. I'm really unsure of where I stand on this book to be honest. I love that it was something different and risky, because as a teacher myself, I couldn't believe I was rooting for Evan and Maise to get their HEA! I do feel the stigma attached to this isn't as weird as if the roles were reversed and it were a female teacher with a younger male. Still, the one thing to remember is that Maise is of consensual age, despite still being in school. That's not at all to say I condone this type of relationship, but at least it's not statutory rape.
Maise is attracted to older men, but blames it on her daddy issues. Really, Maise has not had a stable home life, and so she craves love and affection from wherever she can get it, as she's not getting it at home. She's beautiful and she knows it- she doesn't have to dress provocatively like other girls. Instead, she exudes a false sense of confidence and THAT is what also makes her appealing.
Evan is older, obviously, and is attracted to younger girls (like most males I seem to know are). Evan is dangerous to Maise in the sense that he busts through her defenses and makes her vulnerable. I liked Evan's character, surprisingly. I don't like that he kept a pretty major secret from Maise and that she had to find out about it the way she did though. That was not cool. He knows he should stay away from Maise and that they are playing with fire, but he can't. He is attracted to her and finds himself falling for her. I didn't get super creepy vibes from Evan, but I guess I don't understand the draw of pursuing someone that much younger, as they are in totally different mindsets.
However, their relationship is built on secrets and lies... how will that ever work? The forbidden nature of their relationship begs the question- is what they have real or is it the thrill of knowing it's not allowed? Maise and Evan's relationship was a bit unhealthy in my opinion. They push and test the boundaries and are borderline reckless because they are so consumed with one another. There were plenty of times I wanted to smack them both for acting on their lustful impulses... at school!
It's evident Maise doesn't have a lot of friends, so when she forms an unlikely friendship with a boy at school, Wesley, I was surprised. It seems like he annoys her and she really doesn't like him all that much. He likes her in a more than friends way and it freaks her out. (He freaked me out way more than anyone else in the book did.) However, Maise really connects with his mom Siobhan. She is the mother figure Maise has never known and I was really glad that she was a part of Maise's story.
The entire time I read, I was filled with this sense of dread. Surely, they would get caught. They are too reckless and impulsive! I also wondered how this could have a happy ending. Maise and Evan are in completely different stages of life. She wants to go to film school in California and Evan is conflicted over their relationship, his job, and everything else between them. He compares her to a shooting star that will always slip through his fingers, never truly being able to hold on to something so bright and vibrant.
Overall, I'm really in-between ratings. I liked this one, but Maise is a hot mess. I get why, so that's not really a reason as to why I'm not rating this one higher. What Maise and Evan have is a passionate, sexual, all-consuming, messy relationship. It's very raw and in your face, so its definitely not for everyone.
6 comments
Wow. I honestly didn't think much of this one but your review has me very curious. I love books that screw with your head but I'm not sure how I'd deal with their relationship. Great review.
ReplyDeleteThanks Teresa! I was really torn over how I should rate this one....
DeleteI didn't like this one. I hated the characters and the 'romance' but the writing was so pretty!
ReplyDeleteLOL! This one was definitely a different read for me. Maise definitely took some getting used to! Even after, I'm not sure I ever did.
DeleteI reviewed this one a while back and the more I think about it the more I really don't care much for it. I think I gave it a three. The writing was wonderful and I loved how the two met. But as the book went on, it just didn't do much for me. I really feel like Evan was more of a predator that some people make him out to be. As much as he said he didn't want to go after high school girls, it's all he seemed to do. I just can't with that.
ReplyDeleteThat twist thrown in really bothered me too. I didn't like that either. This was a hard book for me because I could appreciate the risk that Raeder took, but the characters were hard to get past.
DeleteLeave me some comment love! And I will get around to commenting back!
My blog is an award-free blog, however, as I just do not have the time to follow-up.