A wonderful, difficult and sometimes infuriating debut novel from Corinne Sullivan. Indecent really got me thinking about morality and responsibility as it explores the relationship between Imogene, an extremely naive teaching assistant in her early twenties, and Adam, a 17-year-old student she unwisely becomes involved with. It is easy to judge Imogene, but as the story unfolds and we see the toll this relationship takes on her mental health, expectations are subverted. I felt a great deal for the characters and was captivated by the campus setting. I would recommend this to readers who enjoyed Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld and The Idiot by Elif Batuman.

At the time I binge read this, but now a few weeks later, I honestly can not remember a thing about it. That is the reason for the 3 stars.

Indecent by Corinne Sullivan a new to me author. The book wasn't what I expected but I still enjoyed reading it. Enjoyed the setting and the characters. Look forward to reading more by this author.

Found this story to lack interest. No wow factor. Lack of scandal for the story. Main character lacked any sort of appeal.

The font in this book was so small that I was not able to read it. I only read on Adobe Digital. I could not make the font larger. I hope the book is a success and I apologize for my lack of input.

Indecent by Corinne Sullivan begins with a rather idyllic look at the privileged teenaged boys attending a private boarding school, a view akin to Old School by Tobias Wolff, which is also mentioned in the book. Imogene, a middle class girl fromBuffalo, New York, fantasizes from an early age about attending such a school with all its connotations of wealth and status. With body dysmorophic problems, bad skin, conical boobs, Imogene feels isolated. Her love life has been a bust. After graduating from college, she accepts a position as a teaching assistant at Vandenberg School for Boys, an all-boys prep school in Westchester, New York. When Adam Kipling, a popular, charming seventeen-year-old boy, seduces her, Imogene convinces herself that he loves her as much as she loves him. The reader feels the rumble of the train coming down the tracks but is helpless to keep Imogene from being hit by the train of her obsession with Kip.

#Indecent is described as a “smart, sexy, debut” that “shatters the black-and- white nature of victimhood, taking a close look at blame and moral ambiguity.”

I found it to be perp fiction about a female teaching apprentice’s desperate sexual relationship with a 17 year old prep school student. Nothing morally ambiguous
about that.

Thanks (??) @NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC.

Oh my glob how much do I love books like these. I know, I know you probably find me disgusting. Guess what? I don’t really care.

Meet Imogene. She's a little boy crazy. She also has a pretty severe case of arrested development. Imogene spent her high school days dreaming about leaving her ho-hum, middleclass life behind in order to attend a prestigious boarding school. When offered a job as a teaching apprentice at Vandenberg School for Boys after college, she jumps at the chance. What follows is the story of Imogene’s tenure at said school and her various interpersonal relationships – one in particular that readers won’t soon forget . . . .

“This was a bad habit of mine, falling in love.”

When this sucker popped up on my feed from St. Martin’s Press I knew I had to get my hands on a copy. Luckily, ARCs were available for request over on NetGalley and trust me when I said I clicked that button so quick smoke was probably flying off my fingertips. As a mother, believe me when I say if I ever even got a hint that one of their teachers was trying to have an inappropriate relationship with them I’d press charges so quick their head would spin and I’d probably wind up in jail for kicking all of the ass while waiting for the cops to get there. But when it comes to a work of fiction???? I can’t help myself. I love reading about the taboo. And this one? What a debut! The combination of Imogene’s age in relation to the students, her position of authority not necessarily being that authoritative, her lack of self-awareness/ability to interact with others and the smarm which was Kip all amounted to some serious blurred lines and I just couldn’t help but feel sorry for Imogene at times while simultaneously cringing at her behavior.

(Oh, and I can’t forget to mention that cover. Perfect)

Recommended to all y’all weirdos. You know who you are.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!

Indecent is a complicated but binge-worthy read that will have readers anxiously gripping the pages. Overall, I enjoyed this one and would certainly read more from the author in the future. But I have to get over the misguided and somewhat cringe-worthy characters (who I LOVED) beforehand.

Recommended.

I liked this book, the writing, and first person narration. Imogene, the main character, however was kind of messed up and immature. She had little experience with the opposite sex. She is a teachers apprentice at a private boarding school for boys and she enters into a relationship with a 17 yo student, while legal, still not really moral. She seems obsessed with him and he with her for awhile, but he moves on and she doesnt. That part is tough, her dismissal as a TA, her depression. But I think she will be ok once she gets over him and moves on to a different occupation. Imogene just needs to live and experience more. I thought the writing and story were interesting and Ir enjoyed the book. Not a topic for everyone. Kind of one of those books where you wonder why the main character is making such terrible choices, but you want to to know what happens regardless....reels you in!

I didn't think I was going to give this ARC four stars, but the story which, at first, felt so cliché (male student, female teacher) really grew on me and definitely elicited a riot of emotions: disgust, embarrassment, understanding, compassion, anger, frustration ... The heroine is a pale and not very likable character, and it isn't too hard to see why she fell for and became utterly obsessed with the confident and charming prep school student. Throughout the relationship, he was the one in control. In the end, Imogene realizes that "it was never really about Kip" (a fact that the reader recognized a lot earlier), but we are left guessing whether Imogene will be able to address and overcome her issues. I will definitely recommend this book to readers. (less)

Shy, introverted Imogene Abney has always been fascinated by the elite world of prep schools, having secretly longed to attend one since she was a girl in Buffalo, New York. So, shortly after her college graduation, when she’s offered a teaching position at the Vandenberg School for Boys, an all-boys prep school in Westchester, New York, she immediately accepts, despite having little teaching experience—and very little experience with boys.
When Imogene meets handsome, popular Adam Kipling a few weeks into her tenure there, a student who exudes charm and status and ease, she’s immediately drawn to him. Who is this boy who flirts with her without fear of being caught? Who is this boy who seems immune to consequences and worry; a boy for whom the world will always provide?
As an obsessive, illicit affair begins between them, Imogene is so lost in the haze of first love that she’s unable to recognize the danger she’s in. The danger of losing her job. The danger of losing herself in the wrong person. The danger of being caught doing something possibly illegal and so indecent.
Exploring issues of class, sex, and gender, this smart, sexy debut by Corrine Sullivan shatters the black-and-white nature of victimhood, taking a close look at blame and moral ambiguity.
I wanted to love this book and was eager to start. Corrine writes in such a way that every passage is easy to understand and absorb. However, it took quite a few chapters to get used to the borderline pornographic description and thoughts Imogene had, which often made me feel uncomfortable reading. I found myself switching between liking, hating and feeling sorry for both the main characters: Imogene and Adam. Imogene at times appeared to be have so many issues and idiosyncrasies, that I was often left wondering if she had some form of autism. I found it difficult to believe that she could be that sheltered throughout her life, she couldn’t understand basic concepts and failed to have no sense of personal responsibility. Both the characters grated on my nerves at times and I often wanted to yell at Imogene to get her crap together…but I kept reading as the writing was persuasive.
Overall what did I think? I’m honestly not too sure….even days after I finished reading this book I am not sure if I loved it or hated it! What I do know though…is Corrine’s debut novel is an amazing effort and shows a writing style many experienced authors fail to get right.

ARC supplied by Netgalley in exchange for a honest review.

Well, if you were ever interested in what it was like to have a one-sided relationship where the love is unrequited, lines are blurred, boundaries crossed, and it overall becomes an extremely unhealthy obsession jeopardizing your career, education, friendships, health, emotional stability, oh and you can possibly go to jail for it - then this is it!

Imogene starts off innocent enough, a bit introverted, unhappy with her social skills or lack thereof. so much so that you even feel sorry for her. She just wants to be included, a bit of attention, yet to fly under the radar. Well that all changes for her when she meets Kip. Immediately enamored with his teenage bravado, privileged upbringing, and boyish good looks Imogene falls, hard. What starts off innocently enough quickly becomes a sexually charged obsession, quickly consuming every waking thought.

Blissfully ignoring every single red flag placed before her, Imogene continues her descent, falling deeper and deeper into this hole she has dug for herself. The more Kip pulls away, the harder Imogene pushes, teeter-tottering between persistent and obsessed, eventually giving way to her obsession and fully riding the crazy train.

This book does an excellent job of truly capturing the self-loathing, emotions, thoughts, and actions of someone in Imogene's position. I got through about 75% of this book in my first sitting and the only reason I put it down was that it was 3 am. Fun read.

I think this book does a brilliant job of getting into the head of Imogene, the lead character. She's basically a nice young woman, but clearly naive when it comes to the ways of the world, romance (actually interpersonal relationships in general) and her own mental health issues. (Of course, a big part of me was craving backstory--how is it that she is this way when her sister seems so much healthier? What happened to this girl?)

The challenging part though is that Imogene is a pretty unlikeable, so spending an entire book running around inside her head wasn't a terribly pleasant experience. I vacillated between appreciating how on point this character was behaving and also wanting to strangle her for behaving that way. So that made for a less than enjoyable read.

However, if you can tolerate Imogene, the tale is a gripping one. It's basically like watching a car wreck in slow motion. You know where this book is going from the get-go, (because Imogene is so unhealthy, because 17 year old boys are not great on commitment, because she has been told not to do one specific thing and then proceeds to spend the entire book doing that one thing.) You won't find too many surprises in this book. It's more of an interesting character study--a very readable one.

Thanks to the author and NetGalley for granting me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, this did not work at all for me. This book read like a cheap knock off of Tampa. The characters were unlikeable at best, the jumps between past and present were messy and there was little redemption to be found. I'm not remotely bothered by the subject matter, but how can something so "taboo" be so astonishingly boring to read?

I wanted to like Indecent but I didn't enjoy it at all. You could even say I hated it. The book was very different from what I expected it to be. Based on the blurb I thought it would be about young awkward, albeit taboo, love story. I imagined a young teacher "accidentally" falling in love with her student. But what I got was not it, I don't know exactly what I got! It seemed to me that most of Imogene's actions were deliberate and predatory. She didn’t even want to be a teacher, she became a teacher so she would have a chance to work at boy's boarding school. When she got to Vandenberg school she singled Kip out from other boys and started to spy on him and obsess over him. Imogene was such an unlikable character. She was dour and boring. She wasn't nice to any of her so-called friends, co-workers, or her family. The only person she liked was Kip. Her obsession with him and her neediness were just bizarre. The longer I read the book, the less I liked her. By the end I just couldn't stand her.

I skimmed the last few chapters because I was getting bored and wanted the torture to end. This book is not even that long but it dragged on and on. The writing style just didn’t work for me. The book is written in first person POV (Imogene's). Sometimes first person POV works, other times it doesn’t, and it was the case with Indecent. It had the bad case of telling the story, not showing the story. The best thing about Indecent is the cover, I loved it. Other than that I can’t find any positive things to say about the book.

So ,this book had made me angry or at least in the middle of it all i became angry. I just wanted Imogene to figure herself out. I'm happy to have given this book a chance though. It could have been told better ,but it wasn't bad.

I thought this was going to be one I skimmed through and promptly forgot. The beginning seemed a bit rough to me, but I suddenly found myself knee-deep in the quicksand of Imogene’s life. This is, without a doubt, a very disturbing story. While some readers may balk at the subject matter, credit must be given to this author for the ability to elicit strong feelings from the reader. I feel like my emotions were put through a wringer!

Would I recommend Indencent by Corinne Sullivan to anyone? No. As a lover of boarding school dramas, I wanted to read this book. It wasn't worth my time. Sullivan's protagonist, teacher apprentice Imogen, is essentially a reclusive, unhappy human being who just happens to start a forbidden "relationship" with a senior in the all boy's boarding school she works in. Sullivan paints her as a hopeless, distracted person that you don't find yourself rooting for. Characters, plot, and sense of place are definitely things Sullivan could work on. Hopefully by the time this book comes out, it will be significantly better!

(3.5 stars) Expect a cross between Prep (Curtis Sittenfeld) and Notes on a Scandal (Zoe Heller). Imogene Abney, 22, is an apprentice teacher at Vandenberg School for Boys in New York State. She’s young and pretty enough to be met with innuendo and disrespect from her high school charges; she’s insecure enough due to her severe acne to feel rejected by the other apprentices. But Adam Kipling, who goes by “Kip,” seems different from any of the other people she’s thrown together with at Vandenberg. A fourth-year student, he’s only five years younger than she is, and he really seems to appreciate her for who she is. Their relationship proceeds apace. “What a thrilling affliction a secret was,” Imogene thinks. But nothing stays a secret for long around here. Being in Imogene’s head can feel a little claustrophobic because of her obsessions, but this is a racy, pacey read.

Other favorite lines:

“I’ve spent the majority of my life pretending to understand things I do not—Jackson Pollock, 401(k) plans, Buddhism, euthanasia”

A teacher, Dale, says: “These boys, the scared the shit out of me. They’re shrewd, they’re exacting, and given the opportunity, they’re scarily influential.”