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?

Such a troubling story. The protagonist is utterly unlikeable, but perhaps that is the point, the story itself being somewhat unlikeable. Well-written, but disturbing.

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 received a free copy of this book via Netgalley. ** 

Indecent was my first read by Corinne Sullivan and although I enjoyed the writing style and the underlying theme of the story, I wasn't 100% sold on the protagonist. 

At first glance, the book has it all. A pretty cover, an interesting blurb and an overall a promising vibe. You excitedly jumped into the storyline hoping that it will challenge your thinking and is angsty enough to garner an emotional response, but as you delve deeper into the story, you realized that the main character was flawed in some ways you couldn't possibly overlook and ended up feeling dissapointed. 

The idea of the story was actually pretty decent, but unfortunately, I felt that there are so many other directions that the story could take to fulfill its potential. Sadly, Imogen took so many wrong turns. I do like Kip though, so I guess that's a redeeming quality.

Nevertheless, thank you for the reviewing opportunity!

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.”

As an educator, this book was a fun read to see how it looks on the inside of the private prep schools and the indulgent world that is pretty far from my normal, public school!

I was not a fan of this read. I was lost at times and then at the end I felt like I was in a twilight zone episode.

I LOVED this novel! Corinne Sullivan has written a masterful character in Imogene, the new teaching apprentice at an all-boys boarding school. She develops an inappropriate crush on one of the senior students and from there, we watch her life get turned upside down in the course of a semester. 

I have never read anything that so fully understands, describes, and feels like an unrequited crush. Everything is extremely realistic, and i makes you both feel and fear for Imogene. The heartache, the longing, the anxiety all jumps off the page and I so appreciated a look into this internal phenomenon of the crush. It is both nostalgic, and a warning. 

I love stories set on campuses, and this one might be one of my favorites so far. I cannot wait to see what else Sullivan has in store, especially in regards to full and dynamic female characters.

As an apprentice at the prestigious Vandenberg School for Boys, Imogene Abney assists in the education of the most powerful men of the next generation. Her students are future doctors, lawyers, and politicians -- the wealthiest and brightest minds in upstate New York.  The school has many rules for its apprentices, but the one of utmost importance has to do with appropriate contact.

In an all-boys boarding school, it’s likely that a student would develop a crush on, and maybe even pursue, an elusive apprentice in her early twenties. The key is not to give in.  Imogene is determined to follow the rules, to excel in her role, and then she meets Adam Kipling.

Kip is everything that Imogene wants to be. He’s confident, attractive, well-spoken, and worldly.  He knows who he is and what he wants, and what he wants is her.  Imogene can’t believe that out of all the apprentices, Kip would want to be with her, and it’s not long before the two embark on an illicit and entirely indecent affair.

SOME MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD~

I requested Indecent from Netgalley because, first, I’m trying to read more debut authors, and second, because it sounded like an interesting twist on the taboo romance genre.  Having finished Indecent, I’m not entirely sure that it was supposed to be a romance. Maybe it was supposed to be a cautionary tale?  And that’s the problem I had with this book -- I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to be getting out of it.

One thing that really struck me about this book was the imbalance of power. You might expect that in this kind of situation, the teacher would control the relationship. That’s not the case. Although Imogene is an adult in a position of (semi) power and Kip is a student (though not her student), Imogene is so insecure and socially stunted that Kip is the one who holds all the cards.  Kip is the one that controls the relationship.  Imogene is happy to be at Kip’s beck and call, sneaking into his room and running out at all hours of the night to be with him.

While their relationship is certainly morally wrong, and certainly against the conduct code that Imogene agreed to, it isn’t illegal.  Kip is seventeen years old, the age of consent in New York state, and not only does he consent to the relationship, but he initiates it and pursues Imogene until she gives in.  Imogene, knowing that a relationship with a student is entirely inappropriate yet finding herself impossibly attracted to one, weakly protests until Kip wears her down.

I had a really hard time reading this book.  I think it was partially the writing style and partially Imogene’s complete disregard for doing the right thing.  Aside from some vague unease when she and Kip begin talking, Imogene really doesn’t have a problem with their relationship. She is so caught up in finally feeling desired that she engages in risky behavior after risky behavior. Kip is Imogene’s drug, and she’s willing to ruin her friendships, lose her job, and destroy her life for one last fix.  At times, it seems like she wants to get caught because she’s so proud of herself for finally “dating” a popular boy.

I’m okay with being uncomfortable with this book.  I think it’s supposed to make you uncomfortable. It’s supposed to make you think about the moral and ethical and legal ramifications of the relationship.  I wish there’d been more of a discussion of what had actually happened at the end of the book.  As it stands, the end of the book offers little resolution.

Similarly, a number of plot threads are left hanging.  I don’t want to spoil the entire novel, but I was left wondering why none of the students reported Imogene’s odd behavior -- and why none of the teachers noticed that she was acting inappropriately.  I wondered what became of the other apprentices and if they were surprised to learn about Imogene or if they saw it coming.  I wondered about Imogene’s faculty advisor and the coach she worked so closely with, and whether they rethought her interactions with the students.

Indecent is a strong debut from Corinne Sullivan.  As is fitting for the subject matter, the book is a little unsettling.  I just wish there’d been a bit more exploration of the eventual fallout.

Final rating: ★★★☆☆

I received a free ARC of Indecent from the publisher (via Netgalley) in exchange for my honest review.

I tried....I just couldn't find my way into this one.  I loved it from the description, but every time I tried to start reading it...I just couldn't get into the story.

2.5 Stars but I round up.

Wow. Where to start? Should I start by saying I didn't like the writing style at all? No, I should start with how much I disliked Imogene. She never got any better throughout the story either. I kept hoping and hoping that she would get what was coming to her for getting into a relationship with a student but.... that leads me to my next point, the ending was such a let down. 

So, I'm sure you're wondering why I didn't give this book one star, Kip. He was the only reason I did not finish DNF this book. I don't know why, he's not the best character either but I just liked him. 

Will go live on my blog at 11/16/2017 at 9AM EST
http://sweetcherry69.blogspot.com/

3.5-- Indecent surprised me with how well-written it was, as I was fully expecting it to be some kind of mommy porn, or disturbing like Tampa by Alissa Nutting. Instead, I felt fully engrossed in the story as Imogene's obsession is so relatable. Corinne Sullivan completely captures that insane and all-too-common feeling of unrequited "love" that becomes all-consuming. While I kept thinking "why are you doing this?!" and "get out now!", it was like I was watching myself walking into self destructive situations. The strength with this piece is that it doesn't fall into the trap of the pornographic. Had it done, I think it would've failed to keep my interest and empathy for Imogene.

Though I didn't really take to the characters in this novel, I was nonetheless very absorbed by them and what they got up to. The story moves slowly, but isn't boring. Imogene makes some terrible decisions, which made me want to know what happened next all the time. I'll keep my eye on this author.

My problem with Imogene is that she isn't a likable character. She literally was mentally unstable and I don't know if we were supposed to feel for her or what but it just annoyed me. Their relationship also didn't seem real or plausible to me because I couldn't understand how it even developed. He just shows up to her house and they go upstairs and make out, then the next time they have sex. There is no real rhyme or reason why they even want to be together.