Title: Slingshot
Author: Mercedes Helnwein
Type: Standalone
Genres: Young Adult, Romance, Coming of Age

Slingshot was a big no for me. I tried to enjoy it and there were some parts of the book that I enjoyed more than others, however the overall feel and vibe of the book wasn't to my liking. I remember reading Cather in the Rye in high school and hating the story and hating the main character. I found this story very similarly told as Cather in the Rye and hence it made it really hard for me to get into. I don't find characters who constantly do the wrong thing appealing, I don't understand these characters arcs and I don't find them entertaining. I felt like screaming at Grace to get her s*it together and she just wouldn't. Her mind was a mess and therefore her actions and consequently the book, for me, ended up being a mess.

With that said, the writing is good. The same goes for Cather in the Rye, the book is popular for a reason and it holds a lot of thematic elements that are important to discuss and dissect in an English classroom, the same idea can be said about this story. The thematic elements of coming of age and finding oneself confused about their sexuality, their love life, their life in general is very normal and my issue was never the writing but the characters. Maybe because of my Hispanic background I wasn't able to relate to the characters and their definition of problems, maybe I grew up too fast and I wasn't the teenager that was confused and hence I don't understand Grace's inability to make one thing right. However, I appreciate the author for writing such a recluse character. Grace was complex and even though I didn't relate or enjoy her mind, I am guessing some people might.

The story overall begins with Grace being infatuated over her science teacher and being mad at him for being engaged. This for me was already telling that although Grace was 15 she acted as if she was a child. Where I go back to my point of maybe not understanding her mentality due to my background which doesn't make me the most knowledgeable person to criticize her. However, the story wasn't fun for me. I sided with the secondary characters more and I wanted Grace to realize her issues. In the end I feel the story took a turn for the better and then we go back to the story being about Grace only and her process of finding herself (again, I understand this is the point of the book, but when you don't like Grace it makes it hard to enjoy the process of her finding herself rather than the tidbits of romance).

* I received this eArc from Netgalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review *

--- 2 stars ---

I'm not really sure what to do with this one. I liked the depth of the characters but they weren't necessarily likeable characters? They were all little shits. Which I'm pretty sure was the point but they often commented on how they were terrible people as if that was an excuse for why they were little shits and I'm just over here like, "okay?".

There wasn't really much plot. Other than typical teenage drama. I'd list it out for you, but that'd pretty much be the entire plot and then there'd be no real reason for you to read the book.

It does hinge a lot on how REAL the love is between Gracie and Wade, but it's from Gracie's POV and she's 15 for most of the book so what does she know about love, really?

I think this is one of those YA books that is much better suited for its targeted age bracket. You know, I am a true believer that anyone can enjoy YA. I wouldn't read so much of it if I didn't enjoy it. And oftentimes I find that you don't have to be a teen to love the story. This isn't one of those cases. This isn't a negative reflection of the book, just that I'm not its target audience so it didn't hit me.

Now, 15 years old me would have loved this book. She'd have thought it was edgy and cool and taken what it said about love to heart. Two decades later me is like, Bleh. Love. What a stupid concept. I would definitely give this to my niece who is in the target demographic and a reader. So take that into consideration.

This is a pretty raw and realistic coming of age story of a teenage girl. Lots of the real questioning and angst of adolescence told in a way that doesn't patronize the true feelings that many teens experience. It was definitely a little too intense and dramatic at times that I think is appropriate for an older teen reader. Definitely aimed at the high school level teen. Overall, it was a good book that I enjoyed reading.

I'm still trying to figure out how i managed to actually finish reading this book. i was hoping for something that was a little more emotional but instead i got something that was melodramatic. i wasn’t a huge fan of the main character and a lot of the situations were over exaggerated.

This book honestly had a lot of potential, it’s a shame that it didn’t live up to it.

I picked this book solely based on the cover. I had no idea what it was about going into it. It's always nice going into a book not knowing what to except. Unfortunately I couldn't get into this book at all. I was going to try to push through but I just couldn't do it. I feel bad because I was looking forward to reading this. I was really in the mood for a young adult contemporary. I did end up DNFing this one.

Right away I didn't feel too great going into it. The main character has a crush on her teacher. The moment she finds out that he's engaged she flips out on him. This all happens at the very beginning of the story. It felt super cringey. Every time she brought it up I couldn't help but feel embarrassed for this girl.

Another thing I didn't like it just how the conversations were going. It just felt like it was trying to be edgy. I get I'm not a teenager and haven't been one for years. It just didn't feel natural. The main character would be talking to her roommate about something. Then I'd say to myself is this really how it would have gone or would this would have been said. It kind felt like omg I'm allowed to write about this in my book so I'm going to. I saw some people saying it felt like an adult trying to write for a teenager which I agree.

I'm upset that I didn't end up enjoying this book. I was interested in it and thought I'd really like it. Unfortunately I couldn't get that far into it and I feel bad about it. I'm really bummed about it.

*I would just like to thank Netgalley and the Publisher for giving me this e-arc in exchange for my honest opinion.*

I think that his book was just okay. If you like YA romance and are into more emotional and loaded stories being told about teenagers, ex: John Green, then this book might be for you. I definitely found that the secondary characters were more interesting than the main character, Grace. The story is told from the perspective of the 15 year old main character, and because Grace seems a little emotionally underdeveloped and kinda rude, I had a hard time getting into the story.

Thank you so much @WednesdayBooks & @NetGalley for giving me this eARC in exchange for my honest and unbiased review (Release Date | 27 April 2021)

SYNOPSIS | Gracie has recently found out that her father has left her & her mother for an entirely new family that don't know of their existence. She is feeling abandoned & alone at her boarding school in Florida when she saves Wade from some bullies with her trusty slingshot. They form a friendship & Gracie begins to realise that she isn't as alone as she thought.

WHAT I LIKED:
- that it was messy & complicated

WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
- the book starts out with Gracie having an inappropriate crush on her 30+ year old teacher (gross but fine, except she then cusses him out when she finds out that he has a fiancé because she believes they truly are soulmates)
- the characters are meant to be 15 but read more like 18 year olds (excessive swearing, casual sex, drinking, smoking etc)
- the entire mentor relationship focusing on advice around how to seduce an older man & lose your virginity without catching feelings
- this isn't a sweet first love story that I thought it would be

Good coming of age story, even if it wasn't exactly my cup of tea. This was a fast read, fun and interesting, although I had some difficulty getting attached to the main character (which might be both on the writer and on me, to be honest), which made empathy with her hardships and teenage angst a bit more difficult.

Super cute rom com. I will likely buy this for the library. It depends on funds but this is a good add to a YA library collection.

Slingshot is about a 15 year old girl at a third tier boarding school that has some of the most unhealthy relationships I’ve ever seen.

I have no problem with foul language and mature content in YA books but this one felt weird because the main character is barely a teenager. Current YA seems to be more 18-21 year old protagonists so I usually don’t have an issue with content that pushes the boundaries of the genre but reading about a child lusting after an adult is just not my thing, especially at the start of the story. I don’t want to discredit the feelings of young adolescents growing up but this just felt way too adult for the age but at the same time incredibly immature.

Thank you to Wednesday book for the advanced copy for my honest review

.. and as honest as I can get, this book wasn’t for me! I hate DNF’ING arcs but sadly I just couldn’t get through this one. It was bad, just really sadly bad. You have this 15 year old who’s so moody, and I get there are people like that, but so moody that I couldn’t connect. And let’s not talk about the fact she’s stupidly obsessively in love with her teacher. Yuck! Not to say I’ve never had a crush on one, but I’ve never had sex dreams about them 🥴😣 Like whhhhyyyyyy?
This book was just sadly really juvenile in taste. I hated the characters and the whole storyline was just poorly written.

Now before I get judged for my review, I’m giving an honest opinion, which I was asked to do. But there’s some books that I think back and would ask myself would I read this as a high schooler and truthfully I would have hated it then too. (

Content Warning: Physical, emotional, and verbal abuse. Lots of vulgar language and profanity. Bullying, infidelity, toxic parents, underage smoking/drinking, unprotected sex and probably more. It's rough in here. Prepare/protect yourself.

"If it disturbs you, it's ART."

OOF... where to begin? I JUST finished reading this and I'm rushing to review it so I don't lose everything I'm feeling right now. I feel like I've just lived out the trauma of seven teenage years in the span of 9 hours (the time it took me to listen to this slightly sped up audiobook). I'm emotionally overwhelmed and want to to cry. The 38 song track list at the end of this book was much appreciated. I'm ready to lock myself in my room, blast the 90's alternative music, and cry in bed, day dreaming about all sorts of revenge fantasies (mostly the kind where I've healed my broken heart and said heart breaker is begging to have me back.)

Slingshot is a Young Adult, Contemporary (Romance? more like roMESS), realistic fiction, that takes place in a Florida boarding school. The story is told in first person from the perspective of Gracie Welles, who is abrasive, obnoxious, self-centered, and a completely unlikable character. Plenty of people will DNF this book based on that alone. Stapled on every page is dialogue I can only describe as often poetic, incredibly acidic, regularly mean, verbal diarrhea. Gracie had no filter and didn't know how to shut the f!@# up.

I spent a lot of time, at the beginning of this book, wondering... why are we giving this to young adults? is this setting a good example? Not really. But stories aren't always about idealistic outcomes, learning, or growing. Sometimes stories are mirrors that reflect pain, and trauma, and shitty embarrassing life experiences to remind us we aren't alone.

Helnwein's writing captures what it was like being a teenager perfectly. It didn't just remind me, it brought me back there and made me relive it. All of it. The mistakes, the heart break, the stupid advice we took from friends, the rage, the loneliness, the feeling of not fitting in, even all the half baked decisions we made that led us away from where we really wanted to be.

I was worried about how I would rate this book but I can't imagine giving it anything less than five stars. Slingshot wasn't just a story, it was an experience, one that I'm unlikely to forget any time soon. If you prefer books not make you feel angry, depressed, embarrassed, ashamed, anxious, guilty or uncomfortable, this story is probably not for you. If you're more like me however, and don't mind feeling negative emotions as long as a book makes you feel something, well... you may just want to add this to your TBR. I highly recommend getting the audiobook for this. It's narrated by Jesse Vilinsky and she gives one hell of a performance.

Just don't forget..."The world is a vampire..."

What a cute, fun read! I’m so glad I was approved for this one. It was an enjoyable story with enjoyable characters. I would recommend this.

I have tried several times to read this and I am finally DNF'ing at 33%. I just cannot get into this story. I just was really bothered by this soulmate crush with her teacher. It just didn't sit right with me. I will eventually try to finish this because I absolutely hate to DNF.

I LOVED it!! The characters, the storyline, the writing - it was all better than what I'd imagined. Slingshot is definitely more than just a cute/ romantic story. It's deep, the characters are real, and I truly fell in love with Helwein's writing.

This book was not for me. The synopsis made it seem to be something that it truly wasn't. Three stars because the author wrote a book and that's a huge achievement. Unfortunately, I couldn't finish it. It had a lot of potential for me, but I could not get into it. It should probably also carry a warning for any younger readers as the content of the book is for older readers.

Unfortunately, I chose to mark this book as DNF (did not finish) very quickly after starting it. For some reason, the synopsis does not mention the relationship (or perceived one) between the MC and one of her teacher's, and while she is rejected, it still feels odd to leave this part out of the synopsis. Had I known this aspect of the story, I probably would not have requested/chosen to read this book. While I understand from the synopsis and other reviews of this book that this is not the main focus, and another relationship comes to the forefront of the story, I already did not like how this part of the story was written and handled, and the main character's reaction to being rejected by her teacher (or well, finding out he's dating someone else), already made me realize this narrator and story aren't for me. She felt over the top/dramatic, and some of the insults she slung at the teacher's fiancé were ridiculous and disgusting. Maybe she grows throughout the book, but this set up just did not draw me in at all, it just repelled me instead.

Considering the mixed reviews on this one, I ended up liking it much more than I expected, especially because there was much not to like about the main character and there was so much to like about poor Wade. But I'm glad I gave it a chance and continued reading to the end because it was worth spending time and getting to the end. It honestly felt very realistic to me, and those who complained about her behavior with her teacher have to remember that she had a rather sketchy upbringing with both her parents and she was 15, which is really not that old. And the bottom line is that her teacher never behaved inappropriately with her and although her mind conflated the attention the teacher gave her to be so much more, I could see that happening in a teen who has had a really unstable upbringing. I was surprised by how much I sympathized with her because Grace was NOT a likable person and definitely made a lot of bad choices. But the fault of their relationship was not entirely due to her actions (egregious though she was), although I wouldn't go so far as to say it was partly Wade's fault either. Yeah, okay, I really liked Wade. Also, Anju was not a big character, but I really liked her and although she was in some ways used as a plot element, I felt like she was given her own space to be who she was, and ultimately Grace had to decide what she wanted to do with it.

There is definitely bad language, but it's nothing worse than what I've heard among the teens today. The teachers generally correct the students, so again, nothing unusual. Sex is a topic as well, but umm...they're teens. So yeah, there's going to be some sex, although I daresay there is a lot more talk than there is action much of the time, lol. Overall, I ended up really liking this one; for me, the author made me respect and feel sympathy for Grace as a person in her own right and yes, I was definitely cheering her on as she started making more mature decisions. I also liked what became of her and Derek. As for the thing with Wade's family--well, that part was pretty predictable (the signs were all there), I like how that ended up being resolved--without revealing any spoilers, I liked Grace's role in it and how it ended up affecting how she saw her own family.

One other thing--I've heard comparisons to other great authors, but I tend to ignore those comparisons because people see what they want to see. Personally, I just enjoyed this book about an unlikable girl who, in my opinion, becomes more likable at the end. Not necessarily because she's changed in a fundamental way (which would be unrealistic) but because she's started maturing. I'm glad I ended up giving this book a chance, even with the negative reviews.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

4 1/2

Slingshot by Mercedes Helnwein is probably one of the most, if not the most, complicated young adult novel I’ve read this year and certainly in recent memory. And I mean that in the best possible way as Helnwein has created characters in Grace and Wade who are having to deal with secret, harsh pains in a world where different is ridiculed and bullied. The plot is, at first glance, simple but as the reader moves forward through the novel, we understand that nothing is simple in the world of Slingshot.

I imagine that the first obstacle for many readers of ya novels with their typical either perfect or sullen main characters will be the character of Grace who is frequently jarring. Oh, yeah, Grace can be hard to take even with a lump of sugar. But. But, she grows on you as much as she makes you cringe. She’s high strung, emotional, and walking on a proverbial tight-rope. And the things she says and does can sometimes make you want to crawl into yourself.

And then she falls in first love with Wade, a boy who is sweet, respectful, smart, and hiding his own painful secret, until an event occurs that makes Grace backtrack.

Slingshot is very much a character-driven novel, and these characters, especially Grace, are not the ones we typically expect from ya, even hard-edged ya. That, for me, is what makes this novel work so well. Grace’s reactions are real. They arise from that deep animal passion we have inside ourselves that we either let out to play or hide away. She does the things we sometimes think about but would never do. Enacts the revenge we considered on a dark day and then wishes she hadn’t, but one can never take back the actions that one has performed. One must live with the consequences and hope for better.

This is one of the few ya novels that I’ve thought I would like to see a sequel to, perhaps in about ten years, to see where Grace and Wade wind up, who they become. One of the things I love about ya novels is that we see young people on the cusp of great decisions that will forever change their lives, regardless of whether they make the huge decisions or not. And with the better written ya novels where the characters matter and not just the plot, I want to know where they end up in their 20s.

While I sometimes had difficulties with Grace and understand why and why she was written the way she was, I do recommend Slingshot with the caveat that if you are used to reading typical ya novels, that you store your preconceived notions and conventions away for this one. I think by doing that, you will have a greater appreciation of this complex novel.

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 Stars

This story was both good and middle of the road. This is a coming of age story for sure. I did not enjoy the teenage angst but if you do, you will enjoy this. I was not expecting this to be a romance but it was very calculated. I would recommend if you want a good quick read.