Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios - OPTIONAL

Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios, 356 pages.  Henry Holt and Company, 2017.  $18.  

Content: Language: R (100+ swears; 172 “f” words); Mature Content: R (on page sex); Violence: PG-13.  

BUYING ADVISORY: HS – OPTIONAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE  

Grace lives in a house with a very controlling stepfather and a mentally ill mother.  Grace has been crushing on Gavin for a while, so after he breaks up with his girlfriend and attempts suicide, she writes him a letter to tell him she cares for him.  When he returns to school, he starts to show interest in Grace and they start a relationship.  Quickly, Grace realizes that in her attempt to escape the abuse at home she has fallen into another abusive relationship.  Gavin tries to blame his unraveling on Grace and Grace must depend on her friends and her own strength to get herself out of another bad situation.  

It’s hard to read about abusive relationships because the whole time I just want to scream at the characters to get out, but that’s the point of this book: when you are the one in an abusive relationship you make excuses and listen to the lies of the abuser.  I think this book has an important message, but the amount of swearing which does nothing for the story line was distracting and over the top.  I also have issue with the fact that when Gavin tried to commit suicide, Grace thought it was “courageous and fierce” which is a horrible description for suicide. That said, I read the book quickly because I wanted to see what happened to everyone and I loved Grace’s friends who stuck by her and helped her even when she wasn’t easy to understand.  

C. Peterson