Official Review: Desolate by Stephanie Binding
Posted: 08 Feb 2015, 17:57
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Desolate" by Stephanie Binding.]
2 out of 4 stars
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Desolate is a coming of age story about a young lady named Camilla. She loses everything dear to her, her parents, her school life, even her upper-class lifestyle. After that, things get even worse. She survives a series of life shattering events which shape her into a new person and show her how strong she really is.
Camilla is forced to go live with her biological father who is an alcoholic and lives in a very dangerous lower class part of New York City. It’s a neighborhood where shootings, drug culture, rape, and crime are commonplace.
She goes from a private school to a predominately black school in the ghetto. And even though her last name is Lopez, from her step father, she is as white as they come, blond, blue-eyed and sticks out in this new school like a zit on a fashion model. Nevertheless, she makes friends and learns to survive. She even falls in love. But in the face of all the differences and dangers in this world, can that love last?
When her boyfriend, trying to protect her, breaks it off, she goes to India to live with an adoptive Uncle. She finishes school by mail, and her life improves. Her Uncle loves her and watches out for her. Sadly, her heartbreak does not ease. She is not happy in this new life. The rest of the story would be a spoiler. I’ll not tell you how things end.
The characters are well written and believable and the settings are portrayed in nice detail. In fact, the first chapter was so engaging that I was drawn in. I chose to review this book based on that.
It wasn’t until I read further into the story that things started to bug me. Most of all, it didn’t make sense that her mother would make her go live with her biological father. Yes, she had brain cancer and didn’t want her daughter to have to watch her live through that, but it seemed unbelievable that she’d make her daughter live in a dangerous part of the city with a man who she knew to be an alcoholic. In fact, she did not stay with the man because he was unfit, so why in the world would she send her daughter there when she had a perfectly responsible and loving step father to take care of her?
It isn’t until several months later that her mother dies and, hours after, her step father. Even then, there were friends’ parents who would have taken her in until she turned eighteen. She stood to inherit several million in insurance policies and other investment income from her mother and step father. There was no reason for her to stay in the bad situation even if she had really needed to be there to begin with. So much of what happened to her seemed to be unnecessary. Even when the uncle showed up I thought Camilla was overly trusting to go to India with him as she hardly knew the man. At first I thought he was after her money and that it was going to be a whole new set of bad circumstances for her. Even though I liked Camilla, I started to think she was as dumb as a post. She had the money by then, as she turned eighteen, and she could have fixed all the trouble in no time by using common sense.
So for those reasons I am sad to say that I give Desolate 2 out of 4 stars. I wish it could be more because in other respects it is well written.
As a young adult novel, I would rate it PG13 or lower. It takes a casual view on premarital sex and portrays it as being normal and acceptable. It is also very violent and describes the blood and gore quite graphically.
******
Desolate
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2 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Desolate is a coming of age story about a young lady named Camilla. She loses everything dear to her, her parents, her school life, even her upper-class lifestyle. After that, things get even worse. She survives a series of life shattering events which shape her into a new person and show her how strong she really is.
Camilla is forced to go live with her biological father who is an alcoholic and lives in a very dangerous lower class part of New York City. It’s a neighborhood where shootings, drug culture, rape, and crime are commonplace.
She goes from a private school to a predominately black school in the ghetto. And even though her last name is Lopez, from her step father, she is as white as they come, blond, blue-eyed and sticks out in this new school like a zit on a fashion model. Nevertheless, she makes friends and learns to survive. She even falls in love. But in the face of all the differences and dangers in this world, can that love last?
When her boyfriend, trying to protect her, breaks it off, she goes to India to live with an adoptive Uncle. She finishes school by mail, and her life improves. Her Uncle loves her and watches out for her. Sadly, her heartbreak does not ease. She is not happy in this new life. The rest of the story would be a spoiler. I’ll not tell you how things end.
The characters are well written and believable and the settings are portrayed in nice detail. In fact, the first chapter was so engaging that I was drawn in. I chose to review this book based on that.
It wasn’t until I read further into the story that things started to bug me. Most of all, it didn’t make sense that her mother would make her go live with her biological father. Yes, she had brain cancer and didn’t want her daughter to have to watch her live through that, but it seemed unbelievable that she’d make her daughter live in a dangerous part of the city with a man who she knew to be an alcoholic. In fact, she did not stay with the man because he was unfit, so why in the world would she send her daughter there when she had a perfectly responsible and loving step father to take care of her?
It isn’t until several months later that her mother dies and, hours after, her step father. Even then, there were friends’ parents who would have taken her in until she turned eighteen. She stood to inherit several million in insurance policies and other investment income from her mother and step father. There was no reason for her to stay in the bad situation even if she had really needed to be there to begin with. So much of what happened to her seemed to be unnecessary. Even when the uncle showed up I thought Camilla was overly trusting to go to India with him as she hardly knew the man. At first I thought he was after her money and that it was going to be a whole new set of bad circumstances for her. Even though I liked Camilla, I started to think she was as dumb as a post. She had the money by then, as she turned eighteen, and she could have fixed all the trouble in no time by using common sense.
So for those reasons I am sad to say that I give Desolate 2 out of 4 stars. I wish it could be more because in other respects it is well written.
As a young adult novel, I would rate it PG13 or lower. It takes a casual view on premarital sex and portrays it as being normal and acceptable. It is also very violent and describes the blood and gore quite graphically.
******
Desolate
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Norma_Rudolph's review? Post a comment saying so!