Review: After Math (Off the Subject 01) by Denise Grover Swank

Synopsis (from Goodreads):

Scarlett Goodwin’s world is divided into Before and After.

Before she agreed to tutor Tucker Price, college junior Scarlett was introvert, struggling with her social anxiety and determined to not end up living in a trailer park like her mother and her younger sister. A mathematics major, she goes to her classes, to her job in the tutoring lab, and then hides in the apartment she shares with her friend, Caroline.

After junior Tucker Price, Southern University’s star soccer player enters the equation, her carefully plotted life is thrown off its axis. Tucker’s failing his required College Algebra class. With his eligibility is at risk, the university chancellor dangles an expensive piece of computer software for the math department if Scarlett agrees to privately tutor him.Tucker’s bad boy, womanizer reputation makes Scarlett wary of any contact, let alone spending several hours a week in close proximity.

But from her first encounter, she realizes Tucker isn’t the person everyone else sees. He carries a mountain of secrets which she suspects hold the reason to his self-destructive behavior. But the deeper she delves into the cause of his pain, the deeper she gets sucked into his chaos. Will Scarlett find the happiness she’s looking for, or will she be caught in Tucker’s aftermath?

My impressions:

I honestly swear I am up to no good. Yes, my friends, I've sinned again - one moment of weakness and here you are: I went to Lucimazon (anathema sit!) and bought a New Adult novel just because I was curious and it cost me merely one US dollar. Then, as if I had no better positions on my TBR list, I started to read it. You can guess the outcome - the book was not entirely a hit, featuring some of less pleasant NA characteristic traits. Oh well. As a form of atonement I decided to write a review.

First of all let me tell you that I found the blurb interesting enough and the book started out with a bit of potential, I liked meeting a character which suffered from social anxiety, I appreciated the fact that she liked math and using it she was able to build protective boundaries around herself.

 Still it was surprising that, for an advanced math college student, Scarlett knew pretty little. I got a distinct impression that the author didn't feel completely comfortable around that topic - we were never told what branch of maths was the closest to Scarlett's heart, what kind of math problems she liked solving the most, who was her favourite mathematician and/or theory and why. Even while we saw her tutoring Tucker, we never heard her explaining things to him, reasoning or elaborating on this or that problem - not really. It sounded especially spurious if you compare those scenes to the ones with Tucker teaching Scarlett the basics of running - those lessons I found far more believable and concrete. After a while it started to bother me that Scarlett never thought and spoke like avid mathematicians do.

Then there was that strange 'second boyfriend' of Scarlett, Daniel and her 'bff" Caroline. I really didn't understand why such  characters were featured at all - they didn't contribute anything to the story. Daniel's only function consisted of making Tucker jealous from time to time and Scarlett - embarassed. Caroline was there to make Scarlett go out, attend some parties and then shake her head and comment on her love life. They were like two cardboard props, nothing else, soon discarded and forgotten. Oh wait, they may be used in other parts of the series...if you actually care about them. I admit I don't.

The pace of the narration was nice but a bit predictable, so typical for all NA books I've read so far. The constant roundabout of: "they meet because they are forced to do so, they speak a bit, they fall in love, they speak more, they go to bed, they quarrel, they go to bed, they quarrel and make up and go to bed" is really anything but original. Funny thing, the narrative voice of Tucker, a badass football rising star, sounded sometimes so very close to a narrative voice of a girl; mind you the book is told in 1st limited person, from Scarlett's POV - weird indeed. A positive remark - Tucker was not a controlling, overbearing jerk. He was just a jerk. Still, with NA books, you should be thankful for small graces.

Finally let me add something about that little note from the author you might find at the end of this and many other books as well. Here is the direct quote:

"If you enjoyed AFTER MATH please consider leaving a review and recommending it to your friends."

Such a short, innocent sentence and somehow it can always make me more or less annoyed, pressing the wrong set of buttons. In my view Ms. Grover Swank (or any other author who includes it) hereby informs her customers and readers that she enjoys hearing only good opinion about the novel in question and if somebody has any negative feedback, no matter whether the critique is deserved or not, they should shut up and disappear from the universe...Excuse me? Are you really an adult writer?

Correct me if I am mistaken but it seems that such authors want to create a protective circle of mutual appreciation, full of starry-eyed fans, around their less-than-averagely-good work (my skewed opinion only of course but a good novel would defend itself, right?) so no unpleasantness can permeate inside and reach their sensitive ears. How very Young Adult of you. With the emphasis on 'Young'.

No final verdict this time - I don't feel it is necessary.

New Adult, Old Tricks

 (Photo credit: Blue Train Books)

Have you heard about that New Adult category of books, being created practically before our eyes? Other terms for it include: Upper YA, Crossover Fiction, and Mature YA. How did it start and what is it about? 

New-adult Fiction or post-adolescent literature was first proposed by St. Martin's Press in 2009. Allegedly St. Martin’s Press editors wanted to address the coming-of-age that also happens in a young person’s twenties.They wanted to consider stories about young adults who were still finding their way in building a life and figuring out what it exactly means. NA characters are often portrayed experiencing: college, living away from home for the first time, military deployment, apprenticeships, a first steady job, a first serious relationship, etc. Other common themes in NA are identity, sexuality, race, alcohol abuse, drug abuse, bullying, empowerment, familial struggles, loss of innocence, fear of failure, etc. - I suppose that list gets plots of most of the books, if not all of them, covered pretty thoroughly. Here you can find a list of most popular New Adult positions (fromGoodreads) and check just the first page, it is more than enough ;p.

Now you have to admit those topics aren’t exactly new so why publishers think we need a new category of books? That is the question and the answer is as old as the publishing business or perhaps even older – money.

 I still blame in the first place "Twilight", with the horribly skewed version of the alluring nectar of forbidden love it presented. I know, Twilight itself remains  firmly in the YA paranormal romance realm but it was a step toward the NA direction. Stephenie Meyer has achieved a lot, earned a lot and her mind-boggling success undoubtedly inspired other authors and the whole publishing world. For example an author I love to hate, hiding under the pen name of E.L. James, as her "50 Shades of Grey", a cheesy, kinky juggernaut, is so obviously modelled on Twilight. It spawned in turn "50 Shades"-themed bondage classes and single-handedly boosted the book industry (which should be nevertheless thoroughly ashamed of themselves). The book series once dominated the number one, two and three spots on the New York Times Bestseller List (New York Times, shame on you, your bestseller list doesn’t exist in my universe anymore). 50 Shades books are still not NA positions but the success of the series, like that of Twilight, definitely helped to create the NA phenomenon - it showed you can create a certain market niche and then make it brimful of curious readers. And line your pockets nicely in the process. It was too tempting not to try it.

So if you asked me what New Adult books are about I would say: in a nutshell it is about merging the former young adult themes with erotic fiction. In other words the publishers want to lure people who liked novels as children and teenagers, offering them something better-fitted to their more mature tastes. Buying and reading erotica? Some people would still consider it a social taboo. Buying and reading New Adult? Not a problem – it sounds almost posh, almost respectable, with that dashing, naughty flavor some appreciate so much, and it promises content that actually makes sense, a real plot in which those steamy moments are just inserted here and there like raisins in a bun. In fact, after having read some of New Adult positions I must admit I found these books a bit like the old Harlequin romances, just set in modern times, with younger characters, many of whom are in college, coming of age and often exploring their sexuality. Think Smut Fiction with some window dressing so it looks respectable and…kind of new, at least to me (I've never read those pesky Harlequin but I've heard STORIES).

Of course I am sure there will be plenty of fans and several book sellers who might disagree with such an assessment. They claim New Adult covers a wide range of themes and issues, not focusing solely on sex. That’s why some view New Adult fiction as only a category of literature—meaning, it gives readers general content expectations, but it does not dictate strict, genre-based criteria. Typically, a novel is considered NA if it encompasses the transition between adolescence—a life stage often depicted in Young Adult (YA) fiction—and true adulthood. The fact is that it rarely (if at all) avoids the description of sexual encounters so if you ask about the main difference between YA and NA here it is – the later features more hot scenes, often described in great detail and covering the whole gamut of preferences.

Let me also quote here the explanation offered by one of the NA authors, Cora Carmack, why this category/genre should exist at all. Carmack thinks we're only just now hearing the term "New Adult" because:

...the world is a very different place than it was when YA first became an accepted genre. It used to be that many people got jobs straight out of high school, and only some people went on to college. And usually those who did go to college were more financially and emotionally dependent. Now, it has become the norm to go to college, and for young adults to remain in contact or even dependent upon their parents for years after graduating high school. College is the new high school, and as such that "growing up" phase has been stretched to include a few extra awkward years.

Hmm… with all due respect that sounds like waffling to me. Authors have been writing about the transition from childhood to adulthood and those ‘extra awkward years’ like forever. Jane Austen, anybody? Some of her characters, like Anne Elliot from Persuasion, definitely prolonged their ‘forming years’ quite a bit. The Sorrows of Young Werther ? (damn that Goethe, he was good – have you noticed how he sneaked that ‘Young’ into his title?) Girl Interrupted? The Dangerous Liaisons? Maurice? Fanny Hill? Gosh, I can even quote here some stories straight from the Bible and they would most definitely qualify for being New Adult– for example the first part of the life of David who later became one of the most prominent kings of Israel. All of them share one basic feature: they present a newly emancipated person on the cusp of discovering themselves, where they fit into life, what allowances they will make, and how they relate to others. Unrequited love, forbidden love, friendship, committments, leaving your old family behind, real-life challenges - you get everything there as well.

Let's be honest and let me get to my point: those are marketing gurus who really need "New Adult" fiction to be a stand-alone category or genre, not readers. They want the millennials to believe it is a bespoke literature segment created to fit their unique needs. So what the content is hardly new and often presented in a very crude, sometimes even amazingly tacky voice? As long as you believe it is good and you are prepared to pay extra for the ‘novelty’ factor they are going to do cracking business.

Take into account the fact that this new category is intended to be marketed to mostly female readers ages 18 to 30. Quite coincidentally that particular age group is considered to be the most lucrative as it consists (but is not limited to) readers who are already active on the job market at least part-time so have a larger disposable income than, say, your average primary and secondary school student. They have money, they want to have fun and they don’t want to be limited in any way. Ready for harvest.

It reminds me of the term "teenager," which, crazy as it might seem now, didn't even exist until the mid-20th century. Today, teenagers are a consumer group worth about $200 billion. Youth became a sought-after commodity but it didn’t happen overnight, the whole process was rather an evolution than a revolution – it needed some generations to solidify. Today, with the digital publishing and the Internet connecting most of the world, it will be definitely something more dynamic.

Will marketers be able to pull the same trick with kinda-youth? It seems they're certainly going to try – compartmentalizing the market has never been a mistake so far. Before you go to your favourite library and shop for a New Adult novel ask yourself a question, though: what do I really need to read?

The idea of this essay was implanted in my silly brain by Bloddeued and Rameau helped me with the editing and supported me morally on Twitter - thank  you very much, girls, I owe you and you rock!


My sources:

 http://naalley.blogspot.com/p/about.html

http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/emerging-adult-book-genre-puts-smut-fiction-bestseller/story?id=18550587#.UWvCJqLTrDU

 http://jezebel.com/5960942/new-adult-fiction-is-now-an-official-literary-genre-because-marketers-want-you-to-buy-things

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New-adult_fiction

 http://dearauthor.com/features/letters-of-opinion/new-adult-its-not-about-the-sex-but-dont-be-afraid-of-the-sex-either/

http://www.goodreads.com/

Losing It by Cora Carmack

Sometimes I don't feel like reviewing a book and any help is very welcome. I asked my friendly old computer to do the job this time because let's face it - the book seemed a bit mechanical to me. Here you got the result - my first computer - generated review. Enjoy!

DIM W% 4  : REM reserve 4 bytes of memory, pointed TO by INTEGER variable W%
> ?W% = 42  : REM store constant 42; equivalent of 'POKE W%, 42'
> PRINT ?W% : REM PRINT the byte pointed TO by W%; equivalent of 'PRINT PEEK(W%)'

Hel-lo. This is an old computer, COM-MOD-ORE 64, speaking. I was asked to read and review a book. New adult book. 

Input material: LOSING IT. Author: Cora Carmack. Source: a sadistic reader. SCRATCH. A curious reader.
trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtrtrtrrrrrrrrr

Output ready to be displayed:

TTTTTrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Display:BOOT,DVERIFY

Main characters:

BLISS EDWARDS
sex: female
age: 22
social status: a virgin and ashamed of it. SCRATCH. Mortified of it.
biggest problem: how to get laid without getting laid and how to look hot without looking slutty
possible solution: non-exitent due to fatal logic errors
occupation: theatre student - part time, control freak - full time, idiot - 24/7
brain cells: 3 (?)
my assessment: go jump into a lake you ho.TRAP, RESTORE, a bland heroine without any depth or reason. Another Bella Swan just older but equally stupid.

GARRICK TAYLOR
sex: male
age: between 23 and 30, not precised
social status: drop dead handsome guy with a motorcycle, miraculously single with a real BRITISH ACCENT whatever it means
biggest problem: how to get laid. Period.
possible solution: reading Shakespeare in a club full of skimpily clad females in heat. Shakespeare always draws bitches.
occupation: theatre professor - part time, student snatcher full time, cat stroker in the evenings
brain cells: 3 (?)
my assessment: instantly forgetable, too-pretty-to-be-true theatre geek without one original thought in his head.

Plot:
They meet in a pub. They fall in lust. They kiss. They almost make out. She runs away naked. Some more complications. He is her teacher she is his Juliet. They kiss. She is unsure. He is horny. They kiss. They grope and kiss. Something about theatre. They kiss. Friends meddle. They kiss. She acquires a cat. She is ill. He takes care of her. They finally go to bed together. They kiss. She wants more. They kiss. The cat. They have sex. And kiss. Cat. Kiss. No chemistry. Kissssssssssssss

ttttttttttttttttttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtrtrtrtrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtttttt

Break for a Pac - man game

Back to action

Conclusions:

Faked lust
Faked intensity
Faked forbidden love
Faked passion
Failed to keep me interested.
Faked male character with blond hair falling into crystal blue eyes.
Really idiotic female character - no fake.
No spark. I repeat no spark.

Statistics:

Funny quotes: 4 %
Rubbish content: 90%
Fake drama: 5%
Complete and utter rubish: 1%
Dialogues: wooden 99%
Narration style: wooden 100% mechanical 100%

Recommended to: none. Machines, stay away. Might be deadly for your motherboards. Humans: stay away. You might be a victim of a permanent brain damage. Thank you. Have a nice day.

ttttttttttttttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrtttttttttttttttttttttttttrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrttttt