WARW: Something Wicked

 Welcome to another Write a Review Wednesday, a meme started by Tara Lazar as a way to show support to authors of kids literature. I like to look at all kinds of books and authors, not just kid lit.

I have been a little lax in my Write a Review Wednesday posts. I hope you can forgive me (busy, overwhelmed and feeling a little un-inspired lately but I'm back now). So this week I wanted to talk about a YA (young adult) novel that I received free from Penguin Canada. As a general genre ( if you can call it that) or category I enjoy YA books. For me they are often a quick read and can have some really interesting topics. This week I am review Something Wicked by Lesley Anne Cowan.

The book is about a teenager named Melissa and to be honest her life seems to be in a real mess. I think Cowan knows the topic of teen troubles well. She is a secondary school teacher who works with at-risk youth so I am sure the issues discussed in this book are well know to her. You see Melissa is a young woman with secrets and troubles and while her mother loves her she doesn't really have the skills to parent a teen like Melissa. There is a lot of drugs, sex, depression and heartache in Melissa's story. It is a real emotional roller coaster.

The book was a quick read for me as far as the pacing but I have to be honest the content was often a bit hard to read. It was hard to read about Melissa and what seemed like her poor decisions. I often felt like screaming at her or asking her why she is doing what she is doing. Her behaviour was so self destructive and when it seems like there is a chance for to have a better life she makes a bad decision or has someone in her life make a bad decision that impacts Melissa's life.

I think the book deals with a lot of hard issues and problems that teens today face every day. As a parent of young kids it was a look into a life I don't know much about but I am sure that goes for a lot of parents out there. It is a world that most parents are not privy to.

I am not sure I liked the ending of this book. I was left feeling like I wanted more but then again it did feel a little bit like how things end in real life. There is really no tight and tidy ending, life goes on and life is a journey with twists and turns in the road. Never the less I still felt a bit unsatisfied with the ending but still worth a read.