Mother.GAMER.Writer

Originally Reviewed at:Mother/Gamer/WriterRating: 5 out of 5 ControllersReview Source: Blog TourReviewer: AimeeKayOMG, I REALLY loved this book. I’m honestly surprised I’m making this statement. I had reservations when I first read the summary. It hints at a love triangle – NOT my favorite thing at the moment – and abuse. Abuse is something that I’ve experienced firsthand. I understand how the thought process works, but even understanding how the world looks from the inside of the relationship, I still get annoyed sometimes at how abused women are portrayed in stories. Either they are super weak – which annoys me because they cling to everything – or they do an about face midway through the story that seems totally out of character. Jolene did an amazing job of bringing Ronnie to life. The story is told in the first person perspective so we get to see directly into Ronnie’s mind and hear her inner reasoning for why she does the things she does. While there were times I wanted to reach into the book and just shake Ronnie, I wanted to do it because I hated seeing her hurt and seeing her beat herself up over situations that obviously weren’t here fault. While I felt sorry for her I never once looked at her as being a pitiful character. As for the rest of the characters, they all behaved in believable ways. Ronnie’s best friend Mindy is strong, but there is back story explaining where she figured out how to be strong. Her boyfriend Shawn is portrayed as the stereotypical abusive boyfriend. But the way that Perry paints him it is still authentic. She nails his character without going over the top. Then there’s Luke, the third side of the love triangle. I could actually picture a young man doing what he does for Ronnie. As for her parents, while her mother is someone who’s unobservant, this fact is actually brought out in the story. She wasn’t uncaring; if anything I think that she just didn’t realize something like this could happen to her own child (which is something that a lot of parents do). Speaking of the main characters being children… Ok. They’re not “children”. They are seniors in high school, about to go off to college. But their actions aren’t unusual for their age bracket. Especially Ronnie’s inner thoughts, they are things that most young women feel and think at that age. All in all, the entire story itself was extremely believable, and thoroughly enjoyable. Even the love triangle. It was REALLY well written. I don’t remember once feeling like I wanted to slap Ronnie for being wishy washy or whiny (urges I’ve had recently when it’s come to female lead characters). I’ve tried to write this review without too many spoilers (that’s one of the reasons I’m not giving examples), but let me just say, I think this book was amazing and spot on. It was realistic without being preachy or overly dramatic. I would recommend it to any teen or older. In fact, I think that more girls should read this novel. It lets you have a view into the mind of someone who has been manipulated by abuse, and maybe if they read it, they might be able to catch themselves before they fall into the same trap. Even if you’re older, I think you should read Knee Deep, because again that glimpse can help you relate to others who might still be in similar situations. Let me reiterate Knee Deep IS NOT PREACHY! So please don’t be scared off by my last few sentences. The story is heart-breaking, but it’s not all one giant sob story. There are flash backs that help fill in a lot of the back story between Luke, Ronnie and Shawn. The characters are well written and the story draws you in. I give it 5 out of 5 and highly recommend it!