EyeLeash: A Blog Novel

I'm going to be honest. When I first heard of a "blog fiction" novel, I immediatley thought it would be another IM fluffy rom-com, like TTYL by Lauren Myracle. But, once I read the description, I was intrigued.

Jade is a virgin--much to her dismay--pining over the idea of love while still holding her 'indepednent women' ideals. She makes no secret of her self-satisfactory practices (then again, it is her private blog) and the conversations she and her friends have about sex. She's worried about her seemingly endless virginal future, listeninng with both curiousity and envy to her friend's account of their recent *ahem* activity.

But then, an old middle school fling (Noven) sends her an IM:

And this is the cataylist that sets the rest of the plot in motion; he invites her to catch his band playing. She goes, only to find the geeky fourteen year old she remembers has transformed into a...well, he's hot. And she wants him. Bad.

After some mutual flirtation (and several nude pictures) they agree to be "friends with benefits"

They book a room at a 5-star hotel. Unexpectedly, Novan backs out at the last moment. Though he wants to explain his decision, he backs off due to Jades subsequent hostility.

At loveXpress.com [a fictitious site parallel to www.secondlife.com], Jade starts to chat with another guyHawke, a fitness trainer. His online avatars name is Tyler Weed.

Jade shifts her attention from Novan to Hawke. Still, she struggles to define her own feminine identity in todays sex-saturated culture. (from Eyeleash synopsis)

I think the spotlight on Eyeleash should be on Ms. Scott for her representation of todays high-tech world, capturing perfectly the John Hughes-like angst every teenager goes through like any real teenager would--through the internet. Jade has a voice all her own, not like the drabble most teenage girls usually put in their blog; again, this is private, for her eyes only. She's stripped away her filter, giving an uncensored account of her journey to losing the ever-loving virginity.

I love this especially because, let's face it, we've all rambled on about our love-lives on some blog or another, we've all been in these kinds of situations before, we've all been in Jade or Novan's shoes. It's so easy to relate ot Jade's narrative. Personally, I've grown up in the technology era--I learned to type when I was seven--and this so truthfully protrays how love is these days. I've had entire relationships based around hour long chats and emails. If it sounds like I'm saying the same thing over and over, that's because it's all I can think about: how alike Jade is to me and so many of my friends. This really is a book for any teenager living in Cyber-America.

My only gripe? Even I, who will probably forget how to communicate audibley with my fellow human being by the year 2012, didn't understand some of the lingo and abbreviations. While it doesn't completely draw away from the story, it is a bit distracting and messes up the flow of the narrative. Again, not a complete deal-breaker, but still. I like to read books without having to go on the Urban Dictionary.