Review Detail

We first met V Valentine in Macklers Vegan Virgin Valentine, a book told from the point of view of her same-age aunt (Mara). But this book is all V. Shes been the queen of meaningless hookups for years and has worked pretty hard at not getting close (emotionally, that is&) to guys.

Then an errant hockey puck lands her in the lap of Sam Almond. Hes different. Hes cool. Hes awesome. He becomes Vs first real boyfriend. For the first time ever, V is in a meaningful relationship. Heck, its the first time shes really ever been in a relationship period (all the other guys never lasted over about 2 weeks).

But V keeps sabotaging it. At first, its small things. She has doubts. She has fears. She cant believe that something real and true is happening to her with a guy. But then she does the unthinkable. The unforgivable. And just as suddenly as Sam came into her life, hes out of it.

On the surface, V tries to pretend it is business as usual, but it is very obvious that it isnt. Shes really lost something here, for the first time. Her first instinct is to run away from the situation, which she does by taking a road trip to see her flaky mom.

Along the way she starts to realize some things about herself, about Sam, and about what her moms lifestyle and choices did to her personally. When her mom disappoints her once again, V decides to take things into her own hands and live her own life her way, not her mothers way.

I found this to be an honest, real look at a girl whos self-destructive behavior was keeping her from grabbing any happiness for herself. Its nice to see V grow through the book and realize that she does have a choice in who she wants to be and that she is capable of real love. Recommended for readers aged 14 and up due to some sexual situations.