Review Detail

Set in modern day Florida, Nothing to Lose by Alex Flinn follows a teenage boy whose mother has been accused of killing her abusive husband. For two years, Michael attempted to protect his mother and repeatedly tried to get her to leave his stepfather. She refused to leave, even as her husband's temper flared and their home situation worsened. Finally, Michael ran away to work at a traveling carnival; shortly thereafter, his stepfather was dead and his mother was imprisoned.

A year after he left, Michael comes back to Florida with the carnival and finds out that the jury selection is beginning for his mother's trial. She has confessed to the murder, and her attorney is discussing battered spouse syndrome. Michael must decide whether or not to speak up in his mother's defense and tell the truth about what happened in his stepfather's home.

Michael's downward spiral is explained well without ever being heavy-handed. He had decent grades, football, friends and a social life, but as the abuse at home increased, he quit football so that he would have more time at home to look after his mom. After losing his jock friends, he reluctantly starts hanging out with a kid who is now known as a bit of a geek - but used to be his best friend in middle school. When Michael meets Kirstie, a dark-haired beauty a few years his senior, at the carnival, he discovers that he can have his own life - but at what expense? When he returns to Miami a year later, he again must weigh his choices and decide what and who are the most important things in life.

Nothing to Lose is a well-written book that deftly weaves in the protagonist's past and present, with each chapter simply labelled "Last Year" or "This Year." It moves along at a steady pace, never breaking form nor dragging its feet. It is a compelling story that will keep the reader on edge until the very end.

Alex Flinn has written three books thus far, the other two being Breaking Point, about peer pressure and popularity, and Breathing Underwater, about teenage dating and abuse. Though I liked all three of Flinn's books, I think her writing has greatly improved with the passage of time. Her first novel, Breathing Underwater, gets two and a half stars from me; Breaking Point snags three stars; and Nothing to Lose deserves four stars. Also, while you should never judge a book by its cover, I have to give two thumbs up to the cover art for Nothing to Lose - the wheel of destiny.