Review - The Mockingbirds

So for those of you that somewhat know my reading tastes, you'll know that I'm into teen/young adult fiction. There's little difference, at least in my opinion, between the two, but they are shelved in different parts of the library. Essentially, the difference between them is the level of subject matter as it relates to sensitive issues (i.e. sex, violence, drug use, etc.), the young adult books (which are shelved in with the adult sections) being more mature than those placed in the teen section. So if you go into your local library (at least if it's a GCPL library), you'll find something like the Twilight series in the adult section, and the later books of the Harry Potter series in the teen section.

Anyhow, the real reason for this post is I wanted to put up my first book review post on the debut young adult novel by Daisy Whitney, The Mockingbirds. I just finished reading this book yesterday, and that I found it to be one of those books that I didn't want to put down - it was really very compelling.

The novel centers on high school junior Alex, who wakes up in the bed belonging to water polo-playing jock Carter, not remembering how she got there. She slowly remembers details of what happened, and comes to the realization that she was drunk and date-raped, twice, that night. However, Alex and Carter attend Themis, a prestigious academy where the faculty think their students can do no wrong, and therefore have basically no justice system in place and ignore the issues that happen at the school. So instead, Themis law is enforced by an underground student group called the Mockingbirds (yes, the name comes from To Kill a Mockingbird and there are clever references to the classic throughout the book). After some persuasion from her best friend and sister, Alex approaches the Mockingbirds for their help, and, as the novel unfolds, Alex remembers more and more of the details of what happened that night.

The novel was well-written, especially for the age-level it's targeted to. It was a good and interesting read, and offered a very blatant and honest look at the issue of date-rape. However, the one problem I really had with it is that I personally didn't feel emotionally connected with Alex. Especially near the end of the story and at its climax. I wanted to feel more, wanted to know what she was feeling, not just what she was thinking and why (which Whitney does do a good job of explaining). With a novel about a situation such as this one, I feel that the author needs to be extra concerned with connecting with the reader. Whitney herself was date-raped in college, so I have no doubt that she herself connected with the story, but I think she could have done better getting her reader to really understand.

Basically: The idea, plot, and characters were interesting and well-developed, but the level of emotional investment I had in them was lacking, so overall, I give The Mockingbirds 4 (out of 5) stars.