Criminal

Wow, this book. Spectacularly well-written, taking an unlikable protagonist with an unsympathetic point of view and making her believable and worthy of compassion and understanding--so much so that following her journey to growth and maturity is incredibly rewarding. Masterful, taut writing. Absolutely fantastic.

I wasn't sure I was liking this as I started it. The main character is sooooo dumb. But she grew on me. I was happy to see her evolve. She felt real and I could see someone like her being victimized like she was.

Well written but the story goes nowhere. I did not care enough for the characters and the ending was abruptw

Nick pissed me off because she was so ignorant!! I don't think she had a mind of her own. Other than that the book came in good condition and was a quick read.

A whole lot of language in it. A powerful story. Showing us that love or many other things can blind us and hold you back from what you truly want.

Two weeks ago, my 14 year old daughter came home from school saying that she needed this book for class because it was assigned by her teacher. I'm not sure what kind of agenda this teacher has aside from traumatizing high school kids, but I can't imagine it would be anything worthy of a Teacher of the Year Award. I thought that the Haribo Sugar-Free Gummy Bears were the worst thing Amazon had to offer, little did I know. Aside from the fact that my daughter complained about not wanting to read it and struggling to finish it before the due date (which is very unlike her), I had her asking me questions about if police can track down DNA after someone has sex. WHAT?! I took the book after that (she unfortunately had already finished it) and read it. I was horrified by the language and vivid Fifty Shades of Gray esc scenes (minus the bondage) in a book for my HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT. Aside from it being highly inappropriate, it was about as unrealistic as having an entire high school full of students who break out into song and choreographed dance numbers in the cafeteria (HSM, 2006). After speaking with the teacher who said "she wanted to 'help' the children know what to look out for in dating relationships". Needless to say I involved the other parents and we have a book burning planned for tomorrow night.

Criminal by Terra Elan McVoy is a book that surprised me and kept me turning the pages. It’s a book that I’m very excited to share with my students, especially those who love mysteries and edgy books.Nikki is a character that I felt for, but I also found myself shaking my head at her often. Terra Elan McVoy wrote her in such a way that while I knew I shouldn’t feel sorry for Nikki, I couldn’t help it. She makes horrible choices. She blindly follows her boyfriend’s directions. But she’s also coming from an unstable home and is uneducated. She’s very naive. But she’s also real. She makes choices like many girls in bad relationships do. They may not be as extreme (thankfully), but readers will relate with Nikki.Like I said before, Criminal kept me turning the pages. The chapters are fairly short and the plot moves quickly. I hope this book will end up YALSA’s Quick Picks for Reluctant Readers list because it’s one that I know will win over my reluctant readers. One day during SSR in my sophomore class I had to stop our reading to talk to them about a part that made me angry. Nikki did something that I couldn’t believe she did; I thought it was stupid of her. I had a quick conversation with my kids and asked them if they’d ever confronted a part like that in a book. Taking that moment piqued quite a bit of interest which I’m happy about because my sophomores aren’t as excited about reading as my seniors are this year. Criminal is full of “we need to discuss this” moments.I do want to add that Criminal is a mature read. There are sexual scenes and mature themes involved. I’m not worried about placing this in my classroom, but I know quite a few of my readers work in middle school libraries/classrooms. Nikki is an eighteen year old character and lives a rough life. There are certainly lessons to be learned from Nikki’s story.