Bella's review of Unteachable by Leah Raeder

Unteachable by Leah Raeder
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Wow. This book!!! I picked up this book because a friend of mine was reading it. I knew it was popular, had seen it mentioned in my book club and on GR, but I hadn't read the blurb. So the only thing I knew going into it was it was about a teacher/student romance.

Leah Raeder instantly hooked me. Holy SH!T!!! This book was intense! I love the way she uses words. Reminds me that I could NEVER be a writer. This book is told from the first person from Maise's POV but it's like she's telling us the story. With little warnings here or there.

Maise is a pretty complex character. Her mother is a POS, her father is not in the picture and she has had to witness some pretty awful things that made her grow up pretty quickly. She is cynical. She's a loner. And she uses men. Older men.

Maise meets Evan one night at a carnival in the summer of her 18th birthday. She want's to conquer her fear of roller coasters and Evan ends up sitting next to her on the ride.

And I felt something I've never felt before. You can call it love, or you can call it freefall. They're pretty much the same thing.

They end up connecting and spend the night having fun - riding rides, playing games, etc.

There are moments when you're getting to know someone, when you realize something deep and buried in you is deep and buried in them to. It feels like meeting a stranger you've known your whole life.

But Maise is scared of this connection with him. She doesn't do relationships and this feels real. She walks away thinking she will never see him again. And she can't stop thinking about him.

Then, she walks into her film class on the first day of school and there he is, her teacher.

Because it didn't start as teacher student, you totally see how this could happen. Evan offers to quit, to do whatever makes her feel more comfortable, but Maise tells him not to. She continues as his student, but neither can shake their connection.

The little bits of warning from Maise ratcheted up my sense of foreboding higher and higher. Maise and Evan are two flawed characters, broken from past experiences, that make each other whole again. I wanted them to have a HEA. But the entire time, I'm thinking - this can't end well. OMG. They're going to get caught. But they need to end up together!!!!

Her mother - hate her mother. Her mother also filled me with dread. I was so afraid of what her mother had gotten Maise into.

Hiyam. Every book has one - that girl you love to hate.

If there is a God, or an Allah, or anything, I thought, strike this bitch down. Please.

Wesley - her one and only friend. You really get to see how Maise grows as a person through her relationship with him. Relationships are not always good times and rainbows.

And Maise learns from Evan too.

Out of everything I ever learned from Evan Wilke, I think that lesson was the most important: that none of us actually grow up. We get bigger, and older, but part of use always retains that small rabbit heart, trembling furiously, secretively with wonder and fear.

This book had me up ALL night. I got so worked up I was reaching out for some support at 2am. I was terrified to keep reading and see what happened, but I couldn't stop reading. I wanted them to have sunshine and rainbows, but I knew that might not happen. It was like watching a movie and you reach a part where you just can't watch. So slap your hand over your eyes, but then part your fingers so you can watch anyways because you can't bear to miss one part.

So, bottom line. Read this book. Just go and one-click now.

CH - Nope!

Steamy - HELL YES!! This book is HOT.




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