EyeLeash: A Blog Novel by Jess C Scott
Publisher: CreateSpace, 2009
Genre: Romance
Sub-genre: YA
Rating: 1 1/2 pints of blood
The cover is not going to be to everyone's taste, but I quite like it, knowing what the book is. The stark lines of the greyscale sketch contrasts with the vulnerability of the half-hiding face, and the whole thing looks like it could be the diary of a teen girl, which... it basically is. Even objectively, without knowing a thing about the book, it's different from anything out there, and it stands out to me. It would catch my eye, at the very least.
I've read novels written in diary form before, but this is the first I've come across written specifically as a blog. The informality of blogs, particularly ones kept by internet-loving teens, made the book sound different enough to make me think "hmmm."
Like every other 17-year-old girl, Jade has a lot of thoughts and concerns she can't share with anyone, so starting up a secret blog seems like a good way to vent. EyeLeash is all the ramblings from her head, her conversations with her friends, her concerns and hopes. And since she's hidden it, nobody can see what she says in here, especially all those naughty thoughts she's begun to have about Nolan, an old friend of hers who's suddenly starting to look really hot. She's not really looking for a relationship, but maybe if she plays things just right, she could work out a friends with benefits deal, and find out what the big deal is about sex.
Because it's written in blog form, with frequent bouts of instant messenger conversations, the writing here is very informal. A nice balance has been hit, actually, between following proper grammar rules and allowing for internet shorthands. There's nothing in here that's difficult to follow even if you've never spent time on the internet (and if you fall into this category, you're probably not reading this review), but the language feels appropriate to the age and time period of the characters. Translation: today's teens talk and write like this, although EyeLeash has better spelling and sentence structure, making it less painful to read than a novel full of lolcat-speech.
While Jade is a virgin, there's a huge emphasis on sex. Masturbation, fantasies, discussions with her more experienced friends, exchanging nude photos online, organizing a rendezvous... there is very little in EyeLeash that does not revolve around sex or Jade's sexuality. Is this realistic for a teen girl? Maybe. Do I want to spend 300 pages reading this at the expense of character development or plot? Not so much, no.
And that's ultimately where the book fails. While a book written entirely in blog form is a neat gimmick, it works much better if there's an involving story or intriguing characters to fill it. Preferrably both. Unfortunately, all I really know about Jade is that she's constantly obsessing over sex and mysteriously has enough money to make frequent and expensive shopping sprees for brand-name merchandise (while professing to be disgusted with the materialism of the girls around her). I know even less about the other characters, and there seems to be no chemistry between Jade and Nolan aside from their mutual teenage lust. The lust part would be fine if she didn't put such an emphasis on what good friends they are, how she's afraid hooking up will destroy their friendship, and how the book sets things up so the reader is clearly meant to be rooting for something more significant than just sex between the two of them. Nothing in their exchanges backs up the vaunted friendship; I've had more in depth conversations with total strangers.
As far as storyline goes, the book is meant to be largely a journey of self-discovery, but I never got the impression Jade had changed or learned anything. Perhaps part of this is because she came off as a two-dimensional character, but I spent most of the book waiting for something to happen, something that didn't involve Jade talking about experimenting alone in her bedroom or planning her first sexual escapade. It was all talk and no action, a book that tried to be frank and open but lost sight of its story in a quest to be unique.
EyeLeash is available in trade paperback
.
Genre: Romance
Sub-genre: YA
Rating: 1 1/2 pints of blood
The cover is not going to be to everyone's taste, but I quite like it, knowing what the book is. The stark lines of the greyscale sketch contrasts with the vulnerability of the half-hiding face, and the whole thing looks like it could be the diary of a teen girl, which... it basically is. Even objectively, without knowing a thing about the book, it's different from anything out there, and it stands out to me. It would catch my eye, at the very least.
I've read novels written in diary form before, but this is the first I've come across written specifically as a blog. The informality of blogs, particularly ones kept by internet-loving teens, made the book sound different enough to make me think "hmmm."
Like every other 17-year-old girl, Jade has a lot of thoughts and concerns she can't share with anyone, so starting up a secret blog seems like a good way to vent. EyeLeash is all the ramblings from her head, her conversations with her friends, her concerns and hopes. And since she's hidden it, nobody can see what she says in here, especially all those naughty thoughts she's begun to have about Nolan, an old friend of hers who's suddenly starting to look really hot. She's not really looking for a relationship, but maybe if she plays things just right, she could work out a friends with benefits deal, and find out what the big deal is about sex.
Because it's written in blog form, with frequent bouts of instant messenger conversations, the writing here is very informal. A nice balance has been hit, actually, between following proper grammar rules and allowing for internet shorthands. There's nothing in here that's difficult to follow even if you've never spent time on the internet (and if you fall into this category, you're probably not reading this review), but the language feels appropriate to the age and time period of the characters. Translation: today's teens talk and write like this, although EyeLeash has better spelling and sentence structure, making it less painful to read than a novel full of lolcat-speech.
While Jade is a virgin, there's a huge emphasis on sex. Masturbation, fantasies, discussions with her more experienced friends, exchanging nude photos online, organizing a rendezvous... there is very little in EyeLeash that does not revolve around sex or Jade's sexuality. Is this realistic for a teen girl? Maybe. Do I want to spend 300 pages reading this at the expense of character development or plot? Not so much, no.
And that's ultimately where the book fails. While a book written entirely in blog form is a neat gimmick, it works much better if there's an involving story or intriguing characters to fill it. Preferrably both. Unfortunately, all I really know about Jade is that she's constantly obsessing over sex and mysteriously has enough money to make frequent and expensive shopping sprees for brand-name merchandise (while professing to be disgusted with the materialism of the girls around her). I know even less about the other characters, and there seems to be no chemistry between Jade and Nolan aside from their mutual teenage lust. The lust part would be fine if she didn't put such an emphasis on what good friends they are, how she's afraid hooking up will destroy their friendship, and how the book sets things up so the reader is clearly meant to be rooting for something more significant than just sex between the two of them. Nothing in their exchanges backs up the vaunted friendship; I've had more in depth conversations with total strangers.
As far as storyline goes, the book is meant to be largely a journey of self-discovery, but I never got the impression Jade had changed or learned anything. Perhaps part of this is because she came off as a two-dimensional character, but I spent most of the book waiting for something to happen, something that didn't involve Jade talking about experimenting alone in her bedroom or planning her first sexual escapade. It was all talk and no action, a book that tried to be frank and open but lost sight of its story in a quest to be unique.
EyeLeash is available in trade paperback
.