NEW ADULT
Deeper - Robin York (2014)
With a simple text message of OMG from her best friend and roommate Bridget, Caroline's world implodes. Her ex-boyfriend, Nate, has posted private pictures online and she has to deal with the obscene comments and the damage to her reputation. All Caroline wants to do is fade into the background, wait for the storm to die down and hope that it doesn't ruin her dreams of law school, but West Leavitt has had enough of Nate's smarmy attitude and tells him with his fists. Caroline isn't sure what's going on, she and West aren't even really friends. She doesn't want him going around beating Nate up on her behalf, she just wants a quiet life, for it all to be forgotten, that's what she intends to tell West when she goes to see him but West gets under her skin. Huge props to Robin York for tackling such a difficult and unexplored theme head-on. Given the nature of the subject area, some of the language and content is difficult and obscene but York is keen to expose the realities of the situation. Aside from their initial meeting in the library, elements of which I found a bit strange, the story is strong and effortless and West and Caroline are the perfect combination. This novel really epitomises everything that is intrinsic to New Adult and above all it has a strong and clear message of courage and self-respect, of blaming the perpetrator, not the victim. And oh what a heartbreaking ending. There's a lot more that we need to learn about West and I'm glad to hear there's a sequel called Harder.
