Brie's Corner

Originally posted heretWarning: there will be spoilers.When New Adult started generating buzz, I was equal parts confused and hopeful. The first few books I read convinced me of the potential of a category that I’m still trying to figure out where it belongs. I have talked about the subject before, so I won’t repeat it here, but I’ll say that while most have a dismissive and cynic reaction to these books, I’ve championed and tried to explain that no, NA is not a bunch of steamy YA’s.However, the truth is that the more I read, the more disillusioned I become. The success of a few bred many similar stories that tried to reproduce key elements of the original, but with a complete disregard of the quality and care that made those first books so successful. The result is a bunch of novels that offer nothing new and that use serious topics as convenient sources of angst. Instead of true storytelling and concern for the craft and the readers, these books feel like an exercise in marketing and fan-service. Wait for You is a perfect example of this.If I had to describe this book in a few words, I would say that it’s a poor copy of Tammara Webber’s Easy that uses similar tropes and themes, but fails to develop them in any meaningful way. This means that there’s rape, bullying and other serious topics, but their role in the story is to make the heroine sympathetic, the hero dreamy, and the plot over emotional and intense (but not in a good way).Avery is a bit of a nervous wreck doing her best to go unnoticed. So of course she gets noticed by hunky Cameron, who happens to be her neighbor and classmate. He relentlessly pursues her, but she keeps declining his offers to go on a date, and in the meantime they become friends. Yet she’s almost a recluse, and it soon becomes obvious that there’s something wrong with her. And by this I mean that she keeps hinting at it in her constant inner dialogue.The problem is that Avery was raped when she was fourteen and then endured persistent bullying, which culminated in a suicide attempt. Her rich parents more concerned with their reputation than with their daughter, made her drop the charges and sign a confidentiality agreement, so her rapist was free to spread rumors that everyone believed. That’s why Avery decided to leave everything behind and go to a small college. Needless to say, she never got help and she only confides in Cameron but not until almost the end of the book.I don’t understand the need to make something as awful and tragic as rape even more dramatic by adding evil parents. Is this a way to make the heroine more sympathetic? Or is it a way to make the story emotionally manipulative and over the top? Have we become so desensitized and used to rape that the only way to have an emotional response to it is through exaggeration?But the rape, the bullying and the attempted suicide barely get a mention in the book other than to emphasize how damaged Avery is and how understanding is Cameron’s response. She has no support system to help her deal with what happened, and she only gets (doubtfully) better when she falls in love. I’m not saying that someone’s partner can’t be part of the support system, but in this book it was yet another case of curing her with his charming personality and, oh yes, sex.The issues don’t stop there. Avery has two best friends, one of which is the stereotypical sassy gay, and the other one a girl who is levelheaded, carefree, and seems to enjoy sex, but whose only purpose is to talk about boys. So if you’re keeping a bingo scorecard, now you can cross off “stereotypical and lazy portrayal of the only gay character in the book” and “fails the Bechtel test”. Worse, these two truly care about her, yet their role in the story is that of the romance facilitator. They are nothing but plot devices. And the best friend isn’t even the sequel-bait character; that honor goes to the very minor character that was in an abusive relationship.On the positive side, Cameron is a great hero who supports, understands and respects Avery. He is protective but not possessive, and overall I thought he was sweet and very likeable. He doesn’t escape some stereotypical character traits, but a book that features a scene where the heroine hides behind the curtain of her hair, is bound to be ridden with clichés and stereotypes.The book has a somewhat positive portrayal of sex. At one point Avery discovers masturbation and there was no slut-shaming. But I’m also conflicted about it, because the book has a lot of explicit sex that I thought was unnecessary. I still believe that NA shares a target audience with YA, so adding sexual content to these stories makes me uncomfortable, especially in books like this one that don’t need it and would have been just fine with milder or fade-to-black scenes. But again, sex sells. So perhaps the detractors are right to say that NA is nothing but an excuse to add sex to YA.Ms. Lynn is a talented writer, but Wait for You isn’t a good book. It certainly is more than a fairly competent copy of the latest trends; I mean, I’ve read some stuff I wish I could un-read. But unfortunately, I still have standards and I’m not willing to give this one a free pass just because it's entertaining. There’s certainly a huge market for similar stories, but I’m sure there are a lot of readers out there craving better books.