Good morning and boo to Mondays, bibliophiles! It’s been an exhausting (but fun) weekend on my end, so getting back to the grind (and dealing with some bad sunburn) is the last thing I want to do today. Luckily, I was able to relax most of Sunday and just binge on my latest read, Eighteen by J.A. Huss. This book has been all over my Instagram feed for months. I’m guilty of having it on my Kindle since it’s release day, and only got to it this past weekend. There just aren’t enough hours in the day for reading.. which totally makes me cranky! Anyway, let me tell you a bit about my adventure with this one!
This book took me longer to finish than I had anticipated, but of course, scheduling conflicted with my reading. It’s the norm for me lately. I wish I could have just binged on this book the way I wanted.
When I finally got time with Mateo and Shannon, I enjoyed every minute. It’s a quick read, and also super taboo and steamy. He’s twenty-eight and she’s eighteen. He’s her teacher, and they both find a particular excitement when it comes to degrees of voyeurism.
Reading Eighteen completely kept me on my toes. The couple’s relationship was a rollercoaster right from the start, but there were other twists thrown in that I just didn’t see coming. For only being eighteen years old, Shannon sure had to grow up quickly. Granted, she let her emotions get the best of her a lot of the times, and she didn’t always stop to think, she was still a teenager trying to navigate very adult situations and decisions. Not only did she have an experienced man in her life, she also had a drug-addicted and alcoholic brother in-law she lived with, a deceased sister, a three month old niece to care for, and a high school that was riding her ass about graduating on time. Sometimes, she didn’t even have the means to have a proper meal and a good night’s sleep, so reading her predicaments was a lot to try to handle. I just wanted to help her.
What I also loved about this story (and probably the most), is that I didn’t walk away from the ending with everything tied up in a neat, little bow. Nothing ends on cloud nine and in a state of bliss for Shannon, but the angst and drama she had to endure was what made the story all the more real and relatable. It gave me a level of profound respect for her and all the characters involved.
Knowing that this was based on a true story just blew my mind. Granted, some things are changed for artistic license and such (the author tells you at the end), but still made this story hit me right in the heart with the amount of power its events held for me as the silent observer.
My Final Rating: four out of five stars
