The Secret Year

The Secret Year by Jennifer R. Hubbard Take Romeo and Juliet. Add The Outsiders. Mix thoroughly. Colt and Julia were secretly together for an entire year and no one, not even Julia's boyfriend knew. They had nothing in common, with Julia in her country club world on Black Mountain and Colt from down on the flats, but it never mattered. Until Julia dies in a car accident, and Colt learns the price of secrecy. He can't mourn Julia openly, and he's tormented that he might have played a part in her death. When Julia's journal ends up in his hands, Colt relives their year together at the same time that he's desperately trying to forget her. But how do you get over someone who was never yours in the first place?

***SPOILERS ABOUND***

I cannot remember the last time a book pissed me off as much as this book did. And I don't mean it in the sense that it annoyed me, but that it actually made me angry.



Let me start from the beginning: poor Colt (boring, unlikable) has been "seeing" (aka having all kinds of sex--but don't worry, they use a condom, because even though they're all horrible, selfish people, they don't want to have a baby) this rich girl named Julia (less boring, more unlikable) for a year when she dies in a car accident. Colt can't mourn her because he's scum and she had a hot boyfriend. Julia's brother gives Colt a journal of her really corny poetry and prose about them having sex. 



That's it. That's the story.



Honestly, though? Nothing happens in this book. Nothing. There was absolutely no tension, nothing propelling me forward in this novel except for the desire to be able to finish the book and have the basis to write my review off of. Like, the whole tagline of Romeo & Juliet meets the Outsiders? Yeah, not so. The entire novel is basically Colt feeling guilty over something really stupid and having sex with a lot of girls. Oh, and there are some lame, pointless fights between the rich and the poor that were kind of West Side Story-ish, but worse. 



The characters in this novel were unbelievable in that I didn't believe one single character for a second. They were all selfish and annoying in their own way, and their motivations made no sense. Like, here's a bunch of hick boys who decide to beat up a rich kid because he's so awful, but it honestly felt like it was thrown in there for the hell of it. It was so, so pointless, and the characters all seemed like cutouts. There's the manipulative rich girl (Julia), the perfect girl who won't love him back (Kirby), the girl best friend who's loved him all along (Syd), the white trash friends (Nick, Paul), the waitress mother, the alcoholic father, the gay brother--I mean, seriously. 



Oh, right. The gay brother. Here's the part of the review that might turn into a rant. Tom's big coming out on 
Thanksgiving was probably the most cliche, overwrought, unrealistic coming out I've ever read. Period. The entire scene completely demeaned the coming out process because there was no emotion in it whatsoever. Like, hey, here's Tom who's cocky and arrogant and also gay, and here's his parents literally disowning him because they're closed-minded hicks, but they'll get over it, and at least it's a Thanksgiving to Remember! But don't worry, because Colt is okay with it, even though he "didn't see how he could want to have sex with another guy, but hey, it was his life." No, you're right, Ms. Hubbard. Being gay is only about having sex with other guys (or girls), and God forbid a character have an intelligent reasoning behind why he supports it. Oh, did I also mention his brother was into theater? Yeah. Because everyone who's gay is automatically flamboyant and artsy.



Can you tell I'm honestly fuming about this?



I also found the book to be slightly ridiculous in its views of female sexuality, as Colt is frequently referred to as having "been" with Julia--since the only thing they did was have sex, well. How lucky he was to have "been" with her. Let's not mention how at three points during the novel, one of the girls Colt's just slept with gets all emotional and leaves when he just wants to rest, because sex is hard work, and he's tired. Ah, yes, let the guy lay back while the girl overanalyzes their sexual encounter. That doesn't sound cliche at all. 



Besides the story, I wasn't even into the writing. I thought it was unnecessarily flowery, I couldn't tell one narration from another (Julia's letters are interspersed), and some basic facts of the novel are just so stupid. Like, Colt and his mother work at a family restaurant. His mom works the 4 to midnight shift. What kind of a family restaurant stays open till midnight? 



In case it isn't clear, I really couldn't stand this book. Nothing happens in the plot, the characters are unlikable, and the "big" moments are ultimately disappointing. There was so much promise, but it fell very short. (Oh, and one last thing: Colt's reason for feeling guilty makes no sense to me. It's completely convoluted, and it gives him way more credit than he deserves.)





Final Grade: F

The Problem With Purity in YA

Let me clarify: There's nothing wrong with purity. Absolutely nothing. Your character a virgin? Awesome. Is this something that's important to her, and something that she wants to honor? That's awesome, too.

But what is NOT awesome is when a character's purity is used as a ploy to prove how much better he/she is than another character. Another character who does not hold purity in the same regard. Another character who is, by all stereotypes, a slut.

There are a lot of words I despise ("moist" is a real highlight, although "discharge" and "latch" are also gag-worthy), but "slut" is one of the words I absolutely cannot stand. The connotation it has--that a girl who has sex, maybe even a lot of sex, is automatically a bad person--is just incredible, and I mean that in the worst way possible. Because guess what? 1. It's no one's business who a girl has sex with, how much sex she has, etc., and 2. It. Doesn't. Make. Her. A. Bad. Person.

Which is why I've been having such a hard time wrapping my head around this new device I'm seeing YA Lit. One that says that pure MCs > well, any other MC.

Because that isn't true. It isn't true in real life, and it isn't true in books.

You see, I could really care less whether or not a character in a book has sex. It doesn't, not even for a second, change my view of them. That is, of course, unless they use their virginity (or lack of it) to prove how much better they are. But, if I'm being honest, I can't name one book off the top of my head where a main character is not a virgin and uses that against someone. I can think of secondary characters who might pick on their perfect, pure friend in a drunken stupor about being a virgin, but this girl is usually characterized as a foil for the MC. This character is also frequently slut-shamed to no end. Most books I can think of involving a non-virgin MC treat it as if it doesn't matter. And it doesn't. It is not a definer of character, and it does not prove anything about that person. But when the main character is pure, I kind of feel like I need to be learning a lesson.

In Kiera Cass's novel, The Selection, the potential contestants vying for the prince's heart are asked point-blank if their virgins. If this was not important in proving the goodness of these characters, then it wouldn't have been mentioned. What's more is that, following this question, the girls are advised to do whatever the prince tells them to do!!! No. Just... just no.

You see, contrary to popular beliefs, YA books don't--I repeat, do not--cause people to have sex, do drugs, get drunk, etc. just because a main character does. It's the ideals surrounding those "bad" things that stick with readers. So, can a book have a pure girl MC and still be meaningful? Yes. Can a book have a non-virgin MC and still be meaningful? Yes. It's when one type of person (in this case, virgin or not) is advocated over another that the real problems start. Because there is no type of person who is the best, and I cannot WAIT until this device wears itself thin and I get something new to complain about.

What do you think? Have you read any books where the virginity or non-virginity of a character is used against someone else?