Customer Reviews

Contents Under Pressure

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the first book I have read by Lara M. Zeises, and I was happily surprised.

The book follows fourteen-year-old Lucy Doyle as she falls in and out of friendships, battles home conflicts, and eventually gets a boyfriend. I found the story itself, quite readable and realistic.

One of the things I liked about this book was that it didn't seem to make any of the horrible and all-too-common mistakes that other books have. For instance, I hate it when main characters treat depression, mental illness, and other family problems with an almost bored tone as in "I'm so-and-so, I'm tall and skinny, have a dog, and have a mother who hasn't gotten out of bed in three weeks." Another thing I hate is when the girl/boy's situation is a my-dad-is-in-jail-my-brother-is-suicidal. "Contents Under Pressure" avoided both these problems. The situation at home was realistic and just as life-changing, and the Lucy had genuine reactions that changed over the course of the book.

You can sympathize with Lucy and all of her friends at the same time, instead of hating one person one page, and hating another the next. The same thing goes for her brother, jack, and his girlfriend, Hannah. The way she meets her future boyfriend is quirky and unique.

Overall, I definitely recommend "Contents Under Pressure."

I ate this book in one day. I wanted to hurry up and read it and at the same time I didn't want it to end. I cared about all of the characters, especially Lucy and Hannah. Lucy's friendships with her girlfriends and Tobin were realistic, and anyone with a brother will relate to Lucy's mixed feelings about Jack and her booger-eating little brother, Brody. There were a lot of subtle, touching moments in this novel. I liked Zeises first book a lot, but I thought this one was even better.

I was a big fan of Zeises's first book, but this one blew me away. The characters were believeable and sympathetic, the dialogue rang true, and the situations were incredibly realistic. The story sucked me in and left me wanting more, more, more! I hope there will be a sequel because I just HAVE to know what happens to Lucy and Tobin and Hannah and Jack! I am going to recommend this book to everyone I know.

as a fan of BRINGING UP THE BONES, i had this book on my wish list for many months before it even came out. i though the characters were bold and believable, the language was true and relatable, and the story captured what it feels like to be a young girl trying to figure out love and boys and friendship and life. i thought the little details that made this book what it was were the best part, because they were all true to life, even if they might have been unpleasant or hard to talk about. i read it in two hours, and was sad when it ended, because though the book only spanned a few weeks of the life of the main character, i felt i knew her for much longer by the time it was done. applause to lara for once again making me want to hug her protagonist :)

Lara I absolutly love your book i consider myself somewhat of an avid reader and have read around quite a bit and let me tell you, future readers of this book preprare to be delighted by the realistic charm and humor that lucy (biscuit) exudes. As much as i loved Contents Under Pressure I found myself wishing for more. Do Tobin and Lucy stay together? What happens to the baby. TELL ME!!! please help me by writing a much awaited sequel!

Contents under pressure by Laura M. Zeises is a really good book for teenagers ages thirteen to seventeen.

This book is really good because it is really easy to relate to. This is a good book for teens going through adolescence because they can relate to what fourteen year old Lucy is going through. Like having an older boyfriend, wondering about dating, having your older brother's pregnant girlfriend move into your room, and having a dad who's always at work instead of with his family.

After reading this book I couldn't put it down I finished it only a few hours.

Certainly Contents is a breeze of a read and more than appropriate for younger, more inexperienced readers. The subplot subject matter, an unexpected and out of wedlock pregnancy, is handled tastefully and with little preaching. But, there's little else to say about this book. I tried for a while to figure out what bugged me about this book, it was neither great or horrific, and I've narrowed it down to a few key points:

Lucy, the protagonist, is the only character I ever connected with and with a cast as large as the one chronicled in Contents, I expected more. I guess Lucy's your average coming of age character, uncertain, awkward, trying to find herself and the place(s) she fits in and struggling to keep up with her peers. I think it's fairly easy for most people to remember back to those days and empathize with her situation and Lucy's character seems to embody all those conflicting emotions. But this novel boasts a number of other characters we're supposed to connect with as well and, for me, that simply didn't happen.

Tobin, Lucy's love interest, seems sweet. But that's it. He's a sweet boy. Nothing more. He lacked the depth of personality that would have made him an impressive character and given the number of scenes he occupies he needed to be better developed. I really wanted to like him, to connect with him and see and feel all of the things Lucy did, I just wasn't given the opportunity.

Hannah, Lucy's brother Jack's pregnant girlfriend, is one of the better drawn characters but still there's something missing. Unfortunately she isn't given the opportunity to find her voice until the end of the book and by then it hardly mattered. What I read of her left me wanting more.

Jack. Oh, there is so much to say about Jack. He was one of the more irritating characters I've come across in recent times. Jack's moved home with Hannah, dropping out of college in the process, and begins to promptly act like an obstinate two years old. The author would have us believe that Lucy and Jack were thick as thieves, but that never comes through. What we're left with is a young man who picks ridiculous fights with his sisters and acts as if getting his girlfriend pregnant is a fate worse than death. Certainly I don't advocate getting your girlfriend knocked up, especially at such a young age, but stop your bellyaching and step up to the plate. Jack just couldn't manage to do that and, instead, sulked and whined at ever provocation.

The story could have been great, there was a wealth of material to work with, but it never got off the ground for me and I blame weak characters for that. Had there been more substance it very well could have been a slam dunk.

this was a wonderful book and i wished it never ended! i really want to know what will happen to lucy and all the other people. so please wirte sequel to this book. I LOVE CONTENTS UNDER PRESSURE!!!

this book was great!

i didn't want it to end!

i gobbled it up in a few hours, so i guess my only problem
is that it wasn't long enough.

luckily, i stumbled across the author's website and
discovered that she created a journal for Lucy

so now i can continue to read about her adventures there!

i just loved CONTENTS UNDER PRESURE because i could really relate to lucy and i know that may people will be able to relate to her too. when i started to read it i just couldn't put it down and ended up finishing it in a few hours. i wished it never ended. SO i hope there will be many sequels to this book!