Customer Reviews

Fair Game

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The accusation is horrifying--a group of high-school athletes in a small suburban town gang-raped a mentally retarded high-school girl. The athletes, always considered a good group of guys by those in town, deny that they did anything wrong.

Laura Jean, the girlfriend of one of the leaders, is a solid defender of the guys. She can't believe that her boyfriend, Scott, would ever rape any girl, and she is furious when the media won't let go of the story. But as she finds out more information, will she still be so sure her boyfriend is an angel?

Joe, an athlete and friend of the accused guys, was there the day the alleged rape took place, but he left the house before it happened. He struggles with his own involvement, trying to distance himself from his friends while at the same time trying to decide if he should feel any guilt about what happened.

Cara, the alleged victim, desperately wants to be liked. When the athlete boys start paying attention to her, she thinks it's because they are her friends, and even when she doesn't understand what is going on and what they are saying, she is willing to do anything in order to be included in their popular group.

Is it rape if one of the participants has no idea what is going on? Did Cara have the mental capacity to consent to sex?

I liked that this story was told from three different points of view; I felt like I had a much more well-rounded view of the characters and what actually happened. This was an unflinching story of the cruelty of teenagers, especially teenagers in groups. This made it very hard to read in parts, but it also forced the reader to think carefully about what had happened. It seems like this same story could have happened anywhere. The character of Laura Jean was incredibly shallow and stupid, though. She refused to see what was obvious, and she stood by her boyfriend even when it became obvious he was a sleaze. It was hard to believe that any girl would be that pathetic.

Faire game demonstrates a realistic down-to-earth and yet scary view of highschool. As most people know highschool can be a terrifing expirience and this novel shows the extent of this. A mildy retarded girl longs to belong in a group of popular kids and goes to many lenghts to achieve that. Until one day she follows the boys around and as the boys already know,she will do many things to be accepted and they decide to take advantage of this. I dont want to give away what happens but the varied vew points provide an intense and detailed look at the feelings of the girl that was taken advantage of, a girlfriend to one of the boys involved and a friend to all of the boys. This book is harsh and shocking although Tamar is a great writer and can really show the terrible side of highschool. Not being able to put it down for 3 days straight I agree that this book deserves 5 stars!

I read this book a while ago, but I still will always remember it as one of my favourite books. I loved it and it had such a powerful effect on me that I made all my friends read it too. It's disturbing, but amazing. I recommend it.

Ok, this was a good book. I was really disturbed with Cara. It just shows how wanted a young mentally challenger teen can be. The 'jocks' sickened me .... at one point I liked Scott I thought he was sweet to Laura Jean (and that is one of the things I liked about this book how Erika twisted with his image) it just shows how much a minority can effect everyone. Joe, I love him, he is just great. He stuck up for himself (what he believed in) and was descent . Laura Jean, geez, after she learned what had happened she still helped Scott? Sick, he should have gotten what he deserved. This is a very controversial issue about rape and at some points I favoured with the jocks and others with Cara.....she did incourage them but still they did take advantage of her...a fair piece of work not like I am one to judge but that is my personal opinion on this novel.

"The Fair Game, concerning top high school atheletes 'gang raping' a mildly retarded sophomore girl." To me, this book is very interesting. It deals with high school; easily related to teen lives like you or me. The author of "Fair Game" captures the readers attention and pulls the reader along as the story and flashback unfolds. She has chosen and revealed her characters well, as well as thoughts of each main character. I fancy this book for its suspense, thoughts, and plots of the story.

I could not put this book down. This book was written with real feeling. I felt like I was actually there with the characters. I could really relate to L.J. and Joe, and I could better understand what it's like to see through the eyes of a slow-learner like Cara. It was sad to witness the break-up of Scott and L.J., but she made a smart decision by leaving him. Joe was more of a man than the other jocks. It's hard to resist peer pressure...and sometimes your own feelings for someone. This book told the story truer than most books i've read, complete with cuss words spurting out of the mouths of teens. When I was finished, I was kind of disappointed. I wanted to read more and find out what happened between the jocks and Cara. I'll be sure to check out more of Tamar's books in the future.

THE BOOK WAS GREAT, I COULD NOT PUT THE BOOK DOWN FOR A SECOND BECAUSE IT FELT LIKE I COULD OF DONE SOMETHING FOR CARA,L.J.,AND SCOTT. EACH STORY WAS DIFFERENT AND THERE WERE PEOPLE WHO MADE A GOOD DICISION AND A BAD DICISION. EVEN THE STRESS AND CONFUSION L.J. WENT THROUGH WAS VERY HARD FOR HER. L.J. MADE A VERY GOOD DICISION FOR HERSELF IN THE END.

When my librarian first recommended this book to me, I was very skeptical. But after reading it, I figured out why she recommended it to me so highly. Eventhough, Cara enjoyed her first sexual experiences with these boys, she had no idea what would happen that day at the Delaney house. The guys took advantage of her and didn't think twice about it. I would not necessarily call Cara oversexed, but she certainly liked what she experienced the first time she did anything and thats what led her in to a false sense of security that day before the rape ever occurred. L.J.'s decision to stand by Scott surprised me at first but then I realized how much she loved him and it made sense as to why she did what she did. Being a young man in high school, I was skeptical about reading this book but after I did i know why it came recommended so highly. I would definitely recommend this book to other people my age.

I really enjoyed this book. I thoght it was really cruel how those jocks treated Cara. I hated how the girlfriend of one of the jocks was so stupid. She didn't want to believe that her boyfriend was scum. She had the nerve to go back and do it with him several times after the incident. The chapters are split into different people's point of view. I think the author did a really good job on this book. I read this book in July '99 coming out of 6th grade in one day. I stayed up all night reading the book. I checked this book out of the library. But I really reccommend you buy this book.

I felt this book was weak. It is a work of fiction based on true story, yet Tamar doesn't seem to make a very clear point or take a stand. It seems her only directive was to demonstrate how the sexual assault of a special needs adolescent girl can be a muddy issue; was it rape after all? I did not feel any sympathy for the character coming through in Tamar's writing. Though she tried to give a multi-perspective account, the intent of her book was clouded by this aim. The author's characterization of the victim was embarrassing, and made the girl sound like a hyper-sexualized frankenstein. I was very disappointed. From the title I had expected this to be a powerful work examining the psychology of boys who are victimizers and the society that facilitates, and enables, this egregious behavior. It was not; Fair Game simply offers a muddled view of an appalling event, while alientating readers from the victim through stereotypical characterization. An excellent title misrepresents this awkward and labored read.