Customer Reviews

Gravel Queen

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

 

 

This is basically an after-school special in novel form. Well, make that novella form. It's only 150 pages.

The three main characters spend all their time hanging around at the local park, wandering aimlessly through their town, sighing dramatically about how incredibly bored they are. True to life? Sure. Interesting? No.

The protagonist is a bored, sort of passive-agressive girl named Aurin who has a crush on a girl named Neila. (The author apparently has a fondness for weird names.) Her moody, attention-grabbing friend Kenney is jealous of the time she spends with Neila. It's never really explained why. Aurin resents Kenney, but that is never really gone into in depth. NOTHING in this book is gone into in any depth. It's a quick, superficial skim into the pool of teenager-hood.

This is a very tender caring book which was certainly written by a caring loving Person. It becomes a page turner. It teaches us to care for one another, forgive and share. Refreshing and confident. Wonderfully written. We need more writers like Tea.

I was initially attracted to this book by vague cover and the fact that it was Tea Benduhn's debut novel. I had high hopes that this book would reveal something to me about homosexuality. It didn't.

The book is about seventeen-year-old Aurin and her friends Kenny and Fred. When a new girl, Neila, comes to the tiny town of Greensborough, they decide to start hanging out with her. Aurin and Neila's friendship soon blossoms into something else. The book takes place in four places: the park, the dance studio, the restaurant, and Aurin's house.

This book falls far short of revealing something new about gays and lesbians. All I learned was that girls kiss girls the same way that girls kiss guys. What's new about that? Gravel Queen falls flat most of the time, with the characters not in-depth enough to create an interesting or intriguing story. It is often difficult to see what drives them to do what little they do. Also, Ms. Benduhn's love of strange names (Aurin, Neila, Kenney, Prudence) confuses and frustrates the casual reader. Aurin and Neila's developing romance, which should be the central point of the novel, is also flat. Ms. Benduhn seems to have spent most of her time during the writing of the novel thinking up new sensations for Aurin, which often sound more like a bowel disorder than growing love.

Basically, Gravel Queen is a book that could be good if (a) it had a better plot, (b) better characters, and (c) a different author! I would highly recommend avoidance of this novel.

Aurin and her two friends have a nice comfortable friendship in their teen world, in Greensboro, North Carolina. When new girl Neila arrives, her liveliness and fun, are an instant attraction to Aurin. How Aurin manages to bring Neila into her life, and still keep her friendships, keeps you reading. This is a sweet, touching romance, realistic, with nice touches of humour. Author Benduhn insists this story could have happened for real, and most of it seems credible. The ending is definitely satisfying. A delightful, thoughtful novel.

Gravel Queen is a fun, loving book about first love feelings. Some of it is a little over the top, in the realm of magical. While other novelslike "Keeping You a Secret" is more in depth and real, Gravel is still good.

I'm kinda at a loss here to give a review which I was asked to do. The author is my daughter and the book was out of print when I ordered a copy for a friend. I wasn't about to part with my autographed copy. I loved some of the first hand written pages I saw and loved the book even more after it was released. I found it to be a very touching, introspective and entertaining book. It is a page turner. A great book.

Gravel Queen is a smooth, flawless, entertaining and caring book. One can easily find oneself relating to the situations and characters in Gravel Queen. That is only one thing that makes this a GREAT Debut Book by an outstanding Author who I'm sure will be heard from again and again . There is Love, Kindness, humour and sensitivity and caring with a touch of cynical in parts that has to fill one's spirit. This great talent- Tea -is about to be a beacon to others.

JoeB