Lovesick [Mass Market Paperback]

Jake Coburn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 14, 2007

Ted’s drunk-driving accident has ruined his life. it cost him his basketball scholarship, ended his plans for college, and forced him into AA. but just when ted has resigned himself to his new life, Michael appears. the wealthy father of a bulimic Manhattan rich girl has a tempting proposition. He has agreed to pay for ted’s college tuition, but there’s one catch. ted has to secretly keep tabs on his benefactor’s daughter, erica. A seemingly simple task, with only one minor problem: ted never expected to fall in love.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 10 Up–After driving while drunk, crashing his truck into a tree, and wrecking his knee, Ted York no longer has a basketball scholarship to NYU or much of a future. He attends Alcoholics Anonymous on a judge's orders and has been sober for 90 days. When a stranger offers him full tuition if he'll keep an eye on a bulimic freshman for her billionaire father, the teen accepts the deal, expecting it to require little effort. But he hadn't counted on falling in love with Erica, and he finds himself forced to decide whether his loyalty is to her or the man paying his bills. Coburn skillfully balances the issues of alcoholism and bulimia with the fragile love story of two lost teens. Ted and Erica are surprisingly mature and aware of their faults, and their dialogue, including obscenities, is realistic. Erica's father is sympathetic in his genuine but misdirected concern for his daughter. The fast-paced narrative is helped along by frequent e-mails between characters. Part Ellen Wittlinger's Heart on My Sleeve (S & S, 2004), part Meg Rosoff's How I Live Now (Random, 2004), LoveSick will keep readers rooting for these teens.–Jane Cronkhite, Cuyahoga County Public Library, OH
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr.^B 9-12. The author of Prep (2003) offers an oddly touching love story about two addicts trying to survive their freshman year of college. Ted is a blue-collar alcoholic jock who lost his scholarship after destroying his knee in a drunk-driving accident. Erica is a foul-mouthed, bulimic Park Avenue princess whose wealthy father will do anything to cure her eating disorder. Through slick middleman Michael (whose breezy, cheesy e-mails provide comic relief), Erica's father bribes Ted into spying on Erica's eating habits by offering to replace his scholarship. When the two discover each other's secret addictions and fall in love, Ted tells Erica the truth, setting off a chain of events that ends in both violence and redemption. Although there's a Gossip Girl element to the writing, Coburn manages to imbue Ted and his spoiled-rich-kid characters with a surprising humanity. The dialogue is gritty and realistic, and Coburn's writing skill is evident in his almost sensual descriptions of Erica's bingeing rituals. Jennifer Hubert
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 14 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Speak (June 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142408026
• ISBN-13: 978-0142408025
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,030,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #91 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Teens > Social Issues > Drug Use & Abuse > Fiction
  • #93 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Issues > Drugs

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner for Jake Coburn, October 5, 2005

By 

Max Lefer "Coburn fanatic" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: LoveSick (Hardcover)

It's official- Jake Coburn is my favorite author. After reading his first novel, Prep, I eagerly waited for the arrival of his second book. Well, LoveSick did not let me down. I think it even surpassed Prep in awsomeness! A true love story that will appeal to both boys and girls, LoveSick tells the tale of two troubled college freshmen brought together by extraordinary circumstances. I really grew to care about the main characters; and some of the side characters, particularly Michael, are really terrific. Bravo, Mr. Coburn, Bravo... you are a real winner!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The intense story of two recovering addicts trying to survive their first year of college, October 21, 2005

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LoveSick (Hardcover)

Jake Coburn starts LOVESICK with a teaser: he writes as if the characters told him their real story. Certainly the story of two addicts trying to survive in college could be true, but it is unique in that Ted is hired by Erica's father to watch her at college. She has bulimia and her super-rich dad wants to be sure she is healthy in her dorm. Ted has his own demons to face in that he is a former basketball star whose scholarship was yanked after a drunk driving accident left him with a metal knee. The "scholarship" from Erica's father seems like a second chance.

As he watches Erica between AA meetings, Ted finds himself drawn to her. They begin running into each other at night when they can't sleep. Soon he starts trusting her with his issues and he wants her to trust him, but ultimately he knows that his secret will divide them if she ever finds out.

In the meantime, Michael, an employee of Erica's father, keeps very close tabs on both Ted and Erica by reading their email and checking their phone and ATM records. The more Ted gets to know her, the more he keeps their friendship from Michael and Erica's father. But it is only a matter of time before all is known --- to everyone.

Slow but intense, LOVESICK follows the daily story of two people's struggles to trust others --- and themselves --- as they recover from their addictions.

--- Reviewed by Amy Alessio

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars lovesick, October 21, 2005

By 

kimberly giles "kimberly" (friendswood, tx usa) - See all my reviews

This review is from: LoveSick (Hardcover)

jake coburn's new book lovesick was an original story. i love the way he takes an idea or situation and brings it to our attention when we would have never thought about it in the first place. as in his first novel prep which i absolutely fell in love with. you kind of see them as underground, hidden stories that most look past. Lovesick was very interesting and i think coburn did an excellent job at telling their story. as a young reader i have many friends that have addictions to purging, and drinking and i could relate to the characters and the struggles they went through throughout the book. one thing i didnt like and kept me from rating it 5 stars is the overusage of the word F*ck. it seemed to be on every page. it sometimes took away from the sincerity of the character i.e. when ted was trying to apologize to erica. it doesnt seem heartfelt when hes using that word starting everyother sentence. also in the beginning, i didnt understand charles. hes this big time guy, yet in his meeting with ted, he acted really immature in his actions and the way he spoke. i thought the dialog could have reflected the character's personality a bit more. but overall i really enjoyed the book and once you get to the end, you are rushing to finish the book. nice ending also.