Customer Reviews

Nothing to Lose

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Nothing to Lose is an incredibly heart-wrenching book because of the very strong story and believable protagonist, but also because of the all-too-true story of abuse that could have been ripped from the headlines of any newspaper across the world. Michael Daye has been on the run for a year, traveling with a carnival, but now he's back in his hometown of Miami, hoping not to be recognized for who he really is: the son of Lisa Monroe, currently on trial for the murder of her husband.

Walker, Michael's now-dead stepfather, was a horribly abusive man. As the book unfolds and every other chapter takes you back a year to when the trouble first really started (though I suppose you could argue it really started when Lisa first began dating Walker), you see that Michael did everything within his power to get his mother to leave. But, like many abused women, she didn't feel capable of it and stayed.

For the first time, he felt like he had an option other than just watching his mother get beaten by Walker. Kirstie, a carny, makes him realize that sometimes there really is nothing you can do. People have to want to help themselves. Michael finally gave up completely after `outing' Walker to an Emergency Room nurse and having his mother once again deny the abuse. He decided to leave everything behind and create a new life with Kirstie and the carnies.

But what really happened the night Walker died? Can Michael help his mother now? Will she accept his help or will her guilt hold her back? There are many questions and Alex Flinn masterfully twines everything together to come up with an effective and engrossing ending (though some may guess the truth early on, it is so well done you won't mind at all).

I recommend this book for readers aged 12 and up. There are some sexual situations (none graphic and none gratuitous) and some painful abuse/fighting scenes, so do keep that in mind. What I'd really like to do is recommend this to women suffering under domestic violence. This book very clearly shows how abuse challenges and changes every member of the household.

If you or someone you love is in such a situation - don't hesitate. Get help. Your local phone book will have listings for local organizations and the Internet also offers help. Just search for "domestic violence" or similar terms.

Kimberly Pauley, YA Books Goddess @ YABooksCentral.com

Nothing to Lose alternates between Then and Now using past and present tense in the narratives to tell the story. It works seamlessly and and isn't just a device. It drives the story and helps establish the confusion in the main character's mind. The carnival backdrop is fresh and interesting.

This story is structured well, told in alternating passages from the present time and from the events of a year ago in narrator Michael's life. The two time periods converge beautifully at the end, as we learn the whole story about the night that Michael's abuse stepfather was murdered in his house. The end is slightly predictable, but the journey is still enjoyable, as Michael deals with anger, guilt, choices between right and wrong, and a basic struggle to survive.

This book has a good male protagonist, and it should appeal to teen readers of both genders. Michael is a tough guy, a football player, who realizes he has no true friends to confide in about the hell that his homelife is. He makes an unlikely friend throughout the course of the book, and there's a good lesson about finding your true friends in here.

Breathing Underwater is an earlier, and even better, YA novel from Flinn that comes highly recommended.

I saw this book on the shelf at the library and once I started reading it I could not put it down. I just couldn't stop. This is a very addicting book. I'm sure you will love it.

The only fault I found was that it was a little slow in the beginning. Other then that it is one of the best books I have ever read. I found that I was able to guess the end of the book. That was a small downside.

Excellent book I would recommend this book to any person who likes light mystery books. Congratulations to the author Alex Flinn.

Set in modern day Florida, Nothing to Lose by Alex Flinn follows a teenage boy whose mother has been accused of killing her abusive husband. For two years, Michael attempted to protect his mother and repeatedly tried to get her to leave his stepfather. She refused to leave, even as her husband's temper flared and their home situation worsened. Finally, Michael ran away to work at a traveling carnival; shortly thereafter, his stepfather was dead and his mother was imprisoned.

A year after he left, Michael comes back to Florida with the carnival and finds out that the jury selection is beginning for his mother's trial. She has confessed to the murder, and her attorney is discussing battered spouse syndrome. Michael must decide whether or not to speak up in his mother's defense and tell the truth about what happened in his stepfather's home.

Michael's downward spiral is explained well without ever being heavy-handed. He had decent grades, football, friends and a social life, but as the abuse at home increased, he quit football so that he would have more time at home to look after his mom. After losing his jock friends, he reluctantly starts hanging out with a kid who is now known as a bit of a geek - but used to be his best friend in middle school. When Michael meets Kirstie, a dark-haired beauty a few years his senior, at the carnival, he discovers that he can have his own life - but at what expense? When he returns to Miami a year later, he again must weigh his choices and decide what and who are the most important things in life.

Nothing to Lose is a well-written book that deftly weaves in the protagonist's past and present, with each chapter simply labelled "Last Year" or "This Year." It moves along at a steady pace, never breaking form nor dragging its feet. It is a compelling story that will keep the reader on edge until the very end.

Alex Flinn has written three books thus far, the other two being Breaking Point, about peer pressure and popularity, and Breathing Underwater, about teenage dating and abuse. Though I liked all three of Flinn's books, I think her writing has greatly improved with the passage of time. Her first novel, Breathing Underwater, gets two and a half stars from me; Breaking Point snags three stars; and Nothing to Lose deserves four stars. Also, while you should never judge a book by its cover, I have to give two thumbs up to the cover art for Nothing to Lose - the wheel of destiny.

"At some point, when you give up everything, there is nothing left to worry about."
Most carny's lives model this quote, as does Kristie's, one of the main characters who has been in this carnival tour for years. They have nothing to lose. As for Michael, also a main character, who ran away from his troubled homelife to join Kristie in the tour, he's already lost. He's hiding from a secret past only to see it resurface to face him head-on with the world now watching.
This is a great book with even better morals. I reccommend reading Nothing To Lose for adventure, mystery, romance, and a twist ending. It leaves you asking questions throughout the entire book; and thereon after.

This book is wonderfully expressed. It tells about the challenges of abusive relationships and their effects on their family members. Even though it is based on a true story, don't be deceived. This book has tons of drama, action, and some romance. I think it is a must read book!

I am a teen girl who read this book because I liked Ms. Flinn's other books. I don't think this one is as good because it is very predictable. Only a few chapters into the book I already figured out what Michael did, and I was wondering if Ms. Flinn wanted me to figure it out that way and then she would surprise me at the end of the mystery. But there was no surprise at all. I liked all the stuff about the life in the carnaval, but I didn't actually understand why Michael's mom married the bad guy in the first place and then stayed with him for two years because he was so bad. Was it just because he was rich?

"Nothing to Lose" tackles the difficult topic of domestic abuse: it's possible causes, those involved, and residual effects. There are no black and white answers here which makes the plot and characters very believable. A must-read, especially for those young people who think violence in a relationship is "the way it is" or a sign of love.

Nothing to lose is a great book. This book is about a family that's dad left them when the boy (Michael) was young. Michaels mom re maired later to a man named walker. It turns out to be abusive. Michael could not stand walker abusing his mom. Walker was killed and Michael ran away with the curious. One year later Michael came back. He wanted to help his mom out in the murder trial...
Michael and his friend when to the carnival and Michael meat Kristy the "the whack amole girl", they became very good friends. Another one of my favorite parts is when Michael gets to talk to Kristy after a very long time. Kristy helps Michael through a hard decision. Last but not least Michaels was a great football player. But when he ran away he had to quit it. Then when all this was over he went back to school and made the team.
I loved this book; it was a great murder mystery. I think that most people would love it to. I can't think of anything that I did not like this book. But I just gave you three reasons why I did. But there are so many more reasons to love this book.