2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A beautiful story about the gray areas, May 31, 2009
This review is from: One Lonely Degree (Hardcover)
Finn's life has been unraveling ever since that night in September, that party and Adam Porter. And of course, to add even more stress, her parents' relationship has been steadily deteriorating. Life is almost more than she can bear. It's a good thing her best friend Audrey is there for her, or Finn wouldn't know what to do. Thus, Finn ignores her tentative initial attraction to Beautiful Boy Jersy, her childhood friend from way back when, when Audrey expresses her interest. When Audrey goes away for the summer, Finn finds herself spending more time with Jersy. But being with Jersy, the only thing that feels right amidst the disaster in Finn's life, would mean betraying Audrey. How if Finn supposed to know what's right and wrong now?
Martin paints a vivid picture of the effects of damage on people's lives in One Lonely Degree. Protagonist Finn is the prime example of this. She is still reeling, months later, from an unpleasant experience that probably freaked her out more than harmed her but is nonetheless branded into her brain. She consequently withdraws into herself and she feels helpless when other things start to fall apart around her. Even though I've read many books that present similar problems as in One Lonely Degree, Martin seems so much more frank on the subject by including emotionally scarring experiences in multiple characters' lives. It just goes to say that in spite of damage happening, life goes on. Martin portrays this superbly through Finn's rocky struggle to overcome her past drama. Martin's characters are undeniably realistic, even the ones the reader only gets a few glimpses of. I like how she neither condemns nor condones any of the characters' actions, but rather leaves that to the reader's prerogative. One Lonely Degree is a beautifully written and moving story like life imitating art.
I recommend One Lonely Degree to readers who also liked Purge by Sarah Darer Littman, Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers, Everything Beautiful by Simmone Howell, and anything by Sarah Dessen or Deb Caletti. I can't wait to see more writing from Martin in I Know It's Over and novels to come.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"Freaky girls don't have good summer vacations.", May 30, 2009
This review is from: One Lonely Degree (Hardcover)
I loved this book.
After a traumatic experience at a party, Finn hasn't been the same. Nothing has. Her world is slowly unraveling in ways she can't quite reconcile. Her parents' marriage is disintegrating and the reappearance of a childhood friend, Jersy, brings with it new and terrifying feelings made even more complicated by the fact that her best friend, Audrey, is dating him.
Audrey is the person Finn trusts most in the whole world--the person she'd be totally lost without--and Finn would never do anything to jeopardize that. So she steps back and tries to enjoy her rekindled friendship with Jersy as much as possible, knowing all the while it can't ever go to the next level. But when Audrey leaves town for the summer, Finn's world continues to collapse around her and she finds herself turning to Jersy more and more. Finn doesn't know who she is anymore, and what will happen next, but when she's with Jersy anything seems possible in the best kind of way...
But what about Audrey?
C.K. Kelly Martin is an amazing author. There was so much I admired in her extraordinary debut,
I Know It's Over, which left me tangled up, inspired and empathetic toward a young man dealing with his first real heartbreak (made that much more complicated by an unexpected pregnancy). I have been looking foward to One Lonely Degree ever since, eager for a new and different story and hoping to come away just as tangled up and invested and inspired.
I'm happy to report that I did.
C.K. Kelly Martin has done it again.
When I cracked open One Lonely Degree, Finn's voice immediately swept me away, making the book impossible to put down for long periods at a time. I had an instant gut response to it that I can't quite shake even now, a day after closing the last page. We were total High School Attitude twins. Similar cynicism, same kind of resistance to change, same coping mechanisms, same kind of dependencies on other people. I've been Finn.
At the same time I've been Finn, I've also known Finn. Her codependency on her best friends, while justifiable, exhausted me on their behalf. I was relieved for both Audrey and Finn when Audrey left for the summer because as much as I admired the support system and small world they created for each other, they needed that space to grow. Finn needed to engage in her surroundings in a way that would enable her to recover from her trauma and Audrey's distance helped her do that.
Martin explores the theme of friendship with an expert hand. There's a certain sad nostalgia in Finn and Audrey's arc that made me remember all the friends I've distanced from in various ways. It's hard to describe, but I think we have all had these kind of friends at some point in our lives--people you need for a time, that help you and change you forever, but that you maybe can't have forever. This dynamic was presented in a way that was incredibly honest and incredibly true.
Jersy was a fantastic male lead. His relationship with Finn was electric and emotional. He is a somewhat reckless type, who observes, engages and takes the cards he's given with the kind of ease that makes it easy to understand why Finn was so drawn to him. Jersy was also believably flawed, with a complicated past of his own, and he and Finn dealt with their situation with utmost, well, reality.
That is one of my favourite things about Martin's writing. It's highly realistic YA fiction. One Lonely Degree is a pulls-no-punches slice of real life that no one will have to look too hard to see themselves in. At its core, this is a novel about change. Dealing with change. Adapting to it (or not). Surviving it. Holding things close. Keeping them. Learning from them. Letting them go. Taking what's left.
I think most of us have complicated relationships with change and I think the topic is delved into beautifully in this book. Martin knows how to pinpoint certain emotional truths and explore them in this incredible prose that makes the writer in me incredibly jealous.
I loved this book. It's at the top of my Favourite Reads of 2009 List. Read it. Now.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thoughtful and entertaining, November 25, 2009
This review is from: One Lonely Degree (Hardcover)
Ever since the disastrous party in September, Finn feels like she's been drifting away from everyone else, alone in the world as her parents' marriage breaks apart and she tries to get over that horrible night. The only person who knows about what happened is her best friend Audrey, and it is Audrey that helps her get through it all. Then, things change when Jersy, Finn's friend from childhood, moves back into town. Finn likes Jersy, but can't bring herself to admit it. Audrey also likes Jersy, so with Finn's approval, they start dating. Then comes summer...and Audrey is away. Left alone with Jersy as her only friend, Finn finds herself growing closer and closer to him. Finn doesn't want to betray Audrey...but when she's with Jersy, for the first time in months, everything just seems right.
CK Kelly Martin's second novel is fascinating as it follows Finn, who is still reeling from her traumatic experience and is completely dependent on her friend Audrey to get her through every day life. When Audrey leaves for the summer, Finn is forced to learn to stand on her own and find the strength to not only get over the party, but also deal with her parents' break-up, and that transformation is what makes this book so enjoyable. Finn learns that there is a chance at happiness after horrible experiences, and that the same bad things can happen to other people as well, not just her. Martin reveals the details of what happened at the party in September somewhat early on in the book instead of drawing it out for the suspense element, which is interesting and helpful as it lets readers understand why Finn is so timid and lonely. The characters in the novel are also refreshing in that none of them do the right thing every time, and they realistically do the selfish thing sometimes. The end is somewhat optimistic, but also realistic and will leave you wondering and dreaming about Jersy and Finn and Audrey beyond the final page.
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