Swoon by Nina Malkin (reviewed by Lindy Jacobs)

"Swoon" by Nina Malkin, has one of those titles that usually scares me off right from the get-go. I mean, with a name like that it's practically guaranteed to be a typical teen romance, right? Well, this book is a romance, but it's not completely typical. The main character, instead of falling in love with the top jock, is in love with a ghost. And instead of becoming a happy twosome with a long future ahead, they go their separate ways in the end (though with the conclusion that she “doesn't need Sin here to be with him”). The basic plot is reasonable and goes at a good pace—it doesn't randomly skip years for no good reason or drag over scenes that should be short—and it introduces characters well. My main complaint is that this book seems really into discussing sexual relationships, including one rather creepy spanking session, using sentences of a length usually expected only in elementary school. The diction is fine for the most part. However, the number of times the book takes a break from the plot to start talking about the sexual positions everyone happens to be in at that particular moment in time, as well as the detours it seems to make simply to encompass more sexual comments, is a little scary. I'd actually say that this book is perfect for middle schoolers: it talks frequently about sex and relationships using short sentences combined with somewhat high diction, which seems to be a mixture most people that age enjoy.

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Thanks for the totally honest opinion, Lindy, that's the kind we like the best! ^__^

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