SlowReader's Kingdom

I have to admit I went into this book with high expectations. I think that is part of why I did not enjoy Unteachable as much as I could have. High expectations always ruin the reading experience because it is seldom that they can be met. The other part why I did not enjoy Unteachable more than I did was the middle part of the book but I will get to that later.

Unteachable is a contemporary New Adult book. It is the first New Adult book I have read, I think. The main character Maise is a senior in high school and falls in lust with an older guy at a fair. It turns out later that this man is the new teacher at her high school.

I liked the beginning of the book. Even though the book takes place in high school it definitely did not read like a Young Adult book. The beginning of Maise’s and Evans’ relationship was interesting. Maise certainly is not your typical main character. She knows how to use her body, comes from a bad home, and tends to be arrogant at times. She thinks she is so much more grown-up than her fellow students. To sum it up she is not the most likeable person. On the other hand she is very honest with herself and I felt for her especially with the upbringing she had.

The middle part of the book brought this rating down a lot. Unfortunately it is the biggest part of the book. Raeder decided to write sex scenes. I do not mind a well-written sex scene. I do mind, however, hundreds of pages of repetitive sex scenes. I started to skip pages. Those scenes did nothing for the storyline. I wish Raeder would have focused on the other problems and relationships in Maise’s life.

Raeder did that at the end of Unteachable and that is when the book became interesting again. The last couple of pages were fantastic but unfortunately, the middle part kind of ruined all the potential this book had.

I have not decided if I will pick up Black Iris by Leah Raeder. I think Raeder is a great writer but I am worried that her second book will also focus too much on sex for my liking.