Tag Archives: Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

Read This!: ALL EYES ON HER by L.E. Flynn

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All Eyes on HerAll Eyes on Her by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn
Summary: You heard the story on the news. A girl and a boy went into the woods. The girl carried a picnic basket. The boy wore bright yellow running shoes. The girl found her way out, but the boy never did….
Everyone thinks they know what happened. Some say Tabby pushed him off that cliff— she didn’t even like hiking. She was jealous. She had more than her share of demons. Others think he fell accidentally—she loved Mark. She would never hurt him…even if he hurt her. But what’s the real story? All Eyes On Her is told from everyone but Tabby herself as the people in her life string together the events that led Tabby to that cliff. Her best friend. Her sister. Her enemy. Her ex-boyfriend. Because everybody thinks they know a girl better than she knows herself. What do you think is the truth?

This taut, suspenseful story kept me up way too late several nights in a row. Flynn tumbles readers directly into the mystery of Tabby and her motivations, as seen through the eyes of the people around her, including her sister, her rival, her best friend, her ex-boyfriend, the best friend of the boy she is accused of murdering, and the internet commenters on her case. What they all have in common is that they all have their own motives for what they share – or don’t – with the reader, the cops, and the many people asking questions about Tabby. Not until the end do we hear from Tabby herself – and is it any wonder that after being claimed, labeled, pored over, analyzed, and judged by everyone who thinks they have a right to the contents of her mind, the real Tabby is a far more complicated being? Flynn’s searing novel leaves the reader with answers full of their own uneasy questions about the reductive way that our society treats girls.

Favorite quote: “The universe is always trying to split girls in half. Half angel, half demon. No wonder so many of us turn into monsters.”

ALL EYES ON HER is out now.

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Read This!: FIRSTS by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

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FirstsFirsts by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

Summary: Seventeen-year-old Mercedes Ayres has an open-door policy when it comes to her bedroom, but only if the guy fulfills a specific criteria: he has to be a virgin. Mercedes lets the boys get their awkward, fumbling first times over with, and all she asks in return is that they give their girlfriends the perfect first time- the kind Mercedes never had herself.  Keeping what goes on in her bedroom a secret has been easy- so far. Her absentee mother isn’t home nearly enough to know about Mercedes’ extracurricular activities, and her uber-religious best friend, Angela, won’t even say the word “sex” until she gets married. But Mercedes doesn’t bank on Angela’s boyfriend finding out about her services and wanting a turn- or on Zach, who likes her for who she is instead of what she can do in bed.  When Mercedes’ perfect system falls apart, she has to find a way to salvage her reputation and figure out where her heart really belongs in the process. Funny, smart, and true-to-life, FIRSTS is a one-of-a-kind young adult novel about growing up

This book reminded me a bit of THE DUFF by Kody Keplinger – both books take a frank, unvarnished look at teenage sexuality, both feature likeable protagonists who struggle with real intimacy, and both are populated by winning characters that suck you right into the story.

Mercedes is a flawed, relatable girl whose unconventional response to her own sexual trauma is to devote herself to making the first time better for other girls – by training their boyfriends in secret. Her own relationships spin wildly out of her control – with Zach, the one guy she really cares about but can’t bear to get close to; with Angela, the naïve best friend who has no idea about Mercedes’ extracurricular activities; with Faye, the new girl who challenges Mercedes’ ideas about herself; with her mother, who long ago stopped trying to be any kind of maternal figure. And Mercedes tries to exert control through her secret sexual life. Of course, in the age of social media and rampant slut shaming, her lessons can never stay secret, but when it all falls apart, Mercedes finally learns the most important lesson of all – that she has people in her life who love her, and that she is worthy of that love.

FIRSTS is available now.

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