Novel: Freshman by Tom Ellen and Lucy Ivison | Goodreads
Release Date: June 12, 2018
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Format: eBook
Source: NetGalley
Synopsis
Getting in is just the beginning.
Phoebe can’t wait to get to college. On her own, discovering new things, no curfew . . . she’ll be free. And she’ll be totally different: cooler, prettier, smarter . . . the perfect potential girlfriend. Convenient: the only person from her high school also going to York is her longtime crush, Luke.
Luke didn’t set out to redefine himself, but as soon as he arrives on campus, he finds himself dumping his long-term long-distance girlfriend. And the changes don’t stop there. In fact, being on a soccer team is the only thing that stays the same.
Just when things start looking up (and Phoebe and Luke start hooking up), drama looms on the horizon. Rumors swirl about the Wall of Shame, a secret text chain run by Luke’s soccer team, filled with compromising photos of girls. As the women on campus determine to expose the team and shut down the account, Luke and Phoebe find themselves grappling with confusing feelings and wondering how they’ll ever make it through freshman year.
My Review
I was kindly provided an Advanced Reader Copy of this book by the publisher in exchange for my honest review of the book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
I have very mixed feelings about this book. The author’s did an amazing job at some things. They captured those moments during the transitions period in your life when you aren’t quite sure who you are in that context. Making connections with new people can be hard. More than that, it is so easy to fall into the things that we are comfortable with. Certainly, I fell prey to this ease in college. When you fall into that ease, you sometimes fail to grow and experience everything that the new period in your life has to offer.
I also enjoyed the friendships that Phoebe creates with Frankie, Negin, and even Bowl Cut Mary. Each of these people is so different from Phoebe but they help her grow and become a better person. Frankie is outgoing, wild, and kind of a mess, whereas, Negin is put together and self aware. Truthfully, I think every single one of us has a Bowl Cut Mary in every period of our lives. She is that person you know that is always self assured. The person who is creative and outgoing and doesn’t care what people think. She is smart and sexy and kind and the unicorn that you wish you were. Inevitably when you get to know them they are down to earth and have their own shit that they are going through.
What I didn’t like was the semi-toxic relationship between Luke and Phoebe. So many issues between the them could have been easily resolved by merely talking. I tried to be forgiving of this because the hookup culture that experience tends to make talking taboo. However, not talking seemed odd considering how close the two seemed to have gotten. While at that age, I distinctly rememeber myself and my friends going through the similar interactions that were inconsiderate. I and my friends had each other’s backs, though. I was the one who would sit a friend’s potential suitor down and tell them exactly what would happen if they hurt my friend. They were not necessarily nice things.
I found the inclusion of the Wall of Shame to be a little odd. While I’m sure that it happens in schools and I’m also sure that it is absolutely disgusting wherever it happens, it just felt wedged in there for extra drama. All of the issues with Phoebe and Luke could have easily come to a head without the grotesque Wall of Shame. I appreciated that it allowed Phoebe and her friends an avenue and reason to advocate, but at the same time, it felt like pandering. I may be in the minority in that feeling, but unfortunately that’s where I fall.
All in all though, I thought it was an enjoyable read. Personally I enjoyed the nostalgia it gave me, not for that first semester, but the subsequent semesters when I broke out of the holding pattern and figured out where I fit during my college years. Then again in law school and my life here in Kentucky. You learn a lot about yourself during that transition. You learn who you are and what you stand for. Phoebe and Luke learn a lot about themselves their freshman year of college, and who knows what the future holds.
