Title: The Taming
Author: Teresa Toten & Eric Walters
Release Date: January 24th, 2012
Series: None
Number of Pages: 256
Publisher: Doubleday Canada
Source: Publisher
Katie likes to believe she's invisible. It seems much safer than being exposed as she is--shy, poor, awkward. So getting up on stage in the school production of The Taming of the Shrew should be complete torture. But as Katie tells it, something totally unexpected happened when she stepped on stage: "My head exploded. I loved it. Acting hit me like a sucker punch and I loved, loved, loved it! . . . Invisible Katie became visible Katharina."
Evan Cooper is, as they say, another story. He knows just what it takes to get noticed, and he uses every one of the skills he's honed after years of being the new kid. Like tossing the keys to his father's high-end Audi to a kid he's never met, first day of school. "I have insurance for car theft," he explains to a shocked Danny. "And there's a full tank." An abuse of the power that comes with privilege and money? Sure.
But more dangerously, is his romance with Katie another version of the same thing? Or is it the real thing?
I’m a little on the fence with this book, to be honest. The abuse Evan puts Katie through is hard to really criticized, as I’ve never been in that position. Yet, through most of the novel, I only could hate on Evan. It was the only thing going through my mind.
Evan is unlikable from his first appearance until the end. That said, I think it was a little unfair to him. I wish we could have seen his struggle a little more, as his father was an abuser himself. I simply think he fell in the abuse really easily with Katie. He was so manipulative, so arrogant and mean. I just wanted to punch him. Knock some sense into him.
Katie was better than Evan, yet I felt like some of the information we were given didn’t really add anything. I wish we could have seen more the impact that the whole thing with Nick had on her. After all, it seems to still be present in her mind, unless she’s with Evan. I just wonder if it would have made a difference in the relationship in a way…
One of my biggest complain with this book is that it is a little too short for me. I wish the dynamic between Katie and Evan had been a little more developed. The relationship grew so fast, and Katie grew through that so fast. That I have to say I liked: Katie grew more confident because of everything she went through. That to me made the book a lot better.
Overall, I did enjoy the book. A fast read, but a little short for my taste. Wish it had been fuller.
