Review: Uses for Boys

Title: Uses for Boys

Author: Erica Lorraine Scheidt
Release Date: January 15th 2013
Publisher: St Martin’s Press
Pages: 240
Source: Netgalley

Summary:

“Anna remembers a time before boys, when she was little and everything made sense. When she and her mom were a family, just the two of them against the world. But now her mom is gone most of the time, chasing the next marriage, bringing home the next stepfather. Anna is left on her own—until she discovers that she can make boys her family. From Desmond to Joey, Todd to Sam, Anna learns that if you give boys what they want, you can get what you need. But the price is high—the other kids make fun of her; the girls call her a slut. Anna's new friend, Toy, seems to have found a way around the loneliness, but Toy has her own secrets that even Anna can't know.

Then comes Sam. When Anna actually meets a boy who is more than just useful, whose family eats dinner together, laughs, and tells stories, the truth about love becomes clear. And she finally learns how it feels to have something to lose—and something to offer. Real, shocking, uplifting, and stunningly lyrical, Uses for Boys is a story of breaking down and growing up.”

My Thoughts: 

This book has been one of the hardest I have ever had to review, simply because it was just so strange. To begin with, I wasn’t expecting what this story was really about. I figured it was going to be a fluffy coming of age story but I was so wrong. Uses for Boys is a much darker and mature story centered on a young girl.

This story focuses on what Anna feels is love. By being neglected by her mother and father at a young age, she turned to what she thought as a substitute – sex. It was such a depressing story but I saw the importance in it. While not everyone is graced with stable parents, others try to fill that void the best they can. For Anna, it was the company of boys. Instead of using her mind and personality, she used her body to attract love.

The story is meant to make you feel uncomfortable in my opinion and in my case it did. While it was awkward to read at some points I could vividly picture this kind of thing happening to someone in real life. The writing was very well done and I lost myself in Anna’s mind quite often.

As I said before, this book was hard for me to review. It was just so strange. If you want and out of the box coming of age story try reading Uses for Boys. There are large amounts of mature themes in the book though, so be wary of that.

Overall, I really did enjoy reading this book.

Rating: 3.5/5