Me, Him, Them, and It

Me, Him, Them, and It

by Caela Carter

 

When Evelyn decided to piss off her parents with a bad reputation, she wasn't planning to ruin her valedictorian status. She also wasn't planning to fall for Todd-the guy she was just using for sex. And she definitely wasn't planning on getting pregnant. When Todd turns his back on her, Evelyn's not sure where to go. Can a distant mother, a cheating father, an angry best friend, and a (thankfully) loving aunt with adopted daughters of her own help Evelyn make the heart-wrenching decisions that follow? (decsription from Amazon.com)

 

This book was just what I needed to get me out of my mini reading funk.  I think I'd read too many fantasy based book recently, so I knew I needed some good realistic fiction.  Me, Him, Them, and It fit the bill perfectly!

 

Carter depicts a teenage girl who makes a mistake and then must pay the consequences for it.  I really liked how Evelyn was not just some "bad" girl who accidentally winds up pregnant...she is a future valedictorian rebelling against her parents in the worst possible way.  She felt like a hugely well-rounded character to me.  In fact, I loved most of the characters.  They were flawed and realistic and even if some might not have been fully developed, they at least represented a really varied cast of characters.

 

Seeing the confused and scared way that Evie reacts over the nine months felt "real." I couldn't imagine what I would have done in that situation and I thought Carter did an excellent job conveying all the emotional turmoil that erupted in Evie's life.  This is a book that pulls no punches emotionally.  I cried my way through the ending.  Heartbroken, awed, and then optimistically, yet cautiously joyous. 

 

I found myself comparing this book to Holly Cupala's Tell Me a Secret. They both cover an unexpected teen pregnancy in a very realistic and emotionally evocative way. If you liked that one, check this one out...and if you like this one, check out that one next!

 

Full disclosure: eARC received from Netgalley for review