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Streamline (2012)

by Jennifer Lane(Favorite Author)

3.92 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

193630502X (ISBN13: 9781936305025)

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Omnific Publishing

review 1: ***REVIEW COPY SUPPLIED BY THE AUTHOR*** 3.5 STARSI was intrigued by the blurb of this book – it was billed as a love story/thriller/murder mystery.It centres on Leo, a senior in the Swim Team who is hiding a terrible home life, and Audrey, his girlfriend. She is also on the swim team and her father just happens to be in Military Prison having been convicted of a murder he can’t remember committing.Leo and Audrey’s fathers are both in the Navy, and this book is immersed in the navy and swimming cultures. At times it got a little overwhelming with terminology, and as I have no background in either of those topics, a lot of it went over my head.Leo is the shining star of the swim team, and is aiming for a scholarship to University in order to escape his abusive father,... more whilst his father is determined that he will go to the Naval Academy and follow in his footsteps. He pushes himself to do his best, and tries desperately to hide the bruises inflicted by his father, but his home life eventually drags him down and he’s left literally fighting for his life.Audrey is fighting her own battles – her father is in prison for a murder she doesn’t believe he committed, and this has left her mother having to work all hours in order to keep them going. Leo is her lifeline (and she is his) but they are going to have to battle to stay together if his father gets his way.The story is told in a third party narrative, and there are a lot of characters in this book. At times I found it overwhelming trying to keep up with who was who and what was going on.I’m not sure of the genre it’s supposed to be – I’ve seen it billed as Young Adult; however there are lots of issues that are dealt with in this book that may not be suitable for younger teens. Issues such as child abuse (which is pretty graphic at times and really harrowing), drug abuse/addiction to pain meds, contemplating suicide, rape and of course murder.I also found it very hard to understand how Leo’s mother was able to stand by and watch her children subjected to such terrible abuse at the hands of their father. This is not just a case of a slap here and there – the beatings are so bad that Leo is knocked unconscious. There were times when I just wanted to cry for him and what he faced.Having said all of that, I was very intrigued. The story is woven through so many different characters, all of whom end up having some part to play in the revelations at the end. It is a very long book – around 470 pages and it took me 2 days to read it. I read on through the book to see what would happen, whether we would find out who the real killer was, if my hunch was right (it was!) and what would happen with Leo, if he would finally escape his fathers clutches.I would recommend reading it, but with a warning that the material may not be suitable for younger teens.
review 2: You can win this book by entering my giveaway on my blog - cafebiblioart.First of all I would like to thank Jennifer Lane for giving me the chance to read this amazing book. I was familiar with her work before she got published. I read part of this story while it was a fanfic. I felt so bad that I did not get to finish it. Well, now I know how it ends.:)Like I said before, there are fanfics that are completely different from the original story and this is one of them. So please don’t judge. I am saying this in the beginning of my review because there is no point in hiding it, this is something you can easily find out if you do a little digging.So don’t stay away from this book just because it used to be a fanfic. This book is truly an original work and trust me, you will fall in love with it.The story is very complex. There are many things that you have to analyze and understand. Some of the characters do things that many people wound not do, they also make mistakes and then they pay for them. It is human to make mistakes. At times I wanted to cry or yell at some of the character, but I also tried to put myself in their shoes and understand them better, understand why they acted the way they did. I am quite familiar to the military so this was a huge help in making me understand some of the choices the characters made.I absolutely loved the writing style. Ms Lane sure has her way with words. The story-line is captivating. I spent hours reading without stopping. I couldn’t put down my iPad. I wanted to know what going to happen next. I also loved the swimming references I learned something new from this book. I love the sport, but it’s not for me since I hate water… I am like a cat. I must warn you that this book is not just a young-adult book. There is a lot of violence in it.It is quite interesting how we never know what happens behind closed doors. We live happy in our little bubble while our friend, our classmate could be suffering and we don’t even notice.The people we trust the most could be complete monsters without us having the slightest idea. It’s easier to pretend, isn’t it? That’s what we are best at – pretending. As long as we don’t know about something we can pretend it never happened. Why is it that we feel the need to act like everything is okay? when it’s not. One of the reasons you should read this books is because it makes it a little bit easier to understand and maybe it can motivate you to make a chance. You just need to start paying more attention to what happens around you and maybe, just maybe you could save someone’s life.The Commander is a despicable man. There is no excuse for the way he treated his wife and sons, but try to put yourself in his shoes. He had a difficult childhood and that is bound to affect the rest of his life. In the beginning he made small mistakes and one thing led to another. Guilt, in my opinion, in the most powerful feeling there is. Not many can actually live with it. Guilt makes you do even more bad things in most cases. Sad, but true. There are a lot of ‘maybes’ and ‘what ifs’, but I do believe in redemption. Even thought it usually comes a little too late.This book is also a beautiful love story. It proves that love is stronger than anything. Two people who love each other can get past anything. Leo and Audrey are both very strong on their own, but together they are invincible. They go though so much, but they don’t give up even though at times they want to. This quality of theirs might be stronger ? in them because of the fact that they are athletes. All those who practice sports are very competitive by nature and also more stubborn. They are taught never to give up.The cover is beautiful and fitting for this book. It’s simple and elegant, especially for a YA book.Sometimes you just need to stop swimming against the tide and go with the flow. Don’t do things the way you think you are supposed to, do them the way you feel you should. Your gut instinct in never wrong. You need to stop stressing over every little detail and let the streamline take you wherever you need to go. less

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