Uses for Boys

by Erica Lorraine Scheidt

A story of breaking down and growing up, for young adults.

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 by Erica Lorraine Scheidt is a story of breaking down and growing up.

Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction, Romance, Fiction, Teen, Coming Of Age

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 15, 2013

About the author

When I was a kid all I did was write. I dropped out of high school and attended the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University where I was surrounded by writers and artists.

But then, in my early twenties, I got a job. I worked hard at that job for 15 years and didn't write a word.

Then this happened: I walked into a bookstore and bought two books by Francesca Lia Block. No particular reason, I just liked their covers. Then I read everything she wrote. I read all the YA I could. I still do. I think the world that happens between 13 and 17 is everything.

I quit my job. I studied writing. I spent three and a half years writing Uses for Boys. Now I'm working on a new novel and it's like falling down a hole. Writing my first novel taught me nothing about writing the next one.

Now I write. I live with my girlfriend and her daughter and when they come home we make dinner and walk the dog and dance around the kitchen and the next day I get up and I write.

Reviews

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warning: This is NOT a cute YA romance. It's crass. It's disturbing. And it's definitely for a more mature audience who can handle a distasteful subject. Many readers will not like this book. Some will not get very far. But I was prepared, so I knew what I was getting myself into.

I actually found that the book did a great job telling the story about what happens to many, many girls out there (and believe me, I have seen it happen to others too many times). I like the simplicity of the book (some will not) and how it got to the core of the situation. The author did not try to overdramatize what was going on or bogged the reader with an influx of emotions.

The story began with a girl who was the soul object of her mother's love. It was just the two of them, and the Anna had a child-like way of adoring her mother, who was her everything. But things began to change, and Anna is desperately crying out for attention but just doesn't know how. This, of course, has a huge effect on her, as she learns to deal with boys with no one really giving her any direction.

I admit, I was a bit taken aback at first - shocked that she was so young and digusted by the nature of what happened. At the same time, I was fascinated with what was going through Anna's head - the naivety of it all, thoughts of how she was going to retell the story, insecurity of what was going to happen next. Anna showed a lot of character development as she progressed from innocent to ignorant to detached to understanding.

For me, it wasn't mind-blowing, and I can't really say that I LIKED the book. Still, I really appreciated the simplicity of it, and Scheidt's ability to depict what could be a totally believable real-life story without going overboard in an attempt putting our emotional strings.

EDIT: Extra points I wanted to add after discussions with others

About the situation being "glossed over" - I don't think this book "gloss over" about how people should speak out. The reality is, hardly anyone ever does. They're scared. They think people won't believe them. They think, "What's the point?" My sister is a social worker, so she sees things like this happen every day. I've been in sexual offense court cases where the victim talks about not talking, to which the DA says afterwards that many, many victims never really step up. Is it okay? Of course not. But the point is, it's sad how many people will actually turn the other way (especially if it's like some golden boy) instead of helping the victim. And it's sad that this happens way too much in this society.

About her voice not aging - She never really "grew up" because no one was there to help her. By the end of the book, sans the last few chapters, she was still the same naive girl who thought love and sex was one thing when it really wasn't. No one was there to teach her. And no one was there for her to talk to - her mom checked out, Toy always interrupted her. So in a way, she was more "experienced," but she hadn't grown any - until the end.

About the writing - I just thought the writing reflects the situation so well. It was crass. It was simple. Instead of bogging it down with over-emotion or descriptions of the severity of the situation, it was kind of ignorant-sounding and detached, which is the voice I expect to hear from the book. I just think there are a lot of Anna's out there, who DO speak/think in the tone of this book. We don't like it because we are blessed that we aren't put in that situation. But the reality is, that's the way life is for them. And I applaud the author for having the guts to write a book like that - knowing people are really going to be turned off by it. For me, if you're going to do something like that, you have to do it right. Otherwise, what's the point.

I "liked" this book because it was different from your same o same o about the same subject. But then again, it's not for everyone.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do not be fooled by the incredibly gorgeous cover. This is in no way romantic. There are no fairy lights in any of her relationships. This was a quick and depressing read but I felt it was real and raw. This is not a fun romance of a player girl who then settles down. (This is what I thought at first. I thought it would be more like The Duff but with a female Wesley Rush.) She is deeply alone and troubled and tries to fill her life with boys. There is a lot of very detailed sex and even one non-consensual scene that is hard to read. But under all the sadness and uncomfortable parts is a deep story about a girl that needs someone to listen and love her. The writing style was different but perfect for this book as it brought you down low into Anna's mind and her thinking.


~Full Review~

I'd like to talk about the cover first even though I don't normally talk about covers in my reviews. It is gorgeous! One of my favorites but I feel like it gives the wrong impression of the book. This is a very sad, lonely, dark, and gritty contemporary. It won't be for everyone and the cover kind of gives off a light romantic book idea but it is far from that. It is a deep and meaningful story but not something really enjoyable or romantic as the cover would suggest.

Anna's mom started dating and marrying different men while Anna was a young girl. She takes off with them for weeks sometimes and Anna is left all alone. She never had many friends. One day on the bus ride home, a boy touches her. She is so desperate for human contact and enjoys having someone actually notice her. Then rumors begin and she loses the one friend she had. With such a loney life she begins a relationship with another lonely boy, Joey. I was so sad for her that when she finally gets a boyfriend a weird part of me was really happy because she finally has at least one person in her life. But way too young she fills her time with sex.

The sex is extremely explicit and is talked about often throughout the entire book. It didn't bother me too much as I know this happens and it is realistic. After Joey moves away there is one scene of non-consensual sex and that one was difficult for me to read. Anna never had anyone to talk to about it and I continued to feel her grow lonelier. At 16 she moves in with a boy in his twenties. I didn't ever necessarily think her boyfriends were ever truly bad guys. They seemed just as lonely and damaged. I think it all comes back to the old saying that you need to love and be happy with yourself before you can truly love another person and make a relationship work. Anna is a drop out with no real goals, family, friends, hobbies, or anything else in her life to make her happy but a boy. Anna becomes unsatified and moves on again.

She does meet one friend named Toy but Toy never even listened. Toy was kind of in her own la la land I want to say because she lied and hid her problems when they could have really helped each other. Anna continues to want a connection and eventually finds a boy her age named Sam. Not until 70% through so it is a long journey. Even with Sam she makes mistakes. But Sam has a lovely family and they all have dinner together several times a week. Slowly she begins to want more and to want to have something real with Sam. I believe it ends on a hopeful note with Anna wanting to change her relationships and have something more. The writing style is different and makes you feel in a different place, lonely, and depressed along with Anna. The story flows nicely and I read it all in one sitting. While it was sad, I still thought it was a great book. It just won't be something for everyone.


---
"And then he doesn't say anything. He doesn't say he'll miss me or that he's sorry. Does he know he's leaving me? That I'll have to ride the bus home alone and come home alone and be home alone? They leave, I think, just like my mom says."

---
*I received a free copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

[Devon Ashley · Rating 1 out of 5]

***There are spoilers in this review, but as I would never recommend ANYONE reading this novel, it probably won't matter. Also, I'm a little mad right now, but I'm trying to draw back on the anger and inappropriate wordage and just be critical of substance.***

First off, let me say that I'm a little late to the party in terms of reviewing this ARC. By the time I began this, I had noticed that Uses For Boys was averaging around three stars. First reaction - that's not good. I opted not to read any of the reviews so it wouldn't taint my opinion going in. Also, I knew this book weighed heavily on sex, and I know from personal experience, that when you have a YA novel with descriptive sex, you can offend a lot of people who will one star your @ss. So, I figured that was probably the main offender for low ratings.

And there was definitely a lot of sexual activity - the pages were practically oozing with it. Now, I realize there are tons of girls in the world in her position, who are abusing drugs and alcohol and having sex at a very young age, who end up dropping out of school and leaving home. In that aspect, Uses for Boys was raw and on the mark. But it wasn't these things that bothered me (although it probably should have, but it's an honest representation for this kind of life, so I let it slide). What really bugged me about this novel was the Anna's attitude about sex.

I'm sorry, but this girl truly is a slut with major mental issues, with no one to blame but herself.

Yes, I understand that her mother was desperate to keep a man, that she married and divorced several times and step-fathers and step-siblings came and went. But there was no history of abuse, other than her mother reaching the point to where she hardly came home anymore. Bad, I know, but it's not like this girl had her new family members abusing her sexually or anything. So when she was on the bus in middle school, it disturbed me that she allowed a boy to just grab her breast and play with it on the school bus. Then, when she didn't object, she allowed him to go up her shirt so he could MOLEST HER while he forced her hand between his legs to jerk him off - all while his friends leaned over the seat to watch. Seriously. This is middle school. And it happened more than once. NO. NO. HELL NO! And when he grew tired of her, SHE MISSED HIS ATTENTION, so she found a new boy to do it for her. Again. Middle school. And this new boy she took home everyday and had sex with. Awesome.

Here's the part that really made me wanna smack the girl. Anna goes out to a party, gets drunk, and this post-high school guy spends the night pinching and twisting at her nipples. She doesn't want him to, but hey, it seems to be a normal occurrence for her, so the most she does is flick him off for doing it. So it's no wonder the guy finds her drunk @ss later to rape her. He pins her down and covers her mouth, and when he's done, casually asks her not to say anything to anyone. Okay, is her reaction. Then she spends a lot of time wondering why he never kissed her while doing it. ARE. YOU. F*CKING. MENTAL? WHO WANTS A RAPIST TO KISS THEM?!!! And why wouldn't you tell anyone?

Flash forward to a new guy she met, Anna decided that she was going to drop out of school and move in with him. They're both like fifteen or sixteen. Not only does her mother barely put up a fight, saying you're going to do what you want to do, but she even signs the form for her to drop out. Sure, her mom asks her every few months if she's ready to admit defeat and come back home, but it truly only bugs her when one of her own men find it awful that she's allowing her sixteen year old daughter to do it. But still, she doesn't force the minor's @ss home. Where is freaking CPS people? This kid gets her pregnant, and after the big A, she's ready to move on again.

I know, I know. What the hell kept me reading this story? I thought for sure something big was gonna happen that was going to make this girl see the light of day. That she'd learn some huge lesson to make the atrocities of her bad decision making more bearable. And when she met Sam, I thought, finally! A nice kid with a good family dynamic! Her salvation! But then she goes and does the same ol' shiz. After meeting Sam, he says he'll be gone for a week for Spring Break. So what does she do? She goes off to find a one night stand. Bitch. This sweet guy, who takes her home to have dinner with his family every night, adores her. He also happens to be a virgin and wants to wait. And yes, he knows that she's not a virgin, and he's okay with it. But Anna keeps pressuring the poor guy and he keeps asking her to slow down. They finally have sex; all the time of course, because she's got her own apartment now. But one day they decided to do the nasty at his place, get completely busted by his mom, who then asked her leave. His mother once told her she was strong and smart, so lying to them about not having sex when they were was a big let down. So what does our little Anna do now? She goes off to find a one night stand. SERIOUSLY! WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!!

I'm thinking this is it. Anna's gonna learn her lesson now. She's going to be brave and go back to the house with her head held high, admit to everyone her faults, that she wants a family like theirs, that she wants to be the kind of person that deserves to have them. And does she do it? HELL IF I KNOW! All we get is her going to the door, the little sister saying how worried the mother was about her (yeah, right) and the next thing we know she and Sam are walking back to her apartment. END STORY. SERIOUSLY? I read all that crap about a mental patient, and I get nothing? No face to face with the parents or talking it out with Sam? Not even a few sentences telling us what happened that convinced the parents to even allow their son to walk off to her apartment?! NO, NO, NO!

So in conclusion, this girl LEARNED NOTHING in my opinion. She used boys for sex and to keep herself from being lonely. Had the author just given me that last scene where she proved that Anna was going to become something better than she was, I could've give this novel at least three stars. Now...I hate even giving it one. It disturbs me that this girl slutted around, got high, got drunk, and didn't change anything about herself moving forward. NO. NO. NO!


Oh, and about that lovely synopsis: 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. uh...no, actually, it doesn't. And she finally learns how it feels to have something to lose—and something to offer. (only a doped up crack head would agree with either of those statements) Real, shocking, uplifting, and stunningly lyrical, Uses for Boys is a story of breaking down and growing up. (she grew up in age, I'll give you that. And filling this novel with scenes that are shocking won't get this shipwreck to float).



ARC provided by publisher for honest review.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Initial reaction: I think a lot of people are going to be fooled by the cover of this particular novel and think that this is a light fluffy story about a teen who finds love. The cover is a bit of false advertising to be honest - and I don't know if I'd say the title of the novel fits it all that well either. This is a rather rough story - and the only novel that I can think of off the top of my head to compare it to is "Push" by Sapphire (only I would argue "Push" is far more tragic and with much heavier contexts, even then it's a hard line to draw because they're really not that similar - I'll have to think of other novels to compare before I write the full review). It's frank about the sexual relationships, the neglect, and the falling in and out of relationships of the child turned teen protagonist. For all intents and purposes, the protagonist has a damaged mindset and she's not easy to follow in this work. But the constructive thing about this novel is that it shows Anna moving through relationships and trying to build a life for herself despite her circumstances.

Full review: I'm a bit torn about my reaction to "Uses for Boys", because for all intents and purposes, I saw what it was going for from early on in the story, and I appreciated the collective story for what it was offering, but I feel there are a lot of things that are problematic with it. Before I get into that, I want to share a personal story with you guys about my reading experiences with a book that was somewhat similar to this one, but I can neither remember the title or the author of the work. It's been too many years, too many books - and I wish I could remember it, because it would be easier than trying to link books that aren't really similar to it.

I was 13 years old when I picked up the aforementioned book, so technically it was written for an age group that was older than me - 15+ (though why it was in a middle school library, I'm not really sure - it might've had to do with the reading level). The story was about a 12 year old POC girl living with her five brothers and sisters in the projects. She was the second oldest, had an older brother who was in a gang - her mother was a single woman strung out on drugs. So basically she was the person looking after her other brothers and sisters, though the older brother would protect his siblings if they would ever get into trouble with local hecklers. She was into a lot of graffiti art, and often used art to paint pictures of the things she was going through in her life. That meant good events as well as bad.

Said girl was also involved in a sexual relationship with one of her peers - not much older than her, which might raise some eyebrows as far as what's acceptable for teen/YA literature of today. (It was published in the mid to late 90s as far as I know, I don't remember much else about it but the content. Whether it was specifically marketed to teens, I have no idea, but I remember I liked the cover and it did have something of a cover that would appeal to teens.) I remember at the time that I wasn't expecting the book to go as far as it did with the portrayal of the sexual relationship - and the language was rather blunt - using "tits" for breasts and "prick" for penis. I remember one of the librarians raised a fit about the book saying that it shouldn't have been shelved in the library after I returned the book, but the other librarian surprised her by turning to me and asking me what I thought of the book since I'd read it. I usually took my lunch breaks in the library to read at that time, so they were already used to me picking books off the the shelves at random and reading them, but I think I was the only one who actually pulled that particular book off the shelf - it'd never been checked out.

At the time, I think I answered something like "I liked it, but I was kind of uncomfortable with it. I think the girl turned out all right in the end and I'm glad she was able to succeed where she did after all she went through." Even thinking about it now - the things that made me uncomfortable like the portrayal of the language and the depicted sex - I also knew that this was a girl who was going through a very real ordeal and had to realize what about her situation was wrong, and the book had a clear arc of her getting out of those situations. If my mom knew I read that book, she'd probably have blown a gasket in her brain, but I remember at the time, I knew what it was actually saying and the impact it was going for. It wasn't glorifying the sex, it wasn't glorifying the young girl's situation, but rather providing an eye to it that many people wouldn't necessarily talk about. That some people are afraid to talk about because of what it might imply, but at the same time - there are people who go through these very real situations and their stories should be told, if even to give an eye to them and say - this crap happens on a regular basis and no one talks about what reactions are prompted with it and how to deal with them.

So I guess that leads me into this review about how far is too far when it comes to the portrayal of such situations in YA literature. "Uses for Boys" has some graphic sex scenes and depictions of sexual imagery featuring an underage protagonist who suffers from neglect and depression - and the narrative style reflects the level of the girl's mental state. It's a very quick read, very much event-to-event accounts, and it doesn't necessarily have as much character intimacy as I would've liked to see. Yet, I understood what it was going for. I've personally read stronger examples of YA literature that individually (and collectively) tackled these thematics, with stronger character eyes and more potent messages to send about the topics it discusses, including slut shaming, child neglect, pregnancy, abortion, etc. But somehow, I don't know - this book did get to me in a profound way, with not just it's overarching tone, but depicting the relationship between Anna and her mother as well as what the boys in her life symbolically represented (even if we don't really get to put the finger on the pulse of any of them). I think because it felt like a genuine account, even if it was sparse in its respective detail. Like a girl who didn't know what to do with these feelings or felt inadequate so much that she had to drop her studies, or felt uncertain in the spectrum of her life of what was truth and what was in the lies that she told herself and what others would tell her.

I personally thought the depiction of sex in this was too much and I wouldn't personally recommend it for a young teen, but I think the book is one that should be taken in its own discretion, and read for what conversations it can promote for what it offers. I'd liken it to books like "Boy Toy" by Barry Lyga and "Living Dead Girl" by Elizabeth Scott. Maybe even Ellen Hopkins' books (which Hopkins actually blurbed this book from the cover of my ARC). It's certainly has more heart than books out there that are clearly "message" books, but at the same time, even with how raw it can be at times in its respective narrative, there's a significant disconnect, and I think if it had more of a distinct connection, this could've been a stronger book than what it was.

The cover will probably fool a lot of people into thinking this is a lighthearted story of coming of age and Anna's journey to finding love when really it's a lot more raw and dark than that. And Anna is very much not a likable protagonist - she's very flawed, but there's context to those flaws, and I think to really see them, you have to be able to see through the filter that Anna has. I thought about the title of the book in relation to the content as well - "Uses for Boys". Anna doesn't have a stable male figure in her life, and a lot of the impressions she has of men are complicated by the figures she sees in her mother's relationships as well as her own. But ultimately it's a story where she has to come into her own sense of place, and while I wouldn't say it brings a clear cut happy ending or coming to terms for Anna, it's a starting point.

Overall score: 3/5

Note: I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley, from the publisher St. Martin's Press.

[Jasprit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am so disappointed with Uses for Boys, there had been so much high praise and with such a gorgeous cover I thought it would be a brilliant read. But unfortunately I had too many issues with this book, which really made it a frustrating read.

Anna’s never had a steady life, before it was just her and her mum, she loved it but then there came husband after husband, step brothers and new houses. It’s not the ideal life for an eight year old girl, especially with her mother not there that often either. But it’s the life she’s gotten used to; always returning to an empty home and having no friends. I did initially feel sorry for Anna, she had no one, but as she grew up she started following in the footsteps of her mother, random guy after random guy, just drifting through life. I wanted so much for Anna, after not really having a proper parent around, but Anna sort of made these decisions herself spur of the moment not taking into consideration, the repercussions after, so you can see why I had no sympathy for her.

Then when she finally met Toy, I thought things would change, finally she’d found a friend who had tons in common with, someone who could fill that void left by the lack of care and love from her mother and lack of friends. But as the book progressed I didn’t get what the point of Toy was; she didn’t stop Anna jumping head first into silly decisions she kind of made things worse. She was a friend who could put things on a downer really quickly, I understand she didn’t have the best life either, but whenever Anna had something good going for her, unlike a normal friend who would be happy for her, Toy would start yapping on about her own life and her boyfriend who was tons better. What friend does that? I’m sure it made Anna feels even more like crap; also Toy was never around when Anna needed her the most, so I didn’t really get the point of their friendship.

Then when you think Anna’s finally met Mr right, she still goes around getting off with random guys, I don’t think I could ever get why she would do that. Sam was a genuine sweet guy, giving her love and time with his family, something she had ached for forever, and what does she do? Get stone drunk and let random guys grope her?

Anna, Toy and Anna’s mother’s behaviour was a little too much for me at times. It was just pointless why they did some of the things they did. All of these issues combined resulted in sadly a really disappointing read. I really wish I was able to enjoy Uses for Boys more, as I had high hopes for it. But sadly it was just not for me.

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

First I was planning to read this book, then I changed my mind cause of the reactions from my friends, and then I changed it again cause all the different opinions got me really curious.

Let me start with saying (and I think the majority started their review with these words): this book was really hard to review. The subject is so delicate and sensitive, so it's not easy to give a honest opinion without insulting/upsetting someone. I'm not naive, I don't live in a fantasy bubble, so I'm well aware that stuff like abortion, abuse, rape, sexual addiction, parental negligence,... happens in real life. Sadly, but so true. And I give credit to the author for writing about topics that are disturbing in so many ways. That requires guts. But I had a lot of issues with this book...

I liked the idea of witnessing how Anna grows older and how she's affected by several circumstances in her life. But instead of adjusting the writing style so it would fit Anna's age, it stays the childish voice from beginning till end. That just doesn't feel right. Also, how disturbing this book might be, I couldn't bring myself to really care for Anna. At a sudden moment I was wondering if there's something really wrong with me cause when you read this:

'I cry. Right there with him inside me. I cry really hard so the snot runs out of my nose and I have to wipe it on my arm.'

and the first thing you think is: snot on her arm, yuck gross! That's not exactly a normal reaction right? But I think I'm not a heartless witch after all, but it's just the writing style. I didn't feel a connection with Anna, I couldn't relate to her, I didn't even like her. Another thing that bothered me is how Anna is portrayed as a victim right from the start. Yeah Joey and Desmond use her, but isn't she doing the same thing? Using them to get rid of her lonely feeling for a while?

Also, although it was written in Anna's POV I often didn't know why she said certain things or reacted in a particular way. I'm thinking for example about her and Joey:

'I show him the room that used to be the family room.
“Where’s your real dad?'
'I show him what I look like without my shirt and how my bra attaches in the front. He spends a long time just holding and kissing my breasts, one by one, and saying, “Oh, oh, oh.'

When I read this I immediately thought 'WTH! How does she go from a question about her dad to undressing?'. I wish I knew her reasons for behavior like that and that often frustrated me.

What also really bothered me is that in the end, this book has no point, no message whatsoever. Why would one write about a controversial subject like this one, when there is no point made in the end. I don't say justice is always served in real life or that everyone in the same position as Anna gets the help they need. But it isn't even addressed in this book. No one seems to notice anything about Anna being left alone the whole time, (or they just don't care). Like the mom from her best friend at the beginning. She finds out that Anna is always alone so she doesn't want the girls playing at Anna's house anymore. Uhm I don't know lady, but maybe you should make a phone call to child care? Ok, I did see some character development in Anna when she finally refused a guy near the end of the book. But besides that? I don't really see her taking lessons out of her past. And I guess the author had the intention of making Sam the one guy that saves Anna. But besides some sex making love scenes I didn't saw much depth in their relationship.

I can understand why people like this book. But I just don't like the way the author handled the whole thing. Also, the writing style was monotone, boring even after a while. So although I'm not insensitive and indifferent to the whole matter, the book just didn't get to me.





Alright, K adding this one made me really curious.. ;)

[Just a person · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a mature book, with sad themes laced with hope especially at the end. This is not light, not fluffy, and the beautiful cover fits in some ways but if you go in expecting any thing except dark and gritty, you are probably going to be disappointed.
That said, I don't think I even had seen the cover when I read the blurb, but I knew that it would be a book for me. I just wanted to make clear so that it is not an issue for those who might be expecting something else.
Anna, the main character grows and learns so much about herself and life in this book. Just when I started to feel sorry for her or get disappointed in her she would start to change and realize things about herself and those around her. I see so much of myself in her, lonely and looking for love in all the wrong places until things finally clicked. Having the right people and some of the people who had been in my life but I finally realized their value or the pain that they themselves are dealing with and they also need a little love and support.
Sam is so innocent and so whose all at the same time and I love how he saw through her problems to the person she was inside. I also loved reading about his family especially his sister and his mom. She is so involved and had so much to offer, I ish there were more like her in ya lit.
Anna really breaks my heart how distant and absent her mom was, but it is the sad reality for so many people, and I think that her story can help them feel less alone. And hopefully can also teach from her mistakes, and open eyes to some dark issues. There is many places where I just wanted to hug her and especially one spot where I wish I could open her eyes and make her see that it is not her fault.

Bottom line gritty contemporary with dark themes about the reality of life both good and bad, through love friendship.and the choices we all make.

For more of my reviews, check out Blkosiner’s YA and Teen Book Blog: http://blkosiner.blogspot.com

[Hayden Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uses for Boys is unlike anything I've ever read, and that is the easiest thing I've ever said.

Told in stark, haunting and lyrical prose, Uses for Boys is the story of a quiet misfit, Anna, raised by a single, troubled mother, hopping from boyfriend to husband and back again like the rising and falling of the sun. From the beginning, Anna gripped me tightly. We've all had those moments in our lives where we felt along and unloved and, in the beginning of the book, Anna feels just that way when her mom neglects her for her latest boyfriend.

Anna is seven years old in the beginning of the book. The five years that followed are told briskly, mostly as emotional setup for the rest of the novel. I'll say now that when I started Uses for Boys, I wasn't expecting nearly the emotional drain I received when I closed the back cover. Uses for Boys is sly with the planting of its emotional seeds, and you don't realize until the end just how in love with Anna's struggles you've become.

Anna's struggles with boys mainly seem to stem from her mother's similar issue. After all, like mother, like daughter, right? Monkey see, monkey do. Especially at such a young age and in such a fragile state, it would make sense for Anna, young, docile and craving her mother's attention, to latch onto her actions and imitate them.

One thing that I noticed while reading was that the dialogue was sparse. Uses for Boys is a novel told more in description and silence than dialogue, and that is much appreciated. A lack of dialogue creates a much greater emotional investment in you as a reader, and that certainly happened in this case.

One of my favorite things one can do as an author is adding a sense of unity between the beginning and the end, through, say, the repetition of a passage. When authors do this, it really adds a sense of "Wow, look at how far we've come in this novel," which just makes the ending that much more emotionally fragile.

Speaking of the ending, it was very real. Not every single plot thread was resolved, but such a thing is unrealistic, and part of what made the ending of Uses for Boys so delightful and emotional was the startling reality of it all. Anna is surely one of the strongest YA characters I've had the pleasure of reading, even during moments of weakness. But it is Anna's ability to realize her mistakes and maintain a sense of recovery that makes her so strong. Anna is a very human protagonist, and my heart broke when I realized the end of the story was so near. Although I turned the last page, Anna's story will live on forever in my heart.

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anna's dad was never there. Her mom used to be. But she's not anymore. She's with a new man. Then another one. Then another one. She's never there for Anna.

Anna seeks family through boys. She learned it from her mother. When that first boy touches her and she feels electric, that's what she thinks love and belonging are. She continues, boy after boy, sexual episode after sexual episode. She's taken advantage of, abused by these boys.

Then she meets Toy. Toy's another broken girl without a family.

Toy opens her up to the idea that boys could be loving. Toy's had a string of amazing boyfriends herself. The kind who buy her things. Who tell her she's worth it. Anna has such envy for what Toy has. But Anna has sex and that means something.

There's moving in and out of her home. Dropping out of school. Getting a job making coffee. An apartment. A rape. A pregnancy. An abortion. A new apartment. An old, still-the-same mother.

Sam enters the picture and changes everything. He shows Anna love. But he shows her more than that. He shows her family. Acceptance. Care.

This isn't the story where the boy saves the girl. In fact, it's the boy (after boy after boy) who has let Anna down. It's a woman who opens Anna up. Who tells her she is more than her body. That she is more. That she is worth something.

Scheidt's debut is powerful and it's explicit. There's nothing held back here, but the way sex is used to develop the story is authentically teen. It's authentically Anna. It's what she believes is what needs to happen. She's been shown as much by her mom. It makes sense. Anna believes she is meant to be used by boys. That that is what belonging and acceptance are. That that is what her body is good for because that's what women are meant to do.

But Anna IS a helluva lot more than that. It's clear through her relationship with Toy and it's even clearer through her relationship with Josh.

The writing is great. It's fast-paced, staccato, and pulsing. It is the inside of Anna's mind. It's aching.

Full review here: http://www.stackedbooks.org/2013/01/u...

[Kassiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

You can find my totally spoilery review with quotes and more non-flailing on the Fictionators. I'll try to tone it down here.

This has been one of the hardest reviews that I have ever had to write. That could be because this has been one of the hardest books that I've ever read.

Let's start with why I wanted to read it. I read the summary--I expected some angst, ya'll. But every time I thought my poor wussperv heart couldn't take it, I would look at the beautiful cover and think *sigh* that's the kind of book I wanna read. This was one of my most anticipated books of 2013.

Remember how your mom said you can't judge a book by its cover? Turns out she was right after all.

Uses for Boys is well-written and heartbreakingly real, but I didn't like it. Not one bit. This review is going to be spoilery, so proceed with caution.

The story starts off with seven-year-old Anna living alone with her mother. Then her mom meets a guy and gets married and they move. Her mom becomes wrapped up in her new husband and her new job and then gets divorced and meets a new guy (and then another and I think another) and in all of that, she just...forgets about her kid. Her mom is busy. She lets too much of her self-worth be determined by a (any) man.

And here is where I have to pause as a mother and ask, "Really? Is this really how easy it is?" It makes me sad.

In all of this time, Anna goes from being seven to being sixteen. When she is thirteen, she lets a boy touch her on the bus, which earns her the reputation of being a slut and causes her to lose the one friend she had. She's lonely and gets a boyfriend who comes over after school everyday and they start having sex--at fourteen. They break up and there are other boys and along the way, she meets a girl she considers to be a kindred spirit. She's still lonely and is just looking for someone to pay attention to her.

Sometimes kids come into the cafe after school and sometimes I'm invisible to them. I want someone to ask me why I'm there. Why I'm not in school. I want someone to recognize that I'm a kid like they are.

And then Sam does.

Sam is a seventeen year old student with a normal family who has rules and eats dinner together. He's different, and he's not just about sex--I think he really loves Anna, and she loves him, too, as much as she's capable of.

This book was gut-wrenching. There's rape. There's abortion. There's just so much sad. I wanted to find Anna and hug her and take care of her, and I wanted to find her mother and shake her until she got a brain. This is almost a must-read for mothers. Just because your kid doesn't get bad grades or doesn't cut themselves or isn't doing drugs doesn't mean there isn't something going on. Talk to your kids, for fucks sake. Pay attention if they don't have any friends or ever have a conversation with you about...I don't know...anything.

Debut author Erica Lorraine Scheidt writes beautifully. The words and the way the story was told were haunting and authentic. I think too often, this is what happens in real life. Maybe not all of it, but some.

So why the low review? On the Fictionators, I gave this two-and-a-half stars because I averaged. In some ways, it's a five-star prize-worthy book. I just didn't like it.

The end is (somewhat) hopeful, but I would have liked a little more. There is also something that happens close to the end that I feel practically negates the growth that I thought Anna had experienced. If that hadn't happened, I feel like I would have had a different reaction to this book. I still wouldn't have liked it, but I would have felt like it was worth my time reading it.

When it's all said and done, though, I don't. Some of you will love it. I want the swoony, romantic story that goes with that beautiful cover. This book will stay with me, but I wish I hadn't read it.

[Adriana C · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first thing that attracted me to Uses for Boys was its beautiful cover and after reading its synopsis which suggests that it was a poignant and heartbreaking novel, and I do love this type of books but I like them with a happy ending, and this book doesn´t have a happy ending.. Uses for Boys is a very realistic contemporary novel that shows the dark side of Anna the main character of the story.

This book is told from Anna´s POV and it begins when she´s 7 years old and she tells about the good old days when there were only she and her mother against the world and they lived in a tiny apartment, and as the years pass by, her mother starts looking for a husband and a better life, but from that moment she stops paying attention to Anna. Anna grows alone (even if she´s living in the same house as her mother) and without the affection of her mother, as she grows older, she begins to seek affection elsewhere and she finds it in the boys. And in my very humble opinion she does not use the boys, but it is the other way round; and I don´t know if it´s because Anna is innocent or broken but she begins to confuse the attention she receives from boys with love. And as she grows up she creates her own world where the boys love her and they´re her new family, so she goes from boy to boy looking for love.

In Uses for Boys the chapters are tiny and because is told from Anna´s POV, there isn't almost any dialogue at all, is more about the thoughts of the protagonist, so I didn´t really like the book, because Anna has severe emotional problems. Definitely this book was not for me, I felt as if the chapters were cut, I did not like the ending and I would have liked an epilogue.

This is a realistic contemporary novel, dark and very depressing. My favorite contemporary novels are poignant, and heartbreaking but with a happy ending, so Uses for Boys was not for me.

Something I should mention that although the book is categorized for 13 years old or older, but I do not recommend it for teens, is more a mature YA novel because it addresses serious issues, like sex, sexual abuse and abortion.

I want to thank St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for this review copy.

[Aman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is THE WORST BOOK I've ever read. Everything about it was an utter disaster. There was nothing to learn from the story. What was the author trying to tell us? That your life is shit if you don't have caring parents. That is not true. The main character, Anna makes the worst choices throughout the book, and basically becomes a slut (I hate using that word) at the age of 13, and in reality all she need was a good counselor who could have guided her through rough patches. I can't believe that this book was even published.

The writing was so bad. There weren't even complete sentences, it was more like a bunch of post-it notes put together. In between a scene, the story would change, just like that, and there was no explanation for the transition. Everything that happened was in the girl's mind or how she would tell someone a story about it. It was so confusing, and I don't even know how to explain. I didn't even knew the story had finished until I read the acknowledgements. Bottom line, the cover, and synopsis may look good, but what's inside is not worth your time & money. Stay away from it, and it's a wonder Uses For Boys is not in my DNF reads.

A copy was provided by the Publisher for an honest review (Thank You!)

For more review, visit Enticed by Books

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review was originally published on Clear Eyes, Full Shelves.

Sometimes the idea of a book is ultimately stronger than the story within.

In the case of Erica Lorraine Scheidt's debut novel, Uses for Boys, I found myself distracted by the innovative take on teen sexuality. However, once I was stuck into the story, the execution ultimately did not work.

Uses for Boys opens when Anna, whose first-person point-of-view is told in a stream-of-consciousness, real-time style, is a child, alone with her mother, never having known her father. She believes that, together, she and her mom can take on anything. But soon, a string of stepfathers and a career mean that Anna rarely sees her mother, she believes she has no family.

I want to go back to the tell-me-again times when I slept in her bed and we were everything together. When I was everything to her. Everything she needed.

She soon discovers that boys can make her feel needed, that they can fill a void for her. The attention makes her feel special, even if it means that the girls shun her and call Anna vicious names.

The first few chapters of Uses for Boys make for powerful stuff. The perspective of young Anna as she decides to allow herself to go down the path of wanting boys to use her, to abuse her, is heartbreaking. She eventually starts playing house with a boy every day and they become sexually involved. This makes her feel important and grown up. This boy needs her in a way her real family never did.

Of course, it's all just a fantasy and it doesn't last.

And then he doesn’t say anything. He doesn’t say he’ll miss me or that he’s sorry. Does he know he’s leaving me? That I’ll have to ride the bus home alone and come home alone and be home alone? They leave, I think, just like my mom says.

But she does meet her first girl friend, Toy, who's everything Anna wishes to be.

Toy is talking and this is why I love her. She can go on about herself ceaselessly and like the scratching of a branch against the window at night, the steady insistence of it is comforting. She has stories without beginnings, stories that trail off, stories that crisscross and contradict and dead end.

Soon, Anna leaves home, moves to Portland from her comfortable home in the suburbs and finds another boy. The natural course of events unfolds, since Anna's a young girl, living with a loser boyfriend.

Eventually--and I mean waaaaay eventually, as in after nearly three-quarters of the book--Anna meets Sam. Sam's a boy with a normal, intact family, who doesn't want to have sex with Anna right away. He wants to get to know her as a person and maybe things can change for Anna.

I really appreciate what Scheidt is doing with Uses for Boys, exposing what causes girls to devalue themselves and believe that sex and love and caring are all the same thing.

Despite the compelling premise, after just a few chapters of Uses for Boys, I found myself challenged to continue reading.

While the writing initially gripped me, I found myself longing for dialog so that I could understand Anna more. Understanding characters so often comes not from the narrators' internal voice, but from their interactions with others. Because Uses for Boys takes place entirely within Anna's head, there's only minimal opportunity to understand her in relation to anyone else.

And the city. The city! Only a bus ride away and full of possibilities. We get dressed up and do our makeup. We go downtown and stand around. I belong here, I tell Toy. I’m hungry for every city block. Every brick building. Every crowded intersection. Electric. I feel brand new. My hair is shaggy and getting longer and I wear the wingtips with dresses from the forties and old-man cardigans. A broken leather belt knotted around my waist. Toy wears tunics over skinny jeans with high heels and thick socks. “The city will transform us,” I explain. “We’ll never be alone.”

The passage above is illustrative of the glimpses we're given into Anna's interactions with other people. It's not much and it really limits the character development. And, frankly, I didn't feel like the present tense, blow-by-blow quasi literary style worked for this story. Usually I enjoy young adult fiction with a bit of a literary bent (ie, The Sharp Time) but in this instance, the style distanced me from the narrator and resulted in my never feeling connected to her story.

My new window looks out at a brick wall and when it’s wet I’ll know it’s raining. I walk around the apartment touching the walls and hanging my clothes in the little closet. I buy blue paint. I wear the overalls that Toy and I bought at Salvation Army with a bandana over my hair and a thin white tank top underneath. I borrow a stepladder from the manager who says I have to paint the walls again when I leave. It’s the color of my dreams, I tell Toy in my head.

This is definitely a stylistic preference, but I think a lot of readers will have this same reaction. The writing style left me wanting to know more about Anna, more about her world and less about the minutiae of her day-to-day activities in between hook-ups. Her thoughts are never particularly clear and as a result, I wondered what else was "off" about Anna beyond her abject loneliness. There was something about her that wasn't quite right (perhaps a mental health issue or a learning disability--it's a jumbled thing, but present nonetheless), but that's never explored in Uses for Boys, but it's a strong enough element that I assumed it was intentional.

And that brings me to the "the sex stuff." There's a lot of sex in this book for a YA novel.

And it's mildly graphic. It's not at all "sexy," and I found it pretty gross as an adult. With that said, it's also effectively rendered and I am surprised by how offended many early reviewers are by how it's handled in Uses for Boys. It in no way glamorizes the way Anna uses sex to feel wanted and less alone, it simply peels away the layers behind those experiences. Think of the way Ellen Hopkins handles these subjects and you're on the right track with the subject of sex in Uses for Boys.

Uses for Boys also tackles both rape and abortion, but they're handled as experiences rather than as issues, which is notable. I'm pretty wildly read in contemporary YA fiction and it's actually pretty refreshing that Scheidt didn't make either of these incidents into Big Things That Must Be Addressed. Particularly in the context of this story, where such much of life happens to Anna, rather than her being actively engaged in life, this makes sense for the novel. But, I do think these subjects, combined with the rawness of the sex, will push buttons for some readers. (None of this fazed me, but I understand when others are bothered.)

I was also concerned about the way Anna's relationship with her mother was depicted.

Anna's problems are rooted in her issues with her mother's emotional absence and her mother's search for the man who's going to solve all her problems.

I’m in the kitchen eating cereal when my mom comes home. “Is that all you ever eat?” She stands in the doorway wearing a white linen jacket, her purse in one hand. She doesn’t sit down. She walks back into the kitchen and looks in the refrigerator. “You should go grocery shopping,” she says. And then she looks in her purse and pulls out two twenties. She’s wearing high-heeled burgundy shoes with straps around the ankle and there’s a streak of orangey makeup on her collar. I wonder if she’s getting old and if this is what it’s going to be like. Bits of her coming off on her clothes.

Anna's mom is not good at being a parent. She's more focused on finding a man than raising her daughter. She brings a string of stepfathers into Anna's life and doesn't seem to make an attempt to integrate the families in a healthy way. But we also see Anna's mother develop into a career woman (Anna describes her as working all the time and dressing nicely), coming a long way from living in crappy apartments.

Uses for Boys clearly indicts the adults who let Anna down and who are responsible for her seeking comfort in sex with boys at a young age. And they deserve it--especially Anna's mother. But I was also left feeling sorry for her mother, who was just as lost as Anna, but who also managed to make a career for herself and provide for her teen daughter. I was simply uncomfortable with the subtle damning of Anna's mother. (Again, this is largely due to the point-of-view and writing style.)

My final frustration with Uses for Boys has nothing to do with the actual novel.

It's yet another book with a blurb and cover that will mislead readers looking for one type of story, but will get something very, very different. The cute romance-y cover and blurb focus on Anna's relationship with same indicate that the reader will get a story about redemption and love. But Sam doesn't come into the picture until nearly the end of the story. Furthermore, readers who love stark, realistic fiction may pass up Uses for Boys based on the cutesy cover and blurb focused on the romance angle.

This bothers me tremendously. So much of book discovery is finding the right book for the right reader and it bothers me that the publisher decided to put up a barrier to this book reaching an audience that will appreciate and enjoy it.

Scheidt's debut will definitely resonate with readers who enjoy gritty, realistic teen fiction ala Ellen Hopkins. Unfortunately, I am simply not that reader. I was never stuck into Uses for Boys, despite my sympathies for Anna's situation, but the unique premise and unusual writing style were never enough to allow me to become invested in the story.

For an alternate take, I recommend reading Kelly's review on Goodreads or Ginger's review on GReads!.

Disclosure: Received for review.

-----
I loved the first few chapters, but the rest bored me beyond belief. Honestly, this book needed way more dialog (there's hardly any) and less pseudo literary filler. The thing is, the writing is actually good, it's just that it's dull and it was hard to motivate myself to keep reading.

I know people have been bothered by all the sex in this book, since it's YA, but that didn't shock or disturb me, it is what it is. I do wonder if this was originally intended as adult literary fiction, though. It has that feel to me.

Longer review will happen eventually.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

There has been a lot of buzz about this book. It's the book with the pretty cover that insinuates there is a lovely, romantic story about to unfold.

People. IGNORE the cover. I *almost* took off a star because the cover is such a blatant misrepresentation of the book, but after I thought about it, reviews are about the book--not about the cover.

This book isn't going to be for everyone. It just isn't. It's brutal, heartbreaking and one of the most painful depictions of what happens when a little girl is completely neglected (both emotional and physically) by her parents. As adults we know what could happen---The girl grows up, sometimes much too soon, and begins to look for love in all the wrong places. She continues on the path that her mother set for her because ultimately, a little girl wants to be just like their Mommy. When they grow up and don't want to be like mom, it's too late. The seed has already been planted and bad, horrible decisions are made.

This is important. This book is written like lyrical prose. (Think Ellen Hopkins.) There is very little dialogue and the writing is very literal. For me, it was the best way into Anna's world. My heartbeats matched hers at times, and I found myself aching from the trauma she endured. This is a real story (I mean, it isn't autobiographical, but this could be ANY girl. This is someones daughter that was neglected and was perceived as worthless. She had no friends. No family, except a very absentee mother, or any adult who was concerned enough to ask this girl if she was okay. It was heartbreaking.) As for some readers that didn't believe this was believable--that no one would get in that much trouble or she was just whiney/a victim, well...you're wrong, imo. This is very believable. There are girls, so many, that live this life everyday. It's hard to imagine something so horrific, but it does. There are so many girls that overcome it, but there are some that don't.

As always a mark of a good book is what it's left with you. If you're continuing to wonder about the characters, curious about what would have happened if, or still preoccupied with some element...it's a good book.

As a young adult writer querying my first project USES FOR BOYS is exactly the type of book that inspires me. It's fresh, brave and took massive chances. Sometimes i'll think 'Oh. No one will like this' or 'There is no way to sell this' then I'll read a fearless story like this and realize....yes I can.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uses for Boys by Erica Lorraine Scheidt is going to be a hard book for me to review. I really enjoyed it and I flew through, but it wasn’t really what I was expecting. Maybe I should have read the summary more thoroughly because the clues are definitely there. This book has tough content. Some very touchy issues like teen sex are explored, but Scheidt’s writing is gorgeous and breathtaking. She handles these taboo subjects with raw grace.

I knew girls like Anna when I was teenager. A very good friend in elementary and early middle school ended up like this by 8th grade. So Anna’s logic and actions felt very realistic to me. Anna needs to feel not alone. Her mother is absent most of the time. She’s off finding her next ex husband. So, Anna turns to boys for the love and the attention she isn’t getting at home. You can guess where that leads. That’s really what Uses for Boys is about. Anna struggles with her loneliness and fills that void with different boys. It’s also about Anna growing up and learning to rely on herself instead of boys.

Uses for Boys isn’t going to be for everyone. There’s some very mature situations. Like I said before, I think Erica Lorraine Scheidt handles them with class. I predict that some readers will still have a problem with the mature content, but I don’t think the story would pack the same punch without the details. Some of the scenes will knock the breath out of you because they are so powerful. As the reader you know that Anna is making horrible choices. It’s impossible not to want to sit her down and tell her all the things her mother should have.

The writing is stunning. It’s hard to believe that Scheidt is a debut author. I think Uses for Boys is a beautiful book that shouldn’t go unnoticed. You should definitely give it a chance if it sounds like your kind of story.

[fka · Rating 1 out of 5]

first of all, I love that when I search for "uses for boys" on goodreads, the second result I get is "Holy Bible: The New American Bible for Catholics: With Revised New Testament and Revised Book of Psalms" (which is actually the bible I used to own/read when I was Xian).

secondly, I've been sitting on writing this review for a while. "uses for boys" was the first book I checked out and finished from a public library in some six or seven years, and one of the few books I even finished this year (been a rough year, sigh). so it was significant to me to read, but after just a few chapters, I began to hit a brick-tonne of resistance. I'm amazed I finished at all, but after I did, I committed to writing a review about it, just so I can explain my thoughts/feelings about this book. I haven't written a book review in a long time, and I actually want to go a bit more in-depth than I've ever done in this one, so I intend to be as honest as possible. also, this will be a very personal review rooted in the background of my own experiences, so you can choose to take it with a grain of salt. it will be very subjective, but there ARE some issues I find with this book that I think stand to be questioned, even without all of my personal subjectivity/reactions.

I was recommended this book indirectly by friends, rave reviews on goodreads, and eventually, the praise-excessive reviews on the book's covers. based on the synopsis, I actually thought I'd LOVE it. I expected to cry, to feel moved, inspired. a book about a girl who seeks validation from boys/sex to make up for her loneliness and decided lack of family, only to finally learn (hopefully?) that she doesn't need it at all. sounds great! except, it wasn't about that at all.

full (and maybe a bit too much) disclosure: Anna reminds me of myself when I was younger, and many of the situations she found herself in frightfully echoed my younger years. this is partly why I feel even more strongly about the way the plot unfolded and how the book eventually ended.

firstly, as another reviewer (Mitch) pointed out, Anna's voice doesn't change or evolve as the book progresses and she grows older. she still narrates in the same voice as she did when she was seven years old, and it almost frightened me because the lack of evolution in her narration made it seem like she was incapable of ageing or growing up mentally. (a little dramatic, I know.)

secondly, this book is a minefield of triggers for anyone who has experienced assault/rape/any nonconsensual sexual experience. I myself felt traumatised and sick practically every other page while reading the book, which is why I was amazed at myself that I even finished. (I know I didn't have to, but I wanted to see if the book got any better. spoiler alert: it didn't. and even for Anna, spoiler alert: It Gets Worse. even until It Doesn't.) I did not expect that, based on the synopsis. the summary leads the naïve reader to think that Anna is the one using the boys in the book, but the frightful thing is, almost every boy in the book uses HER. yes, in some instances, they use each other to fill each other's loneliness, but there are more cases of boys using Anna, rather than vice versa.

my biggest issue with this book was the ending. okay, so Anna gets into these bad situations with boys. okay, so she doesn't seem to exhibit much self-respect or self-love, and seeks validation and a way out of her loneliness from boys -- this is how she "uses" them.

but by the end, I was expecting some sort of redemption, some sort of epiphany (okay, I know that doesn't always happen in real life), but at LEAST some sort of inner resolution for Anna, based on her OWN inner strength. here's what gets me: it doesn't happen. Anna doesn't REALLY learn to stop "using" boys, because the book ends with her still kind of using -- or at least needing -- a boy to be happy. Why couldn't she have found peace on her own? Was it that unrealistic to end the book that way, based on the fact that the entire book shows her dealing with a lot of internal and external issues, many of which actually arose from her experiences with boys? Why couldn't Scheidt have ended the book with Anna WITHOUT the influence of or validation from boys in her life, somehow finding her own strength as she lives alone in the city?

But no. Instead (as Mitch also pointed out), the book paints Sam as the saviour. Look at how fucked up this girl is! the book seems to say up until that point. But look! Here's a boy who ACTUALLY likes Anna for who she is! But like, they have sex pretty quickly anyway, and he doesn't really resist her in the name of holding off, even though she's had so many fraught experiences with sex with boys already! Oh! Look! Sam has a great family! A LOVING family, even!

Anna has found her family! Her home!

Reading the synopsis: "...the truth about love becomes clear. And she finally learns how it feels to have something to lose—and something to offer."

What does she have to offer? By the end of the book, I still had no idea. I tried really hard to discern some sort of message or meaning from the entire book, especially based on the ending, but there really didn't seem to be any sort of meaning to the whole thing. What's the truth about love? That you just have to find the RIGHT boy to need in your life? Why does Anna need a boy (and his "family who eats dinner together, laughs, and tells stories") to "awaken" her to "the truth about love" anyhow?! Why couldn't the book have ended with maybe something like this: Anna and Toy realising that friendship and loving and accepting and supporting the people already in your life, even/ESPECIALLY if they're just platonic relationships, is more important than boys? That perhaps, friendship could even be the true family when you have none of the latter?

I tried really hard in those last chapters to find something redeeming about this book, but I just couldn't. The ending was just so disempowering I found it terribly depressing, and I almost want to say this book carries an even worse message for young women than Twilight does. Maybe because "uses for boys" carries barely a hint of a message at all (except for maybe, "you shouldn't 'use' boys if you're lonely and have no family, it really doesn't work, at least until you find the right boy, who has a good family, and everything! and then EVERYTHING WILL BE OKAY!!!11").

I swear I'm not just ranting or bitter because I'm idealistically wishing for a different ending. It's just that, after finishing the book, I have no idea what Anna learned about love, or how/if she grew up at all. The situations Anna had to endure were appalling to me, not more or less so because I know many women who've experienced similarly. But instead of Anna seeking help, or therapy, or something, in the end, a boy is still what she needs. And so I came away from this book feeling like neither Anna nor I learned anything at all.



addendum: I'm really surprised this is even YA at all. Even if the writing style is pretty simple and easy to read (also, on a matter of critiquing writing style, I did not find Scheidt's to be "stunningly lyrical"), I really think this entire book needs a trigger warning. I don't think I would have been able to stomach this book as a 13-year-old, and I can barely even stomach it as an adult. (and believe me, I've read many books as a young preteen/teenager that dealt with really serious and "adult" themes and issues.)

[Chrissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost didn't read USES FOR BOYS, honestly, because I expected it to be another young adult love story like so many I'd read before. Sure, I could tell from the description and the subject matter that it might be a bit more gritty than what I've usually come to expect from the genre. But, is that enough to make this one stand apart in my mind from all the others I've read before now?

I'm really glad I actually gave this one a shot because I do think it was an amazing, memorable book for me, a story that really focused on a young woman's self-discovery and self-realization more than the actions and scandals she initiated with the young men around her.

Anna, from a young age, knew what it felt like to be alone. As a young child, Anna's mother would tell her daughter a story, about how her own mother and father were gone, leaving her all alone until she had a baby who became her everything. Anna's mother was rarely home, filling her days with one man after the next, trying to make each one fill the hole in her life that was already supposedly fully healed by her young daughter. With each new boyfriend and husband, Anna's new family was uprooted and moved to a new home, creating the start of a new life each and every time. Each man was a defining point in Anna's mother's life, and her self-perception seemed to fully hinge on the presence of these men and the characteristics of their own lives and personalities.

Anna believes that it is in her genes to be a loner, although she too yearns to find someone who can make her feel a little less alone. She wants to know what it feels like to be touched, loved, and adored. She watches the men come in and out of her mother's life so she learns that men always expect certain things from women and then they always ALWAYS leave. She sees relationships as something both defining and transient and she is ready to find some of her own.

At the young age of twelve, Anna has her first sexual encouter with a classmate on the bus. She allows him to publically fondle her chest, even under her shirt, and he pushes her into pleasuring him while two male classmates watch the whole interaction. Instead of feeling embarassed, Anna narrates this encounter as if it is something neutral and mundane -- just another necessary step on her way to adulthood, of course. She sees this young man as the gateway into a better life. He will open the door into friendships and popularity and he will give her life the meaning that it lacked before this day.

When the first boy at the center of her life decides to leave, she decides that this is just the way that things go. She finds another boy and immediately takes him home, showing him how to undress her, fondle her, and pleasure her just like the last boy did on the bus. She yearns for his attention and she knows that he will complete her life and give it new purpose. Although he manipulates her for sex, Anna knowingly allows herself to be manipulated, knowing that the physical intimacy creates a family for her and gives her the feelings of affection that she still craves. The kids at school call Anna a slut, but she feels that she was still a slut even before she even had sex. This was in her genes, after all.

The next boy moves away, and Anna makes her way through a series of other boys, going so far as to even move in with one, dropping out of school to create a life for herself in his apartment. Boys uses her and she uses them back. An older boy holds her down and forces her into sex, and she still speaks about it casually and neutrally -- because this is what happens with boys. They know what they want from women and then they leave.

Along the way, Anna makes a friend while she is shopping for vintage dresses at a thrift store. Toy and Anna bounce from the Salvation Army to Goodwill and back, sharing dresses and accessories and stories about boys. Toy has lovers who adore and cherish her, she says, and they lavish her with gifts and give her a home even when her mother turns her away. Anna realizes that she has never had a boy actually adore her and she yearns to be Toy and to have what she has in her relationships. In the end, though, it turns out that Toy has a secret, one that changes the root of everything at the foundation of their friendship.

After using one boy after another, just as she learned from her mother, Anna meets a quiet boy named Sam who takes her home to dinner before ever asking her for sex. She meets his perfect family and watches their love and interactions, and though she yearns to insert herself into this picturesque scene, she realizes that she has no idea how to have this type of relationship with a boy. Is it too late for Anna to reconceptualize the way she sees not only boys but also her family and her own self?

While USES FOR BOYS was definitely not a plot-driven story, full of twists, turns, and action at every corner, it was a wonderful coming-of-age story that delicately and intimately examined one young woman's journey towards self-discovery. Told in short title chapters with a choppy, stream of consciousness style, this story definitely won't appeal to everyone, but I do think it will find a following with those who enjoy heavily character-driven stories and who aren't afraid of frequent descriptions of a teenager's sexuality. I do think the sexual discussions were necessary to show the progresson of Anna's character, so nothing felt overly gratuitous or exploitative at any point in the story.

I really did enjoy this novel and I think it was one of my favorite reads thus far of 2012. The writing style was utterly perfect for the story, the short chapters kept the pace flowing nicely, and the psychological undertones of the ending really summed everything up in a way that felt entirely satisfying after the rest of the book.

That said, I think it's important for the reader to have the correct expectations before beginning USES FOR BOYS. It is bleak and choppy and descriptive and heartfelt, but it is not a story that is driven by the plot. It may feel at points like nothing really happened, but this is really the story of the evolution of the title character.

I look forward to reading more from this author in the future.

[Martha MeGo · Rating 1 out of 5]

- 1 Star -

Being fooled by a pretty cover and getting misguided by a good synopsis is something that it’s not new to me, but I haven’t felt so disappointed with a book as felt with Uses for Boys; I had a full and huge story in my head when I was done reading the synopsis, a funny plot, with romantic and sarcastic lines from each character, but then, it happen… I read the book, and I would dare to say that I totally prefer the story in my head than the story within the pages of this so-called-book.

The story is told from Anna’s POV, a girl with a horrible past and a mother that doesn’t care for her, a woman that was tired of being alone, so she decide to look for a husband with a lot of money so she could have the house she always wanted, leaving Ann alone all the time and treating her daughter as another piece of furniture, which force Anna to close up in her own little world, a world of self-pity, stupid innocence and dependence, which transform Anna in one of the silliest characters I’ve ever met, with no self-esteem and in need of love, looking for it in all the wrong places and in all the wrong ways, turning Anna into someone I came to dislike so much! Is just that is kind of stupid and degrading to affirm that someone that doesn’t count with the support of their parents will turn into a complete dependent loser who will never do anything by their own initiative, because I know and have a few friends that don’t have the support of their families and still, they are people who is fun to be with, have a lot of self-esteem and they are strong and never give up, and yeah, it sucks that this happen to some people, but that doesn’t mean that you have to behave like Anna: letting a boy touch her and making her touch him in front of his friends and the entire school bus, almost making her masturbate him, is just so wrong, in so many levels, it was something horrible and abusive, and I don’t give a damn if Anna’s mom never give her “The Talk”, you just don’t let that an idiot and asshole boy touch you without your permission just because it feels “good” *sigh* Yeah, I know this might be a little more of a complain than a review, but I always write what I feel and this book just made me feel so angry and mad that I can't help it, sorry if I just made this too personal.

And if the plot of “How to become a slut in less than two days” wasn’t enough, the writing style of this thing was what end with my patience… It was like a reading a very bad diary, full of incoherent thoughts and horrible writing; I swear, my eyes were bleeding and I almost went blind because of the horrible way this book was wrote. Reading all of Anna’s sexual encounters was the worst thing I’ve ver read, I mean, is not like you have to have sex with every single guy just to make him like you, and to think it and consider it is just lame, lame, lame!

The characters, ughh! Just in case I haven’t made my point clear by now, I didn’t like Anna, and no, I’m not a heartless bitch who can’t feel empathy for someone with such a horrible life, is just that I can feel something good for someone that doesn’t love herself enough to stand for herself, and is not just with girls, I also don’t like boys that don’t stand for themselves either… So, yeah, I didn’t like any character, not a single one.

Uses for Boys could have been a good book, even a fun one, but it end up being one of the worst book I’ve ever read, in MY WHOLE LIFE! And I’m pretty sure that if this book would have been a bit longer, I wouldn’t have been able to finish it (thanks God for that miracle)
I’m really sorry that this review wind up as very bad review, but I couldn’t find something good about Erica’s work, sorry again. Now, this is just MY opinion, maybe someone out there would enjoy this when I didn’t, who knows, right?

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy for review.

[M. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought the idea for Uses For Boys was super interesting, but unfortunately, it really let me down. I strongly disagreed with Anna’s decisions and I just couldn’t sympathize for her because of what she did.

Anna is neglected by her mother, and therefore she decides to look for affection from different guys. I did feel bad for Anna’s situation, but I didn’t think it was right of her to decide to have sex with guys just to make up for it. Even though she was really troubles, it was definitely not the right way for her to go about solving her problems. There was a lot of sex depicted in the book, which I got pretty uncomfortable during. I mainly wish that I had been able to like Anna more, because both her and her decisions both greatly affected my overall opinion of Uses For Boys.

I did think the plot for it was interesting enough, but I thought the writing was just okay. Also, I didn’t like any of the characters that much and I wish that some parts of the book could have just been expanded upon. Uses For Boys did move at a good pace, but I was unable to keep much interest in it.

I don't have too much to say about this book in general, but Uses For Boys was just not the book for me. I was really upset about the choices the character made and I couldn’t understand them. The plot was somewhat interesting, but overall, I’d give Uses For Boys 2 out of 5 flowers.

*Review to be posted at http://www.thebookbelles.blogspot.com closer to release :)

[Step Into Fiction · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me start off by saying it is insanely rare for me to rate a book with one star. I've done it with two other books out of the 300+ books I've read over the past 2-3 years. It takes a lot for me not to like a book, like really not like a book.

The good news? I finished this book in a few hours. The bad news…it so wasn’t my cup of tea. I want to be careful how I word this review because I don’t want to offend anyone but this book is part of the reason I have issues with the way our society is. Call me old school, I don’t know…or a prude (which if you knew me, you’d know I’m totally not) but I just don’t see how a book like this is any good for any young person, female or male. The main character, Anna, basically has a non-existent mom who just goes from guy to guy. Leaves Anna alone most of the time from age of 12 until 16, where the book ends. Anna sleeps with the first guy at the age of 13.

Read full review at Step Into Fiction

Review completed by: Jessica

[Kellie Maddox-Ward · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I saw this on Netgalley. I thought OOOO pretty cover!

Then I read the synopsis and thought this sounds cool...

I only made it to 8% before I put it down and read something else the first time.
I have attempted to read this 3 times now.
Finally I admitted that I just didn't like it and stopped reading at 24%

I am normally all for dark indie books.
But this book?
It just wasn't of me.
I didn't like the characters, being in Anna's head was annoying and the writing style just didn't work for me. It actually really pissed me off and I didn't like the storyline that I had read so far. 24% in and pretty much NOTHING had happened.

A copy was provided by Netgalley and St Martins Press for an honest review

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been friends with a few Annas in my life, so this book really got to me. Beautifully written. It's not easy to raise yourself or when the parent in your life is the child. It takes a long time to figure out who you are. It's refreshing to see an author take a chance and write about life as it truly is for a lot of teen girls out there. So what if it isn't filled with pretty boy romance and escapism? It's a voice we don't often get to hear and it needs to be heard.

[jasmine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly, this book was beautiful. It was nostalgic and poetic, full of artfully crafted prose that made me ache. It's compulsively readable, quotable, and all around just an amazing book that I would recommend to anyone with a taste for emotionally charged, character driven books that star imperfect heroines.


You can see my full review over at Booky Berries!

[Mery St. Clair]

Que linda portada!!!

[Deniz · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

I am still pondering over if I should round it up or down
It definitely gave me lots of food for thought
Gonna come back to this once I digested it a bit



18.1.13

This book threw me for totally out of balance. To say that I liked it, would actually be a lie. It had an profound impact on me. So much so, that its been on my mind since I have finished it. I am totally disturbed, appalled and even disgusted by some of the things, but I am also intrigued, hear broke and totally aware that many things are the hard cold reality.
I have been mulling it all over, uncounted times. Told a good friend about it and discussed it with her for over two hours. Then had another a heart to heart with Katy about it, plus a lengthy discussion in Mitch's thread. And finally feel like I can try and write a review that might even make some sense. (Iam apologizing in advance in case I don't)

I really didn't like the writing style. The first couple few chapters, I assumed that it was that simplistic because Anna is really young. But it didn't change. And around half way in it actually kinda annoyed me. I felt like I was stuck in the mind of an obsessive child. I would have preferred if Anna's voice would have matured and her POV would have sounded at least slightly different when she was 7 or 16… Saying all this though I got to admit, it didn't stop me reading it, which is amazing, since the prose for me is one of the most important things about a book. I am totally aware that Scheidt did it on purpose, maybe that's one of the reasons I managed to overlook it.

I think than MANY will not like this book. There will be lots of divided opinions. It's definitely NOT a book for everybody.
In my opinion I would neither classify it as YA nor give it to a teen to read. It a really heavy topic and Scheidt does not embellish or beautify it.
I have to say that I find the cover a bit misleading- don't know why its a bit too cute it think… This is definitely the furthest from a cute story.

The way it is written, one gets little insight into any character other than Anna. Everything is tinged by her view of it.
But the book really is about Anna and her "uses for boys" or at least what she believes them to be. It didn't matter to me. I felt quite disconnected to most of the support characters- Anna and her feelings and issues were kinda more than enough for me.

*A WARNING: WHILE I AM TRYING TO WRITE THIS REVIEW AS SPOILER FREE AS POSSIBLE, ITS CONTENTS MIGHT GIVE AWAY SOME OF THE PLOT. only read on if you either don't mind or preferably if you have read the book*

As mentioned above I found many things in the book revolting and disturbing.
The depiction of the sex was often extremely horrifying. I hated what happened with Desmond, Todd or Josh and how Anna dealt with it. I was disturbed by her just dropping out of school and even more so by the fact that all these things happened to her and no one ever intervened. The most disturbing thing is that all this happens to a girl between the age of 12 and 16! She is so incredibly young! Her understanding of love is so distorted and she is a girl that was totally abandoned by her parents, her friends and even the system.
I think this book had such a huge impact because of the fact that I know many women/girls, who are to some degree like Anna. In fact on several levels not just what happens to her, but her entire view on sex and relationships and how she handles what happens to her.
There are way to many girls out there, who turn to sex for solace. Who don't know the difference between sex and love. And who have never been taught that fulfillment and happiness come from within oneself and not through an other person.
I have to admit I find Anna's young age totally mind boggling - but the fact that teenage pregnancies between the age of 12 and 16 have been ever increasing for the last 15years proves that, what Scheidt's depicting is the sad reality that many extremely young girls are sexually active, while their parents more often than not are completely oblivious of it.
Anna's inability to talk about what happens with her, again is a common thread with girls who find themselves in similar circumstances. When she says that she doesn't tell anyone about Todd, because that makes it somehow less real, my heart total broke, because this is such a typical female response to the situation. Worse even many girls who have gone through something similar feel either ashamed to bring it up or like Anna have actually no one to really go to.
I think Scheidt has written something that take a lot of guts to put out there. She didn't embellish or beautify things. What she does do is shed light to a disturbingly increasing phenomena.
But neither none these things are the reasons I rated it quite shockingly so high. It's that in my opinion the book does not only shed light on an ugly reality but actually has some important messages and it deals with at least a couple of issues.

“Tell me again,” I say and she tells me how it was before I came. What it was like when she was all alone. She had no mother, she says, she had no father. All she wanted was a little girl and that little girl is me.
“Now I have everything,” she says

The mother implanting probable unwittingly two things into little Anna. Firstly that the one needs someone to fulfill her. By saying Anna was it she put that responsibility on her shoulders and when later she dates again shifting her attention from Anna to the men she is seeing, Anna misunderstands that love equals attention.
Second the story it self as well. Anna does make it her story.

I think those were the two issues Scheidt actually did deal with.
Both are issues that are really common for women actually. Tons of women are looking for that one person what fulfills them and makes them happy rather than finding contentment within themselves. In reality no-one will be able to do so and that putting that expectation on another human being is totally unfair and overwhelming. I think that this is the source for most of Anna's problems. Since her mother suffers of this misconception as well.
Anna is never taught self esteem or self value. And her approach to any relationship steams from those things and she never learns to really trust. All of these circumstances not only add to her inability to really connect with others, they also make her even more lonely.

But I look for him. My useless father. I look for him at the cafe. On the street.
About halfway into the book I felt incredibly depressed and upset. The above quote just broke my heart, but then the thing with Josh happened.

In the water I watch my feet emerge, disconnected in the far end of the tub. This is me, I think, and I sit up suddenly, like a revelation.

This changed everything for me. This sentence held a promise that not only made me able to finish the book, it made me 'like' it.
Anna discovers that she is just herself. She kinda starts seeing for the first time that it ends and starts with yourself. Trying to find out what love really is, what family means.
I do like that even at the end of the book, Anna hasn't quite gotten there yet. Because this is a long journey and it probably takes all of us a life time to actually find contentment within ourselves.
Right at the end she does see that while she was looking for someone to fill the void and her loneliness, there are those who are there for her when she calls them. And she starts discovering about love.
But my absolutely favorite part in the book:
I don't tell Jane my mom's story. I don't tell her that I'd made it mine. ….but even I knew this wasn't going to change anything.
My mom's story is not my story. I'm going to need a new story

That Anna sees that we make our own story. That we don't have to make the story of others our own, we have a choice!



Scheidt has created a seemingly simple and disturbing story , that on second glance has many layers, huge insight and even some surprisingly beautiful aspects to it! A book that made me think for two days and will stay with me for a while.

[Gretchen Hohmeyer · Rating 1 out of 5]

CONTENT WARNING: If you are the kind of person who doesn’t like graphic sex in your books … look elsewhere. This review will also be discussing this, so … fair warning. THERE WILL BE ALL OF THE SPOILERS because I can’t even handle what happened.

When I read this blurb, I had my assumptions about this book. I was expecting a broken girl meets a good guy and everything is happiness and puppies until something happens and then they break up and then they realize their love for each other and then get back together. You know, the basic plot of every romance story ever. What with the beautiful cover and the promise of “lyrical” prose, I thought that’s what HAD to be going on here.

IT’S NOT. IT’S REALLY NOT.

Okay, lyrical yes. And that’s the only reason for that half star, there. Scheidt does have a way with words I can’t deny. Fair warning, though, that’s going to be about the only good thing I say about this book. I try to keep it SO BALANCED in my reviews, usually, but this one … I just can’t do it.

Let’s talk about Anna, first. Anna is the most passive, depressed child I’ve ever met, who is so obsessed with sex I can’t even. I’ll mention this again, but you should know right now that most of this book takes place when Anna is 14 to 16 years old. BUT SHE’S SO OBSESSED WITH SEX. Also, also, back to the passive part. Anna doesn’t give the air of DOING much in this book at all. She basically just drifts through life, magically always finding another guy to sleep with her when she gets bored. And each one of them is more of a horrible person than the last, until Sam. But still. I couldn’t help but hate her from page one, because she doesn’t DO ANYTHING.

So, basically, the whole first part of the book is about how Anna’s mom does nothing but chase guys around her entire life. She gets married, they move, she gets divorced, etc. Anna is always lonely and hates her life. Then, one day, on the bus, this guy named Desmond starts playing with her breasts and she lets him, disconnectedly looking out the window the whole time, until she jumps off at her bus stop without even reacting to the whole thing. A couple of bus rides later, Desmond has brought his two friends in on the fun, and everyone in school is calling Anna a slut because she’s letting these boys do whatever they want under her shirt. SHE IS THIRTEEN AT THIS POINT.

Then Anna gets a boyfriend. His name is Joey, and without any preamble he starts spending every day after school at her house, having sex. Seriously. A recurring theme with the guys in this book is that they give their name and then there is sex. There is no in between. There are lots and lots of sex, some happy feelings, and then Joey announces he’s moving away. Anna has sex with him one last time, and then he’s gone. Bam. SHE IS FOURTEEN AT THIS POINT.

Then Anna’s mom finally remembers her daughter exists and takes her on vacation with her and her current boyfriend. At this point I was like, FINALLY SOME GOOD THINGS. But that’s a lie. There are no good things. During a party at the house of Anna’s new friend, this guy named Todd starts messing with her breasts without asking. Anna’s friend tells him to go away, but this just makes Anna moody. That night, Todd creeps in to her room in the middle of the night and rapes her. Yes, rapes her. Covers her mouth with his hand and everything. After it’s over, the only other mentions of Todd are Anna missing him. Then the fact that she was raped just disappears. THERE IS NO AMOUNT OF CAPS THAT CAN EXPLAIN HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS. Fine, maybe the fact that she wants to believe he really liked her is a PTSD thing. But IF YOU INCLUDE RAPE, IT CANNOT BE A PLOT CONVENTION. It cannot be a thing that just happens and then life goes on like la-dee-da. Just–I can’t explain how angry this made me.

Some times passes, and then Anna meets Josh. They have sex, and a few pages later they’re moving in together. I think Anna’s 16 or 17 by this point. She drops out of school and starts working at a coffee shop. Then she realizes she’s pregnant and goes to have an abortion. Yep, yep, exactly what I just said. There is pregnancy and there is an abortion. That happened. By this point, I just can’t even any more.

Josh and Anna break up really soon after the abortion, and Anna moves in on her own. AT SEVENTEEN. She has a couple of one nights stands with random dudes and then she meets Sam. Sam is the most normal guy in this book. He’s 17 and sweet to Anna. For at least a couple of pages it’s not about sex. Then it’s about sex again, maybe just with a little more love. The thing is that the Sam thing is only a tiny bit of the book, not the bulk of it like I expected, and even during it Anna feels listless and passive. By this point, I don’t think she can be repaired quite that easily.

I respect what the author was trying to do. I do–none of this is easy stuff to write about. But I still can’t deny that I just felt sick to my stomach for this entire book. The rape, the abortion, the sex and everything in between–I literally could barely handle it. I only finished it because I wanted to write my review with the whole picture, because I KNEW I had to say SO MANY THINGS about this book. Even now, I cannot believe what I read. Yes, I understand it’s realistic. Yes, I understand the author was trying to present something other than the bright side of life. I respect the attempt, but I cannot in good faith give this book anything more than 1 1/2 stars and I certainly won’t recommend it to anyone. I read books as an escape from this negativity, and when I put this book down I was depressed for two days. I haven’t been this angry since Beautiful Disaster and Shattered Souls. Maybe this works for some people, but just certainly not for me.

[Alysses · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was an incredibly hard read for me. It was at page 68 that I really wanted to abandon this read. After tweeting how difficult of a time I was having finishing and having my Twitter friends reassure me that I wasn’t alone in feeling the way I did but that I should finish because it was a quick read, I decided to keep going.

This is definitely not what I was expecting. I definitely got suckered into this read by the very cute cover that is probably the most misleading part of this all and I definitely wasn't prepared for what I was getting into even after I read the synopsis.

Anna only ever wanted her mother’s love. She felt, at a very young age, that her mother’s love would be enough. Her father was non-existent, as was any other family, but Anna was OK with that because all she’s ever known was her mother to begin with. Things go downhill when Anna’s mom starts searching for love in all the wrong places and starts to jump from guy to guy, marriage to marriage and literally leaves Anna to raise herself.

Surprisingly, Anna realizes what her mother is in search of at a very young age but then begins to do the very same things her mother is doing. So our journey begins…

There is nothing cute about this read. There is nothing remotely mild or casual about this read. There should be warning labels all over this read.

Warning: There is explicit graphic sex, rape, abortion, lots of drugs, and uh, yeah, there’s nothing uplifting about this book.

The writing is really simple and the chapters are short and to the point. This was good because you got the feeling of a quick read right away. With that said, Anna’s voice starts off as a seven year old, hence the simplicity of the writing and pretty much continues in this voice for the entire book. There isn't much interaction with others and again her world is so immature that it’s hard to see her grow at all.

I’m not a prude y’all. I really am not but there’s a whole lot of sex in this book and in full out graphic detail. It made me, a 35 year-old, extremely uncomfortable. This should definitely be for mature readers and I would even say this is a New Adult novel and not a YA. It’s just that strong.

With that said, I understand that this is supposed to be a story that is meant to shock its readers. I get that the author is trying to bring awareness to its readers who perhaps don’t already know that girls or boys like the characters in this book exist and that there are really crappy lives like the ones in the book. The author was probably hoping the reader could take this story and break some cycles because there were lessons to learn from this read, becoming a better person walking away from this read. Great! However, my biggest pet peeve about some contemporary reads of this nature is that they DON’T convey the last part clearly. It’s not even that the message is lost because the message was just not there. Let me try to explain myself. ..

Anna finally meets a “nice” boy with a “nice” family with all the right values and family love that she seeks. Sam goes to school and works hard at it. He also wants to take things slow with Anna because he’s a virgin and wants to wait. Do you think Anna is motivated to go to school? No. Do you think she thinks Sam’s intentions are admirable and different and nice? Nope… She pushes Sam to have sex with her and gets frustrated when he doesn't until he finally gives in… Bad things happen to Anna and Anna does bad things in turn. Do you think Anna feels bad for any of it? No, she doesn't. It’s a “oh well” type of attitude. It’s all very casual and little to no feeling or a reaction at all. It was as if the book was almost giving permission to do all these things with little consequence. This irks me!

Another thing...Not one adult in this book, and there were plenty of them, lifted a finger to help this child out. There were warning signs, there were adults that went through similar experiences and not one tried to help in some way.

I've worked with so many kids here in Chicago and have friends that work with kids at different capacities as well. We talk about some of the issues that are discussed in this book. We talk about how casual the kids nowadays take things and how sex, drugs, not going to school, dropping out, hanging out, experimenting and all that jazz, is totally the norm nowadays. We talk about how we can bring on change. How we can show them there are better ways to do things and to live.

*There is always one person that will help. The help might be limited but it would be something and a lot more than the adults in this book.*

I fear that books like this, unless they are read along with an adult who has common sense, won’t be able to grasp that this crap is not normal, that it shouldn't be normal. I also fear that they’ll walk away thinking “Oook… we see this all the time. What is so special about this?”

Things don’t happen and you just say “oh well, shit happens”. No, shit happens and you say “I won’t let that happen again”. To break the cycle one must see the change that brings on the break and then you have to actually witness the break. The break was not shown in Uses for Boys.

At the end I didn't feel uplifted. At the end of this book I felt spent. I was utterly sad for the girl in these pages, for teens who will read this book alone without guidance, for the real Annas of the world.

ARC was provided by St. Martin's Press via NetGalley.

[Kerri (Book Hoarder) · Rating 3 out of 5]

A hard, realistic look at a teenaged girl's life and where her choices lead her.

This definitely isn't a light, fluffy book - a fact that I actually appreciate, because so much of life is not light and fluffy. The book is told from the perspective of Anna, unspooling the story of a little girl who delights in being the centre of her mother's universe. It's just the two of them on their own, and when Anna's mother starts dating and bringing home men, suddenly Anna finds herself on the outside.

Quick fact about me: I grew up with my grandparents because when I was three, my mother decided that she couldn't look after me anymore. My mother liked to tell me that it was because my grandmother had always wanted a little girl and that's why she 'let' my grandmother have me. Now, setting aside the fact that toddlers aren't really the sort of thing you give away, the truth was, she couldn't look after me or my sisters, and we were quickly farmed out to our respective grandparents. It was supposed to be temporary, but it wasn't, of course.

I remember a time when I was supposed to go and see my mother, and I was all packed up with my little bag, and my grandparents drove to meet my mother. I was so excited, thinking it would be amazing to see her, and spend time with her... Except she never showed up, and so I drove home again with my grandparents. I remember asking why she hadn't come, and my grandmother didn't have an answer for me.

So a part of me broke a little as I read this book and saw what Anna's life was like. Anna's mother is so focused on marriage and new houses and finding a better man, a man who will make her feel whole, that she's rarely there for her little daughter, who is so desperate for her attention... So I wasn't really surprised when I read about how Anna started turning to boys for the comfort that her mother had never given her.

The way Scheidt describes what Anna does and what is done to her is not easy. She is a broken girl who has always wanted love and warmth and touch, and seeks it desperately in boys the instant they start to turn their attention to her. The book is a journey through her constant searching for satisfaction, something to heal the break inside her that's been there since she was a little girl. It's hard to read and I'm sure it's intended to be that way, because this is what really happens to some girls out there, more than we care to admit.

The fuzziness of the timeline makes the book hard to read at times - everything is very distant, as though we are seeing snapshots of a life. When Anna makes her first friend, I wanted things to be better, but in truth the two of them become locked in that sort of mutually dependant relationship where you feed off of each other and make things worse, but desperately need each other all the same.

The title is very fitting, in my opinion. With each relationship that Anna has, it's not about the boy, really. It's about how he makes Anna feel and what he does for her. They provide the fuel for some of Anna's decisions, which aren't necessarily great ones, and we see her spiral downwards before she finally meets Sam and a glimmer of a chance at change peeks through for her, and for the reader.

To be honest, the only reason I didn't rate this book higher was because I didn't feel like it was intimate enough, like it got far enough into Anna's head. Everything is very distant and bleak, which works, but at the same time I wanted to feel more of Anna's emotions - I know that they're there, undoubtedly, but we don't see much of them. Secondary characterization suffered a bit - we see everything through Anna's eyes, and a side effect of everything that's happened to her is that we don't actually learn much about the people in her life, with the exception of Toy. The ending left me unsatisfied with its abruptness, and left me wanting more. I didn't quite feel as though the story was complete, at the end - there's no real sense of where Anna is going to go from here, or whether she'll be able to make it... Though maybe that's what the author intended and I'm missing it, who knows.

Readers who like realistic fiction that looks at what it's really like for teenagers out there should pick this up, but I'd say that people looking for fluff and romance should give it a pass.

[Nereyda (Nick & Nereyda's Infinite Booklist) · Rating 4 out of 5]

***ARC received by St. Martin’s Press for review purposes***

All I need in this moment is this boy. Any boy.

I feel like this is one of those books that should come with a big disclaimer on the cover: THIS IS NOT A ROMANCE STORY! When I saw the summary for this book, I knew it would be darker than most YA books, but I was also expecting to get a romance story out of it. You know: Girl has issues. Girl sleeps around. Girl meets Boy. Girl falls in love with Boy. Girl stops sleeping around. Girl and Boy live happily ever after. But, thanks to early reviews I knew this was not the case. Once I had a better idea of what I was expecting I was able go into this book with a new perspective. I wasn’t expecting to be so emotionally drained by the end of this book and I didn’t realize how much I was rooting for Anna to get her much needed happily ever after.

Anna remembers the days when it was just her and her mom. Those were the simple times when all her and her mom needed was each other. But as Anna got older, her mom began chasing from one boyfriend to another and after that she upgraded to husbands. Anna’s mom was so desperate to have a man love her that she devoted all her time to her numerous relationships which meant Anna was left to grow up all on her own. When boys start noticing her at a young age and hitting on her, she decides she likes the attention. So she lets them do things to her. From here it is mostly downhill for Anna. She goes from meaningless hookups to meaningless relationships. Then Anna meets her friend Toy, whose friendship is just as toxic as the rest of her relationships. When she meets Sam who is different from all the boys she usually dates, Anna starts wanting more. But before she can be in a real relationship, she first has to deal with her relationships with her mom and Toy. Not to mention all the problems she is already dealing with.

Although it took me a while to get used to the different style of writing, it added to the lyrical feel of this book. It was depressing and uncomfortable to get through some parts but in the end I ended up enjoying this Anna’s story. It was definitely dark, gritty, raw and painfully emotional but it was also unfortunately very realistic. There were times when Anna was going through some very hard times and she was so emotionless and mechanical about everything (even about sex). I would have thought that this would have bothered me, but instead it only made me feel so much more for Anna. I’ll be the first to admit that this book may not be for everyone, but I also think that this is a book that everyone (especially girls and mothers) should read. The ending does not give us a happily ever after all wrapped up in a nice little bow, but it does leave us with hope for Anna which was something I really needed to have.

On a side note I would like to applaud St. Martin’s Press for taking a risk and publishing a book like this. With all of the tough subjects and mature content that it deals with, it would have been so much easier or safer to go with another love story. Unfortunately, there are so many troubled girls out there just like Anna. Hopefully this book can find their way to them. Another side note, with all the heavy subjects this book dealt with, Anna and Toy’s fashion sense always managed to make me smile a little. I want their wardrobe!

3.5 out of 5 stars!
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Read more of my reviews at:
www.MostlyYABookObsessed.com

[Lil · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's really hard for me to write a review for this book. I both liked it and didn't like it. I felt for the characters and felt detached from them all the same. I didn't want it to end, but I couldn't wait for the story to be finished. I was all over the place with this one.

To put it simply, this book was not what I expected. It was very dark, very gritty, and it had a lot of sex. I've seen people refer to this book as porn. It's not porn. It's graphic, but the sex has a purpose to it because Anna makes up for the lack of family in her life by using boys. But I have to be honest and say that the sex made me comfortable. I can deal with the fact that it's graphic, I can deal with the fact that there's sex in the book, but I can't deal with the fact that I pitied this girl so much and was slightly disgusted by some of her actions. It was just too much at times. And that is one of the reasons that makes it obvious that this book is not for everyone. It really is not for children and I only recommend it to those that are seventeen years or older.

One thing I did enjoy was the unique writing style. The story was quick and straight to the point due to its short chapters, repetitive but in an artistic way used to stress points instead of being annoying. The comparisons were unique and I did enjoy the writing style that Scheidt exhibited. However, the writing style was a lot to adjust to at first. Combine that with the fact that the beginning of the novel is way more graphic than you thought it would be and it shows why I initially had trouble getting into this one. I can't agree with Anna's choices at a young age and why she so easily allowed others to take advantage of her. And all of this combines to reveal to the reader that this story with the pretty cover that you think is going to be a light contemporary is dark, gritty, and some can consider it disturbing. It has so many underlying themes that are almost overwhelming. I can't begin to stress how this book isn't for everyone, but how important it is to get past the beginning because it does get better.

And when I say it gets better, I mean when she meets Sam. Anna almost becomes likable when she meets Sam. He's awkward and quirky and the same age as her. He brings out the good in her and then she goes and does something stupid like cheat on him and we begin to dislike her again even though they're still amazingly cute together. But the silly thing is just like we have no idea why Anna does what she does, Anna clearly doesn't either. She does things on impulses that make no sense whatsoever, simply because that's how she is. She is Anna and Anna has no firm plans in life. And with me saying all of this you get the vibe that I didn't like this book, but that's not true. I'm simply still running in circles because this book made me think. A lot.

So, as you can tell, this book had me all over the place. Thus, I can't decide on a rating. What do I think of the book? At the moment, I'm going to say I remain neutral. I did not love it, I did not hate it, I simply read it and didn't mind it. I need more time to sit and stew this one over, but I do recommend this book to those who are looking for a really dark tale that is incredibly though-provoking, as long as these individuals are members of the older audience. For the millionth time, this is not a book for young kids.