Careless

by Anne Cassidy

As Chloe Cozens mourns the death of her mother, Lesley, teenage 'delinquent' Nicky Nelson experiences quite a different emotion towards her, his social worker, the one person he thought he could rely on when everyone else had let him down. Lesley Cozens wrote Nicky a letter before she died, the contents of which the reader does not know until much later in the novel, but the letter triggers a rage in Nicky that could have had tragic consequences if Chloe had not got involved. When Nicky begins hanging around Chloe's house with a mixture of curiosity and anger that she has had a happy life compared with his, he is prepared to hate her, but instead the two of them form a strange kind of bond. Chloe is her mother's daughter, and finds herself wanting to help Nicky find his real mother, the one who abandoned him at birth. Ironically, the clues she pieces together about what happened lead her back to her mother's home town, and to her childhood friend, Sonia, who is keeping a painful secret of her own. Chloe finds comfort in helping Nicky, a boy who is almost like a brother in that her own mother looked out for him for so long, and Nicky discovers that sometimes you have to trust in people in order to move on and build a life...

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

208 pages, Paperback

First published April 19, 2007

Reviews

[Niva · Rating 1 out of 5]

A horrible book - in my opinion. i do think there needs o be warnings about the assault. i was really in a sense traumatised when i read this in grade 8.

[MK · Rating 1 out of 5]

Let me just start off by saying that Anne Cassidy is an excellent writer. She has written many books that I enjoy, that are great stories, and that I would recommend to people. Every author who has many hits can have misses though. For me unfortunately, this was one of those. I will be summing up my problems under a “spoiler” tag, because I can’t really get into them without getting into the ending (where it all started to fall apart, in my opinion).



-First off, there are two instances of sexual assault in here (one in the form of a revealing flashback, and another that takes place currently, from one protagonist to another), and they’re sort of…just glossed over and never mentioned again. Which was weird to me. I don’t know, I’m not sure what the point of having either one of those instances in here was. It seemed to me like they were just sort of brushed aside like they weren’t a serious matter.

-I thought this was supposed to be a REDEMPTION story, which I usually like. But no…it turns out, it’s just about how the person who is in the wrong (and therefore supposed to either be apologizing, or doing something to make up for it…a journey of self-discovery, coming-of-age, SOMETHING), he is treated solely as the victim and never held accountable for his actions, and even worse…the other protagonist is completely demonized for something she has nothing to do with. And this is while she is GRIEVING her dead mother, going through a loss, but her pain is completely invalidated, because she had a “better” life. This type of mentality is so…no. Just no. This is the reason why I’ve always hated social justice people, because they try to rationalize that type of vile attitude, even when it’s based off of lies (they deem certain people as “privileged” when many of those people go through real struggles in their lives that these “intellectual” people have no idea about at all). Assuming you know how a person’s life is, and trying to put suffering into a hierarchy, is the best way to turn me all the way off.

-I had liked the character of Vincent up until he suddenly morphed into a heartless prick who literally taunted someone who’s mother just died. Which is the complete and utter opposite of how he’d been in the book previous to that. He’d been a friendly, timid guy, then he just became a bully and a sociopath, like THAT. Which to me seems like inconsistent writing.

-Lastly, and probably the biggest problem…the ending was a total cliffhanger. It was building up to something in which we didn’t know what the outcome would be…and then just as it’s coming, it stops. The last page. And I remember being caught off guard, stunned, it had me like:



This was not the time to do the whole “Let’s leave the ending up to the reader’s imagination/interpretation”. Especially when the majority of the book had been unsatisfactory to me, and this could’ve potentially improved it.



There are many other books by Anne Cassidy I would highly recommend reading instead. Skip this one.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a fan of Anne Cassidy's novels for a while now, I think she is one of the best authors of Young Adult novels out there. Her books are always compassionate with a gritty realism to them and would appeal to young readers aged around 13 plus.
Careless is about two teenagers; Nicky Nelson and Chloe Couzens. Two young people who couldn't be more different yet have a bond that ties them together. Chloe has just lost her Mum Lesley to cancer and is grieving, Nicky was one of Lesley's clients - he's been in care since he was a tiny baby. Nicky received a letter from Lesley and he is angry. Angry that she has gone and left him just like everyone else has left him throughout his life. And so Nicky and Chloe's lives collide and secrets and lies are discovered.
True to life, realistic characters and a good plot - everything needed to keep the attention of the reader and also deals with some important issues for young people.

[Ira · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing plot. I want to know what happens next.

[Sarah Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars - Not bad.

* Chloe's mum (Lesley) has just died from breast cancer, and she's trying to come to terms with it.
* Nicky knows that Chloe's mum (Lesley) - his social worker has died, but he's angry and bitter. He's convinced that if she had done things differently, his life wouldn't be as bad as it is now.
* The truth - Nicky is the son of Chloe's grandma's next-door-neighbour's daughter (Sonia). She was 14 when she had him and thought her dad would probably kill both her and her baby if he found out - he used to beat his wife.
* Lesley wrote the truth in a letter to Nicky, which Sonia mailed. Now Chloe has worked out the mystery, and wants the two to meet.
- This was alright. I was a little annoyed by the abrupt ending. I'd have liked if we'd found out a little bit about how Nicky and Sonia get on, and if things work out for them.

[Nina · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was rubbish. I chose it from the library because the blurb makes it sound good - like it has a lot of unanswered mysteries in it. And it does, that's for sure. But the way Cassidy reveals them...she just downplays it. I honestly think that the initial storyline is great - she could have done so much with it. But she didn't. Every mystery turned out to be obvious and rubbish. You didn't feel for Nicky or Chloe or Lesley or Sonia. You didn't even get to know them, despite knowing their brief background history and some stuff which should be personal. I just...words can't describe how disappointed I was. Really not worth the read, but I will admit that it is a light and easy read.

[Lucía · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the start of this book it was very, very depressing and sad for a child's book. At the middle it got a little better but still not a very good story line. During the end it felt like the author was just getting tired of the book and rushed the ending which made the book even more pointless to begin with. So at the end of this book I would score it 4 out of 10. If Had to recommend this book it would be to a 9-12 year old as it is very sad and doesn't put you in a good mood.

[Lili Kathey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I half-liked and half-disliked this book at the same time, because I just couldn't like Nicky nor Chloe, no matter how much I tried. They're maybe not meant to be likeable, but still... and it also felt like something was lacking. However, it was in a way quite good. Well written and all. Alright read.

[Lorin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesomee I love Anne Cassidy books I've read nearly all I just have to read like 2 more

[Annabelle Heritage · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a disappointment because I love Anne Cassidy and her books this wasn't that great.

[Andrea Booklover · Rating 2 out of 5]

Boring..oh so booring