Like many teen girls, Caitlyn is having a tough time. She feels ignored by her mother and step-father who are obsessed with having a baby, her best friend is always blowing her off for a boyfriend, and she's struggling in art, her favorite subject. Caitlyn is completely depressed, when Tyler enters her life, and seems to make her problems disappear. Older, gorgeous, and totally into Caitlyn, he makes Caitlyn feel important, needed, and special. But just as things get serious, Caitlyn discovers TylerÂ’s jealous side. Once she realizes her "perfect" boyfriend is as controlling as he is caring, she is faced with a she can either let this relationship define her, or find the courage to break away. This emotionally-charged story about teen dating and abusive relationships touches upon first love, sexual peer pressure, family dysfunction, and the need for young women to empower themselves.
Caitlyn is 15 years old and feels invisible. Her Mom and Stepfather are too busy planning for their new baby and her best friend is too busy with her boyfriend. Then Caitlyn meets Tyler her is older, gorgeous and seems to be the perfect boyfriend. When she is with him all her problems disappear. He is caring and loving but also extremely controlling and jealous.
I wish I had read this books when I was fifteen. Maybe I would learnt a thing or too. It has such an important message about what is and is not a healthy relationship. It also deals with the fact that emotional abuse is just as damaging as physical abuse. I think this books captures all the feelings of first love realistically and how you get so caught up in a relationship you can't really see what is going on. It also captures this subject matter in a way that is relatable for younger readers.
Overall, a good read that I will be now forwarding to my teenage nieces to read. I look forward to the sequel Maybe Never and Maybe Now.
Painting Caitlyn is a strong story with a powerful message about physical and mental abuse in young relationships. I had a controlling boyfriend when I was a teen, maybe not to this extent, but never the less it would have been great to have this book around then. Caitlyn is only 14 years old and already doubts her parents love since there is a new baby on the way, so when she meets 16 year old Tyler she's easily clouded by first love and the new emotions that come with it. Tyler is every bit as charming and sweet as he is a violent and over possessive. Very controlling almost right from the start and knows what buttons to push to get her to do what she wants. I love you's and I'm sorry and I'll never do it again added with showering gifts makes everything oh so better.
I really felt sympathetic for Caitlyn situation and even understood it to a certain extent. Abuse is a very delicate subject matter and I think Kimberly Joy Peters wrote with a lot of dignity and grace.
Overall, this was a really quick, realistic and eyeopening book that I think every young teen needs to read. I'm curious and look forward to the sequelMaybe Never, Maybe Now.
Oh and I agree with you Nic, I'll be buying a copy to give to my niece;)
Remember your first serious relationship? The breathless excitement, nervousness, and giddiness that comes when you realize that he likes you? Caitlyn can’t believe how lucky she is.
She first meets Tyler at an amusement park, in the splash pool. The attraction is immediate and mutual, and the timing couldn’t be better. Her best friend, Ashley, is totally engrossed in Brandon, her boyfriend of eight months. And at home, she feels less than invisible. The latest insult is moving to the basement so her room can be turned into a nursery. Her mother and stepfather are finally going to have their perfect baby, a baby they’ve been trying for for years. It seems they’ve forgotten that Caitlyn even exists.
At first, Caitlyn convinces herself that she’s not changing. She’s doing what every other girl does who wants to be with her boyfriend. If she really loves him, she should try to please him, right? She ignores the inner voices that wonder why she’s not talking to Ashley about her relationship with Tyler. She lets Tyler talk her into doing things that she would never have considered before. When she realizes that she can’t paint a smiling self-portrait she begins to look beyond the euphoria of new love and finds support and forgiveness from her family and friends.
Teen feelings of being alive and loved, truly loved, for the first time, mixed with the uncertainty, stubbornness, and incredibly strong desire to please, are vividly portrayed in this debut novel. Ms. Peters does a beautiful job of immersing the reader in the heady feeling of young love. PAINTING CAITLYN was a very enjoyable read.
At times, I felt like this book was so much of a summary, and not really enough of a story. There were some great moments in it, but we didn't get to know Tyler nearly enough. I couldn't understand why Caitlyn liked him so much, or what his redeeming qualities were.
Perfect book for reluctant readers, with an only slighty pedantic message about abusive relationships. (I mean, the message is strong, but it doesn't come across as too strong and preachy)
Remember your first serious relationship? The breathless excitement, nervousness, and giddiness that comes when you realize that he likes you? Caitlyn can't believe how lucky she is.
She first meets Tyler at an amusement park, in the splash pool. The attraction is immediate and mutual, and the timing couldn't be better. Her best friend, Ashley, is totally engrossed in Brandon, her boyfriend of eight months. And at home, she feels less than invisible. The latest insult is moving to the basement so her room can be turned into a nursery. Her mother and stepfather are finally going to have their perfect baby, a baby they've been trying for for years. It seems they've forgotten that Caitlyn even exists.
At first, Caitlyn convinces herself that she's not changing. She's doing what every other girl does who wants to be with her boyfriend. If she really loves him, she should try to please him, right? She ignores the inner voices that wonder why she's not talking to Ashley about her relationship with Tyler. She lets Tyler talk her into doing things that she would never have considered before. When she realizes that she can't paint a smiling self-portrait she begins to look beyond the euphoria of new love and finds support and forgiveness from her family and friends.
Teen feelings of being alive and loved, truly loved, for the first time, mixed with the uncertainty, stubbornness, and incredibly strong desire to please, are vividly portrayed in this debut novel. Ms. Peters does a beautiful job of immersing the reader in the heady feeling of young love. PAINTING CAITLYN was a very enjoyable read.
Painting Caitlyn was an intriguing read about a topic that is very serious. It was a page turner - each aspect of Caitlyn and Tyler's doomed relationship got more and more interesting and abusive as the book went on.
Peters did a magnificent job on the characters. Tyler was so easy to hate, yet at times you really felt for him. This is so similar to how Caitlyn sees him from time to time. His character really drew you into the story and didn't let you go. Caitlyn was a character that while she wasn't the smartest tool in the shed, you really liked her. You saw everything she was going through in her life and some of the emotions she was experiencing, and there is such a vast variety of them, meaning it was very easy to connect with her. Connor was the only sturdy thing in her life, and he was so sweet and nice. I absolutely loved him.
Another really great thing about Painting Caitlyn is that essence of believability. I think that goes hand in hand with how well done the characters were done. You are simply put in their world and nearly believe everything as Caitlyn does, and the times that isn't the case you are hating on Tyler and just wishing the best for her. The story was so easy to get caught up in - Caitlyn is in this horrible, horrible relationship and you just need to know what will happen and if she'll finally get out.
I really would suggest this book! It is a fast paced read that I had issues putting down. Dealing with a serious matter, it's the type of book that needs to be read. There were a few flaws, but overall I really enjoyed it.
This book was a good read, and definitely turned out better than I expected! I'm from Canada, and not to put down my nation or anything, but this book was purely written and published by a Canadian author, and seeing as it was published in Canada, I knew that this book probably didn't have a whole lot of reviews or acknowledgement.
BUT, I was pleasantly surprised to find this book was really, truly an amazing read, and it has actually won an award.
This novel basically played up with the common-used idea of abusive relationships, but this one was different. This one goes more in depth than most novels, despite the short 180 something pages of this book. This one was very similar to Stay by Deb Caletti.
The storyline actualy really pulled me in, and I felt for Caitlyn so many times. I didn't have high expectations for this book, knowing it's not very popular at all. But I was proven so, so wrong.
I reccommend this book to anyone who's looking for an coming-of-age novel. This book definitely needs more attention, and it's very apparent to me now that just because a book is not considered 'popular' or on the top 100 reads of so-and-so, it does not at ALL mean that it's not a good book. I have actually discovered that a lot of the unacknowledged books I read end up being the best. I'm now on chapter 2 of the sequel!
I thought this would be a good read when I bought it but it wasn't. What this book is missing is....emotion. For whatever reason, I don't feel a good enough connection to Caitlyn, and that's a bad start to a book if there's any. How this whole abusive relationship started with Tyler wasn't realistic to me. The jealously parts worked fine, but starting the controlling part off with the picking paint was a mistake. Why would Tyler care about what color of Caitlyn's room when he hadn't even been in it yet? I know the author is showing early signs of Tyler's controlling behavior, but the audience hadn't even know Tyler but a few sentences before we get to this part. I was bothered throughout the entire story because Tyler and Caitlyn's relationship never added up. We know nothing of his parents other than a few paragraphs, nor do I know nothing of WHY Tyler acts this way. What made him become this way? Where is HIS story? I have no idea because the author never told us. She never told us much of ANYTHING...and that's the problem.
Painting Caitlyn is written like an essay than an actual story.
As I've said, there is no connection with these two characters to make me feel anything of them. With this sort of topic, detail is extremely important and I feel like there wasn't enough of it.
Not my favorite book by a long shot, but it was a good try.
This book was amazing. I Love how I could relate to it. My Mom once made me break up with my boyfriend of a year and 6 months and she told me I couldn't have any contact with him. Of course I went crazy and told her she couldn't stop me from seeing him at school, and I continued dating him. When my mom found out we were still dating she freaked but when she told me that I had to break up with him or she was going to do it for me she seen the tears in my eyes, right then she decided that maybe she was wrong and that maybe she shouldn't make me do this, so she told me that I could continue dating him but that I can't talk to him on the phone and I couldn't go and see him. This really upset me. but it was only temperary, after about a month she told me that we could start talking again. I think that if Caitlyn would have just asked her mom if they could try and date again her mom might have been a little less secure. but on the other hand I was glad they broke up at the end, because he may have seemed sweet and innocent but really he was just a horndog and all he wanted was to screw around and as soon as he got her prego. he would leave. Thats just MY opinion though. I think that she should have dated Connor, he seemed really sweet and carring.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The name of this book is called Painting Caitlyn by Kimberly Joy Peters. It was a very interesting read because Caitlyn's life is was always very gloomy, sad and depressing. The reason for this is because her family and her bestfriend doesn't really pay much attention to her at all. Its as if she was invisible and didn't exist at all. Her mother and her father are striving to make the perfect baby and her bestfriend is always caught up with her boyfriend, Brandon. She was so alone. In fact she was also struggling in art which was something she very much enjoyed doing. This was until she met Tyler at an amusement park. It was love at first sight. He changed her life completely because he was so caring for her but he was also very jealous and that eventually lead to an abusive relationship. How will Caitlyn handle it?
This book was very interesting in a way that many teens can relate to it. It seems as if everything goes well at first and then it gets a bit lumpy then it turns into this big roller coaster and you have to decide whats best for you. And thats hard because not many people are strong to break free. Its a great read and I would recommend it to anyone!
My friend read this book yesterday and said it was really good, so I borrowed it from her before she returned it to the library. I started it in my English class and read at least half of it! It was so amazing!
I loved the plot, although when I carefully read the back blurb I was a little skeptical of the whole plot line. My first instinct was wrong. There was no need for the skepticism, the book in all was a really good and easy read.
I loved Caitlyn, the main character, she was logical if not a little blinded at times. I liked Ashley, Brandon and Connor too. They were all caring of Caitlyn while she was dating Tyler.
In the beginning, I thought Tyler was an ideal boyfriend. Sweet, caring, charming, considerate, you know - the whole nine yards. Boy, did his character twist. He quickly went from all the above to a boy who is a bully-figure with a mean jealous streak. I was astounded.
Loved the story and hope to read more by this author!
This book wasn't the best book I've ever read, but it was realistic. The big picture was great. The author, in my opinion, could have done a better job at explaining things. The book was about a young girl named Caitlyn who fell in love with a guy, Tyler. Tyler seemed to be the perfect boyfriend in the beginning, until Caitlyn did something to upset him, like embarrass Tyler in front of his friends. Caitlyn did everything she could to try to make him happy. Because of Tyler, her grades dropped and she hurt her relationship with her parents and friends. In the end, Caitlyn breaks up with Tyler and realizes how much better her life is without him.
This book really tackles abusiveness and really shows us that people will put up with it because they are either afraid to leave, or they just don't know how to get out of it. A young girl struggles to get out of an abusive relationship but she likes the fact of having a boyfriend, and she makes up excuses and blames herself for why he hits her. This book is a very good book for young teenage girls. It gives them the idea of what an abusive relationship can do to someone. The ending of the book is amazing, and I would recommend this for any teenage girl.
i think that when caitlyn had to move to the other room for her baby sister to get there own room i kinda know how she is felling because i have a sister and i had t change rooms so that she can have her own room when she was a little baby. Also when she got her belly button ring mt mother would be mad at me if i ever did that. At the end of the book i was sad and happy said bacause i did not know that her boyfriend would hurt her i thought he loved her. and i was happy that she broke up with him i would have dome the same thing she here. I like this book and i would read it lots of times.
This book catches the readers attention instantly. After a chapter ends you want to keep reading. The book could easily be finished in a few days. It is very relateable to teenage girls stuggling with what is going on in their lives. I believe some boys would like this book as well. The main character, Caitlyn, learns to focus on the good things in life even after relying on some people that are bad influences. She deals with tragic events that leave her tramatized. At times she feels overwhelmed and doesnt know what to do. Like many people, she's trying to find herself.
I gave it the benefit of the doubt, but I think I'd have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been able to tell how hard the author was working to show naive teens how easily an abusive relationship can happen, while disguising the lesson in the syntax of an innocent freshman. The end result was something that simultaneously felt didactic and watered down. So no points there - but props for compelling characters and good details. Despite its shortcomings, it's endearingly like someone's creative writing thesis.
I love this book! Way to go Kim A great book for any young teen. A great read with an important message. It covers so many areas of the complex teen life, that it hits home with so many of its readers.
Young teens can learn an important message from reading this book, and the adult audience will remember the details vividly, of their own teen years.
This is just one of those books that I would reccomend to everyone. It's a good read and I know that there are more than one kind of abuse, and I feel more aware about abusive/unhealthy relationships. I like Caitlyn, she is smart and strong and sounds like an amazing artist, and reading her story told me that sometimes with people you just don't know.
Painting Caitlyn is about a girl named Caitlyn who falls into an abusive relationship. Compare to Sarah Dessen's Dreamland, Painting Caitlyn doesn't live up to as high as an expectation that I thought it would. The book was good and Caitlyn was an ok character, but I wish there was more depth and emotion into the book as Dreamland had.
I bought this book because it was on sale, and to be honest I'm glad I didn't pay full price. I thought the quality in the writing wasn't there, and in general I think there are much better books out there that deal with abusive relationships in young people.
This book wasnt one of my favorites. It was a good book but i feel it should have been more interesting or maybe went into details a little more. I like the idea that the book was trying to share but it was kind of a boring book. It is a good book for teen girls though.
This book hit me hard, it made me realize may things. I would love to read this book once more because I read it back in high school. But I do remember it being good. The emotions it makes you feel are so real and it keeps you wrapped up.
I was given this book by the author's sister when I was about 14, and I absolutely loved it. It was just risque enough to draw me in, but also helped me deal with a lot of the things I was facing at that age. I loved this book.