Published by: Lerner Publishing Group on February 1st, 2012
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
Source: Gifted
Goodreads
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Synopsis: There are stories where the girl gets her prince, and they live happily ever after. (This is not one of those stories.)
Jenna Lord’s first sixteen years were not exactly a fairytale. Her father is a controlling psycho and her mother is a drunk. She used to count on her older brother—until he shipped off to Afghanistan. And then, of course, there was the time she almost died in a fire.
There are stories where the monster gets the girl, and we all shed tears for his innocent victim. (This is not one of those stories either.)
Mitch Anderson is many things: A dedicated teacher and coach. A caring husband. A man with a certain... magnetism.
And there are stories where it’s hard to be sure who’s a prince and who’s a monster, who is a victim and who should live happily ever after. (These are the most interesting stories of all.)
Drowning Instinct is a novel of pain, deception, desperation, and love against the odds—and the rules.
Review:
I wasn't sure what to expect from this book and to be honest, I was a bit hesitant to read it because I've DNFed another book by this author. I am a big supporter of giving authors more chances to wow me, plus Bekka had gifted me this book several years ago, so I put it on my desk and planned to read it this month.
I wasn't expecting to gobble it down like it was my last meal though. I wasn't expecting to be so captivated by the storytelling and by the characters themselves. Before you go into a book, you probably have some preconceived ideas about the book and about the characters. I know I did, and this book challenged my preconceived ideas from the very beginning. There isn't black & white actions going on here, it's a whole lotta grey actions.
I was expecting to feel sympathy for Jenna and the fact that she is being raised by an alcoholic mother and a psychotic father, and while I did feel a lot of sympathy for her, that wasn't the overwhelming emotion I felt when it came to Jenna.
There was a lot of innuendo in this book. Things that were hinted out, but never outright stated. Most of that circled around Jenna's grandfather who had suffered 2 strokes shortly after a fire burned his house down around him. There was a lot there that wasn't outright stated, but I could read between the lines and figure out why the fire started and who started it. Not to mention the fact that grandpa was a lecherous old man.
Jenna's relationship with her teacher started out innocently enough, but then it unraveled into a passionate, forbidden romance that definitely seemed toxic at times. It seemed like Mitch Anderson used Jenna as an escape from his own hell. Instead of being a grown ass adult and handling his problems like one, he pulled Jenna into his world and made her the center of his world. Yeah, this relationship was not the healthiest one, the teacher/student thing notwithstanding.
It was true that Jenna needed an adult in her corner, but I do think Mitch Anderson got overly involved with her problems. It was clear to me that he liked "the broken ones" and that thought was echoed by another student who saw things shift between Jenna & Mitch. Jenna's parents weren't really fit to be parents and her older brother was gone, so I guess I shouldn't be shocked that she ended up in the arms of a much older man.
This book was nothing like I was expecting and I'm still not sure what exactly I read, but it was really good. Like dark chocolate good.
Final thoughts: If you want a book with complicated characters & complicated relationships, then you need to pick this book up.
It's been a few years since I read this, but I remember being completely sucked in by it too!
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