Review: Hooked by Catherine Greenman

Hooked by Catherine Greenman

Thea Galehouse has always known how to take care of herself. With a flighty club-owner mom and a standoffish, recovering-alcoholic dad, Thea has made her own way in her hometown of New York, attending the prestigious and competitive Stuyvesant High School. But one chat with Will, a handsome and witty senior, and she's a goner—completely hooked on him and unable to concentrate on anything else.
Always worried that she loves Will more than he loves her, Thea is pleasantly surprised when their romance weathers his move to college and Will goes out of his way to involve her in his life. But then, Thea misses a period. And that starts Thea and Will on a wild ride that neither of them could have possibly prepared for. When they decide to keep the baby, their concerned parents chip in what they can to keep Will in school and give both teenagers a comfortable place to raise their child. But when a freak accident leaves Thea shaken and threatens to upend their little family altogether, Thea is forced to turn to the last place she would have chosen for comfort: her stiff, uncompromising father.
This smart, touching first novel brims with realistic, beautifully drawn characters, and reminds us that love is never as easy or predictable as we might like it to be.

Published in US: Aug 9 2011
Source: bought

My Review:
     This was a gritty yet funny at time contemporary. I think that we get a unique view into being pregnant and being a teen mom, and I think that it's an important message. As much as Thea tries at times, she cannot romanticize the idea, especially when her boyfriend Will makes it where she can't stay with him for a while.      Though I liked this book and what it tried to convey, I was left feeling like there is nothing that will make me remember it a year from now. I still think that its worth reading.
    I think that all aspects of characters were done well, Thea was fleshed out, and she had things I could relate to, perfections and faults alike. Will was dreamy at first and then gave a real picture of what happens a lot when a girl gets pregnant and there is a child brought into that relationship at such a young age. Thea's parents are far from perfect, but I really liked how her dad stepped up in the end whereas I wouldn't have expected that. I got to read about a dynamic that is not all that present in the books I read, the father daughter one.
    I also like the stages the book goes through, we get to see the beginning and development of Thea's relationship with Will, and how she is completely hooked on him-to the extent that she doesn't really pay much attention to anything else. What a familiar feeling that is though, the new relationship and the obsession.
    This book took on a whole other dimension with Thea's crocheting. It interested me because I can crochet a bit, and it played a role in a book of helping her to distract herself and also in the end helping to find herself some.
    The ending wasn't tied up completely, but I think that is also life, and hers really was just beginning, so I think that is fitting in its own aspects.

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