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Loading... Playing in Traffic (original 2004; edition 2004)by Gail Giles
Work InformationPlaying in Traffic by Gail Giles (2004)
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. It wasn't one of her best but it still is a fast, compelling read. ( ) This is essentially a novella about relationships between people with problems. It's exciting and a very easy read. I found it absorbing to just jump into and read through, and I finished it in a single sitting. The author's writing style is engaging. The ending was pretty dramatic. Unfortunately, there were some problems. In general, the editing was good, but it's pretty much unavoidable that a couple errors will slip through for the first printing of any piece of long fiction, and one editing problem in particular of this book is accidentally using the name Jeremy where it should have been another character's name, which made for a very weird moment while trying to understand what was going on. The ending wasn't so much an ending as an attempt to leave the reader shocked. The way characters were portrayed made it feel like the meaning of the whole story was either about how certain stereotypes are bad (cheerleaders, fratboys, recreational drug users, and goths) or about nothing at all -- a sort of nihilistic refusal to convey meaning. I suspect the intention was more about the latter, not having any meaning, just being pure entertainment for the reader and revenue stream for the author, but even if it didn't have any real meaning behind it people will read meaning into it, and I don't like what this book says if I start trying to find meaning in it. It's a bit difficult at times to discern whether particular tendencies to judge and stereotype are features of the characters or of the author. Thinking about what happened in the story, what I saw was that almost everyone was a bad person, and to the extent they were good people they all got screwed over. Thinking about the consequences, it looks like everything is about to get much, much worse after the last page. I suppose there might be one other interpretation of meaning in this book: the whole world sucks, along with everyone in it, because if you try to not suck you're going to get screwed over the hardest. I enjoyed reading it, all the way through it. I did not enjoy thinking about it after the fact. Maybe it'll give you a couple hours of enjoyment to read it, but I don't think it'll ever make your life better to have read it. Matt, who has always tried to remain anonymous, has been singled out for sexual attention by Skye (a weird gothic girl). Skye wants to keep the relationship a secret, and slowly starts to reveal “secrets” about her life, such as being abused by her stepfather, and her down-syndrome sister taken to an institution. Matt wants to be Skye’s knight in shinning armor, and desperately wants to save her. However, when he is warned about Skye by her former best friend (Taylor Banks), Matt begins to notice the inconsistencies in Skye’s stories, and begins to wonder why she has chosen him, and lured him to her parents’ beach house. Skye’s allure is imposible to resist as Matt realizes that she is only using him as she attempts to commit a horrifying crime. This book is definitely a page-turner that offers a somewhat predictable ending (considering Skye’s mental stability). The ending is disappointing as it does not provide answers for the reader. Skye somehow resembles Lisa (Girl Interrupted). Recommended for high school students. no reviews | add a review
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Shy and unremarkable, seventeen-year-old Matt Lathrop is surprised and flattered to find himself singled out for the sexual attentions of the alluring Skye Colbly, until he discovers the evil purpose behind her actions. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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