Skip to main content

Review of Knee Deep by Jolene Perry





Yup, it's time for another post about how freaking awesome Jolene Perry is! :D But first, the details about Knee Deep!

Knee Deep Summary


Shawn is the guy Ronnie Bird promised her life to at the age of fourteen. He's her soul mate. He's more uptight every day, but it's not his fault. His family life is stressful, and she's adding to it. She just needs to be more understanding, and he'll start to be the boy she fell in love with. She won’t give up on someone she’s loved for so long.

Luke is her best friend, and the guy she hangs with to watch girlie movies in her large blanketopias. He's the guy she can confide in before she even goes to her girlfriends, and the guy who she's playing opposite in Romeo and Juliet. Now her chest flutters every time he gets too close. This is new. Is Ronnie falling for him? Or is Juliet? The lines are getting blurry, but leaving one guy for another is not something that a girl like Ronnie does.

Shawn’s outbursts are starting to give her bruises, and Luke’s heart breaks as Ronnie remains torn. While her thoughts and feelings swirl around the lines between friendship and forever, she’s about to lose them both. 
 
**
 
This is the second book I've read by Jolene, and if it's possible, I think I love it even more than I loved Night Sky (though I hope Jolene won't mind that my heart will always belong to Jameson!). I honestly have nothing but praise for this book, but what I'd like to do is pick up on something Jolene said when she posted on her blog about Knee Deep. 
 
A large part of the story has to do with abuse to Ronnie from her boyfriend, Shawn. Jolene said this:
 
"People talk about writing what you know, and then talk about keeping yourself out of your books. But you know what? I KNEW that situation - and I know I'll get some bad reviews (like you always do - ESPECIALLY when you tackle a tough topic) that are going to say that Ronnie's actions weren't believable.

But here's the thing - I told her story, the best way I knew how. Ronnie's reactions with pieces of my truth. And there are some drastic differences, but there are also some startling similarities. So, to me, Ronnie's actions were completely and totally understandable."
 
I remember reading those words and wondering exactly what Ronnie's reactions might be to make people think they weren't believable. I'm not gonna lie - I was concerned that I might be disappointed in the story. However, that just didn't happen. There were certain things Ronnie said or thought about Shawn's actions that made me angry because I needed her to get out of that situation instead of finding ways to explain what he was doing. But that was what made it real for me. Her judgement was terrible at times, but there was not a single moment when I thought it wasn't believable. 
 
The magic of Jolene Perry is that her words make people feel something. I won't give away any spoilers, but there were parts, especially towards the end of the book, that were so clear, I felt like I was watching a movie instead of reading a book. I finished reading Knee Deep more than a week ago, and yet I can still replay full scenes in my head. When words are so vivid that they create not only pictures, but full, moving scenes, inside your mind, you know you're reading something amazing. 

If you don't believe me, check it out for yourself! 



Comments

  1. Well you created a very believable review for me - and while this might not be my genre, it sounds like Jolene is a great writer, so I will look out for her name (and yours :) in the future :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. I read Knee Deep at the beginning of the month. It stressed me out because I was so worried about Ronnie. I always interpret a reaction like that as a mark of a good novel.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This sounds like an excellent book, and your review has made me really want to read it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. ooh this sounds great! Thanks for spreading the word

    ReplyDelete
  5. The book sounds great. That's great that you liked the second book even more. Usually the second book is not as good. I'm a new follower. Nice to meet you. :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. You already know how I feel about this book and Jolene. But you really expressed exactly how I felt. Ronnie's actions were so believable I wanted to scream at her. Jo does an incredible job and making you feel what the characters are feeling. And I too have replayed very vivid scenes in my head. Oh and Jameson is mine!!!

    ReplyDelete
  7. OH my gosh...

    Oh my gosh...

    I loooooove Jolene so much. I think she's brilliant. And grrrr... I haven't read this one yet! Must. Get. On. That. :D

    ReplyDelete
  8. I been really wanting to read her books. I guess I should get on that :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh, I think it's GREAT to have a YA book showing abuse. It's so much more common than people are willing to acknowledge, and showing the justification in staying while at the same time making sure the READER sees how important it is she gets the freak OUT.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Great review. That is the trick to being a great author: making your reader feel something. If you can do that, you can write wonderful and memorable stories.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thanks for the recommendation!

    ReplyDelete
  12. YAY!!

    You have NO idea.

    I love reading books where I hate what the MC is doing, but when I get it, so that's honestly the best compliment EVER.

    THANK YOU!!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I think that doing school plays affects a lot of teenagers, because it gives them the chance to "become" other people and explore their feelings about who they are. So I like that she included Romeo and Juliet in her book, because that's a play that many teenagers in love feel like they can relate to (except maybe the part about dying at the end).

    ReplyDelete
  14. I love Jolene!!! I haven't read this yet, but I NEED to!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Kyra, a.k.a. Jameson's Twitter girlfriend, thanks for the great review of "Knee Deep." Glad you enjoyed it!

    ReplyDelete
  16. It certainly seems that Jolene is loved by a lot of people. The book does sound believable, as it's certainly the case in real life that people often struggle to get out of abusive relationships while it seems obvious to others to leave. Great review!

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm still reading "My Heart for Yours" by Jolene...which is also wonderful (so far).

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

IWSG: Performance anxiety

Welcome to the August edition of IWSG, hosted by the amazing Alex J.Cavanaugh ! So, as most of you know by now - because I haven't shut up about it LOL - my first novel, Game On, has been released. The blog tour officially starts next week (YAY!) but I find myself becoming increasingly nervous. A blog tour not only highlights my book, but me. What if people don't like me? What if my guest posts suck, and everyone thinks I'm boring? If I can't engage people in 300 words on a blog, they probably aren't going to pick up my book. And then there's the "what happens next" question. I plan to make Game On into a series, which feels a bit arrogant of me. I don't know how many people are going to like the first book, should I really be planning to keep the series going? So far, Game On has actually been incredibly well received. I've had great reviews, so maybe I shouldn't worry about people not liking it, but what if Book Two isn't as goo

If I Let You Go Cover Reveal & Bloghop Signup

I am SO freaking excited to share this with you!! Even though I only announced the cover reveal last week, it's felt like it's taken years to get to today! I would like to FINALLY reveal the cover for my first novella, If I Let You Go: Title: If I Let You Go (Novella) Category : New Adult (NA) Genre : Contemporary Romance Release Date : October 22 nd 2012 Synopsis: Madison Connor is about to lose it. Her job, that is. For three years, she’s taken care of Dominic Hartley’s five year old daughter, Tilly, but her world is flipped on its head when Dominic tells her his latest promotion is taking him to New York. With Tilly having a meltdown over the move, Madison and Dominic get into a fight that changes the entire nature of their relationship, causing Madison to ask herself a big question. Can she let him go? EEK! SO, whaddya think? :D Annnnd there's more! As I'm not doing a blog tour for this release, I still felt like I needed to

Dust It Off Bloghop!

Welcome to day one of the Dust It Off Bloghop, hosted by Theresa Paolo and Cortney Pearson ! This hop is all about the WIPs you wrote, and then shelved! Okay, so I am teaming up with Clare Dugmore for this one, because back in 2006 - yup, we've known each other THAT long lol! - we started to write a book together. Unfortunately, other commitments got in the way and we never finished it - but even so many years on - it's still something we remember fondly, so we're going to dust it off for you! The first day, May 3rd: We want you to post a 1-2 sentence pitch (Great way to practice pitches) about the shelved WIP. Here is the pitch Clare and I came up with: For best friends Caitlin and Tori, their first acting job out of Uni opens up a whole new world for them – unfortunately, it wasn’t the world they were expecting. When the strains of adult life and tangled relationships threaten to ruin their friendship, they are forced to take a look at what’s really importan