The Beginners

The Beginners: by Rebecca Wolff
Media source: Hardback
Rating 2 out of 5 stars

This is the perfect example of why you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover.  While the cover is fantastically done and very beautiful, the story is rather disappointing.

This is a story of a young girl who apparently discovers herself in a sexual manner.  New people have moved into town and she is fascinated by them and their story.  Others in the town are skeptical of the new comers including her parents, but she hears nothing of it and continues to spend a large amount of time with them, yearning to experience certain activities with the male.

There are so many different elements in this novel that make it hard to follow.  There is supposed to be references to witch trials, and ghosts; I can across maybe one or two of each.  This novel was classified as young adult, it is the farthest thing from a young adult novel.  I would never let my young adult read this with the amount of foul language and sex involved in this books.  Within the first twenty pages the main character had discovered porn, fondled herself, compared her naked body to that of another woman's, and envisioned what her first time (her "beginning") would be like.  I believe at one point there is even rape, but I cannot be 100% sure. Throughout the novel she daydreams about sex with the male of the new couple in town and actually does end up having sex with him on several occasions.  Those scenes are graphic is detail, enough to make me and my boyfriend blush.

This was the farthest thing from what I expected of the book.  When you read the blurb and the reviews on the back of the book you imagine a whirlwind of a tale.  You imagine a fantastic story of betrayal, ghost, family history etc but that is the farthest thing from what you get.  I cannot even tell you what happens because it became so confusing and so difficult to finish.  Do I recommend this book...not so much.  If you want a book that will make you need to go back and reread things or one that is full of sex and multiple stories falling together then maybe check this book out.  But do not be fooled by a beautiful cover, the company who created a cover did their job well.  I bought the book based of the cover and blurb.