The Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas - Review

Synopsis via goodreads:

I know I know I know I should be grateful. I should be grateful to have his attention. To have him take such an interest in me.

I should. I know I should.
I will. No, you are grateful, Olivia, I tell myself as if I am my self's imaginary friend, sitting across the table, giving advice. Start acting grateful then, she begs.

I have a gift. I have a gift from God, he says. So rare he hasn't seen it in all his many years. I'm the real thing, he says. I'm a once in a lifetime, he says. I'm special and it's his responsibility to take me under his wing, to make sure I don't waste my talent. It would be a sin not to help me, he says. It would be a sin for me not to take his offer of help.

But I swear to God . . . no . . . scratch that . . . I'll not be swearing to God . . . I swear to Who Knows What that his latest demand, this pile of typewritten pages he hands me with a face that says, Please, Olivia, oh please don't be difficult and just do this for me, is staring, no it's glaring at me from the coffee table like a monster that might eat me. I feel like if I touch it I will go up in flames or the pages might bite.

Am I making too much of this? Isn't it just a matter of grabbing hold of the stack and moving it in front of my eyes so my eyes will begin to scan those black marks on the page which will magically arrange themselves into words that my brain will recognize and understand and volia, I'm finished before I know it.

Then, when he asks, because he will ask, I'll be able to answer truthfully, "Yes, I read it. I did," and he will smile and I'll be Good Olivia again.

I wish I'd never won that stupid prize which is what got me noticed by him . . . no . . . what got my writing noticed by him which is what led to the initial introduction which somehow turned into communications and invitations and coffees and attending office hours and going to High Profile Events together--his words--even before the summer started.

Emotionally powerful...it is a hard book to put into words...other than to say emotionally powerful, it's charged with so many emotions, I find it difficult to even name them, though anger is one that comes to mind rather easily; as is a unabashed love for the characters that Donna Freitas created – Olivia sings, in more ways than one – and Jamie becomes what one can only call a Knight in shining Levi's.

The Gorgeous Game gets to the heart of stalking, looks at it head on, and powerfully stands up to it, takes charge and clears the way with it's dynamic characters whom you have no choice but to fall in love with! It's crafted in such a way that each and every word, page and chapter seeps into you, clearing away all other thoughts you might have, it's a deep subject and while not a light read, by any means – it's got several light, laugh out loud moments. Just when you think you have plunged in so deep, there's no light seeping in anywhere, Donna Freitas interjects a laugh, I loved that!

Olivia is a powerfully beautiful character, her thoughts, descriptions and loves run deep, I felt her fear, felt her love, felt her life - I watched her story unfold in my head, more like watching a movie unfold - praying each step of the way, each page that I flipped that this girl, Olivia, would not someday be my daughter - would not be ANYONE's daughter, ever again - but then praying that if somehow Aubrey turns into Olivia, or any girl out there turns into Olivia – that they can take a chapter from Olivia's version of The Gorgeous Game, and become as strong as Olivia becomes, and realize that there are, even in situations like this, people who will love you, and stick by you – NO MATTER WHAT!

Things like this happen all the time, to girls - and boys for that matter, with priest's but not just them, with other figures that are supposed to be in our children's lives to give them someone to look up to, treasure and love - not to betray them, and it breaks my heart, every time I hear about a "real" story like Olivia's because even though her's was told within the confines of Fiction, her story is real – there's many out there that have been though it, and know first hand just how real it can get!

This is a novel that hit really close to home for this mom, it's an important novel that I feel honored to have been able to read early and review. It's a book that I will be giving my daughter, it's got and important voice, that I think every teen girl needs to hear.

I felt connected with Olivia, I wanted to protect her like my own, I had an almost constant thought while reading, "I can't leave her, what if something happens. At least if I am here, reading – he can't hurt her." It's sometimes hard with tough story lines to touch the reader in that way, but Donna Freitas did, honestly in more ways than I can express.

Another character that Donna Freitas created, Father Mark – with his whispering closeness, his stalking nature – honestly he made me want to throw up, I feel sick right now just writing about him. Howerver, I think that's what makes this book so compelling, the thought that went into each character, and the raw honesty that Donna gave to each. She did not back down when portraying Father Mark, she embarked down a slippery slope, one of which left me, uncomfortable, in the best way possible. She got into his mind, never eluding to what kind of sick and twisted man he is, she laid it right there on the table for all of us to see, I can't imagine how hard that was!

Bottom Line – This story, in it's raw form, is about a teenage girl, whom is stalked by a priest, a person whom she trusts, respects and even loves in the beginning. While there's the use of symbolism, I did not feel like this book is in any way over the top religious, I felt like Father Mark could have been anyone, boy scout troop leader, teacher, guidance councilor, anyone in our kids lives they look up to, and trust.

The Gorgeous Game is powerful, and frankly alarmingly scary, it reminded me that though most people in this world are ultimately good, there are those that over step boundaries set – and we as parents must reach out to our kids, and make them comfortable not only enough with themselves to speak up, but also let them know that we, as parents, offer a safe place – no matter what they have to tell us, for them to land. The Gorgeous Game is a worth while read, powerful and poignant, with a wonderful ending, that offers just enough to leave you satisfied, yet not so over the top to make you think it's fake. I give it 4 mushrooms, and will be on the look out for Donna Freitas next book!

The Gorgeous Game
By: Donna Freitas
224 Pages
Published: May 25, 2010
Publisher: Farra, Straus and Giroux
Received via Ksenia Winnicki, publishing assistant at Macmillan Children's Publishing Group, for my honest review. Thank you!