Rory's a college girl who's careful not to walk through bad
neighbourhoods at night, and she has good friends. So when
she drinks beer in quiet embarrassment with a guy while her
girl pals entertain their boyfriends, she never expects him
to try forceful sex. Saved by another student, Tyler, she
admits that it's a big deal to her because she hasn't had a
partner.
In TRUE, Rory's mother died when she was eight, and her
father is just now getting a lady in his life. Rory grew
up absorbed in maths and science, with early dating passing
her by, and she likes to help in an animal shelter instead
of partying. Tyler doesn't push it, but he turns up at the
store where she works and they talk about books, and agree
to study together sometimes. "I had no ability to fake it,
to lie and giggle and flirt my way through conversations
with guys," Rory tells us. She helps him study anatomy,
despite teasing, and he helps her figure out the
relationships in literature. At a party they're getting on
well and kiss, but that night Rory overhears her dorm pals
talking about how they bribed Tyler to get Rory into bed.
Seems like she can't trust anyone, not even her own
reactions.
Erin McCarthy then shows us Tyler's home life, with a
prescription drug-addicted, drinking mother and two younger
brothers who live in fear and squalor. Tyler is their only
point of stability, and Rory is determined to clean up and
cook a homey meal for the kids. Yet Rory's father's
attitude, that his daughter is putting herself at risk -
and at odds with the law - by being in a house with a drug
addict, is simultaneously completely understandable.
I found TRUE to be a slightly younger version of last
year's hit by Jamie McGuire, Beautiful Disaster, with
less violence and hard drinking. Students are growing up,
taking responsibility and accepting that some people just
use others. The point that nobody will get hired as an EMT
with a conviction for drugs is well made, reminding young
people to be careful of the choices they make. The New
Adult novel genre can't help but have many elements in
common, showing us a demographic group trapped between
layers of childhood and full adulthood, trying to be
themselves. TRUE is good reading for girls who want to
find out who they are and who they should give their
loyalties to in today's world.
When Rory Macintosh’s roommates find out that their studious
and shy friend has never been with a guy, they decide that,
as an act of kindness they’ll help her lose her virginity by
hiring confident, tattooed bad boy Tyler Mann to do the job…
unbeknownst to Rory.
Tyler has told Rory that he’s not good enough for her.
She’s smart, doctor smart, while he’s barely scraping by at
his EMT program, hoping to pull his younger brothers out of
the hell their druggy mother has left them in. But he can’t
seem to stay away from her, and even when Rory knows she
should push him away, something about him makes it nearly
impossible for her to resist—even though her heart is at
stake
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