Unpregnant by Jenni Hendriks and Ted Caplan

E-Audio, 08:03:21

Narrated by:  Kyla Garcia

Release Date:  September 10, 2019
Published by: HarperTeen
Read from: November 14-18, 2019
Source: Library 
TW: Abortion
For fans of: Contemporary, YA, Realistic Fiction, Tough Stuff

     Seventeen-year-old Veronica Clarke never thought she would wish she’d failed a test until she finds herself holding a thick piece of plastic in her hands and staring at two solid pink lines. Even the most consistent use of condoms won’t prevent pregnancy when your boyfriend secretly pokes holes in them to keep you from going out-of-state for college.
     Veronica needs an abortion, but the closest place she can legally get one is over nine hundred miles away—and Veronica doesn’t have a car. Too ashamed to ask her friends or family for help, Veronica turns to the one person she believes won’t judge her: Bailey Butler, Jefferson High’s own little black cloud of anger and snark—and Veronica’s ex-best friend. Once on the road, Veronica quickly remembers nothing with Bailey is ever simple and that means two days of stolen cars, shotguns, crazed ex-boyfriends, truck stop strippers with pro-life agendas, and a limo driver named Bob. But the pain and betrayal of their broken friendship can’t be outrun. When their fighting leads to a brutal moment of truth, Bailey abandons Veronica. Now Veronica must risk everything in order to repair the hurt she’s caused.

*MY THOUGHTS*

     I read this for the sole purpose of writing a postive review on a book about giving women a choice to counter some negative ones. And as it turns out, this turned out to be a pretty good story. 
     Veronica Clarke has it all. She’s on the road to becoming valedictorian, she has great friends, and she has a great boyfriend. But something’s come up and thrown a wrench into her plans of a perfect life…. She’s pregnant. And there’s only one person who knows, her ex-friend Bailey. So she does the only thing she can think of…. She asks her to give her a ride to New Mexico for an abortion. Bailey agrees under one condition. On the way, they find out things about themselves and their old friendships that they didn’t know before.  
     I LOVED Bailey and Veronica, but that was about it. Everyone else in this story is terrible. ESPECIALLY Kevin. I have never, wanted someone to be hit by a car in a book so bad as I did him. He did something dispicable that I couldn’t believe. Especially by someone in high school. That was just crazy. Let’s just say, at the end I was happy that she finally did it because trust me when I say, someone needed to. 
     I also really liked the humor in this one. Abortions are serious, and because of this, it was great to have some comedic relief. It wouldn’t have been the same story without the jokes.(Or Bailey) It helped the plot along as well. With it being a road trip book it needed some help to keep the plot interesting.
     I also loved the narrator. I don’t remember reading (listening) to anything by her before, but I found myself searching her name in our catalog to see if she has anything else. She made the sounds and other small interuptions throughout the novel. I thought it was amazing. 
     This was exactly what I thought it would be: A nice enjoyable story of choice. I’m really glad that these types of stories exist. That way the women dealing with this can show how freeing it can be whwn given a choice. 
Overall, I give this
Real Rating 3.5. 

Take Me Away

Diverse Book Blogger. Diverse YA Librarian. Wonder Woman enthusiast. Bookish Blerd. "GryffinClaw" Geek extraordinaire. Pitbull mom. She/her linktr.ee/take_me_awayyy