Reviewed by Jess
TITLE: Plus One
AUTHOR: Sarah L. Young
PUBLISHER: Less Than Three Press
LENGTH: 128 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 14, 2018
BLURB:
Junior year is hard for everyone, but especially for Lexi—and in about nine months, it’s going to get a lot harder. She doesn’t know what to do, how to do it, or who the father is.
Lost and afraid, she calls the only person she can think of for support: her ex-girlfriend Emily, who recently dumped her. But if Emily isn’t willing to help, then Lexi is afraid she’ll be facing this all alone…
REVIEW:
Truth is truth—Sarah L. Young finished this book as a part of National Novel Writing month when she was only fifteen years old. That, no matter what, is absolutely amazing, and should be an inspiration for all. This book didn’t click with me at all, but Young certainly started her writing career with a bang.
After a one-night stand while brokenhearted from her breakup with Emily, main character Lexi finds herself pregnant, and she knows she wants to keep her baby. But her family has a different reaction, and with the help of a reluctant Emily, Lexi must find a way to support herself and her baby, who she already loves. There are obviously plenty of options for tension. LGBT stories involving teen pregnancy are practically non-existent, but bisexual teen girls do exist, and they may find themselves trapped between two worlds—that of a young mother, and that of a woman still coming into her sexuality. It’s a new perspective, and a valuable one, especially since Lexi is a woman of color.
But the characters themselves are painted with broad strokes, and to be honest, they aren’t very likable. Lexi is extremely immature, but her immaturity comes off as grating rather than an opportunity for growth. And though I liked Emily a little more, she has a consistently irritating holier-than-thou attitude, calling Lexi “kid” even though they are only a year apart. All of the adults are bland, too. They range from guidance counselors with textbook supportive lines to angry mothers who banish their promiscuous children from their homes. There’s just no depth. Whenever we expect the characters to grow, they just dig deeper into their convictions. Their minds were made from page one.
Though a teen pregnancy is certainly dramatic, there’s nothing about Lexi’s situation that sets her apart from any of the thousands of teenagers going through the same thing every day. Besides immediately choosing to keep her baby, Lexi is a passive character—she is shuffled by others from house to house, meeting to meeting, appointment to appointment. Her choices only come in the form of accepting offered help. She’s not an interesting protagonist, nor a clever, smart, or brave one. She makes one choice and waits for the world to revolve around her—and it does. Neatly. And worst of all, her support system seems complacent at best, like they’re all sighing and shaking their heads as they reluctantly help a poor girl who they feel sorry for. It’s almost depressing.
There’s just nothing relatable about this book. I don’t agree with the overt religious and political tones of the book at all, but personal perspectives aside, it’s a poor choice to take a staunchly pro-life stance in a piece of LGBT young adult fiction. The kids seeking these kinds of books are usually on the opposite side of the spectrum—they crave choice, diversity, freedom. And this book promotes the blandest, thinnest type of pro-life platform possible: all you need is love, and everything else will fall into place.
This is only the beginning of a bright young writer’s career, and I wanted to be honest with a review. All professional writers deserve that, and Young is now a published professional, though I think she should’ve waited on this one. It’s not a book that worked for me on any level, and I’m not sure who the audience could possibly be that would connect with this story.
RATING: 
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