A
senior basketball player. A mysterious new girl. A secret romance…
Charlie Baker wants out. She wants out of her small, southern hometown of
BluHaven and she has her sights set on a basketball scholarship to a college as
far away as her dreams can take her. Everything is going according to plan
until she moves to town.
Aspen Sullivan is breathtaking. She is beautiful, smart, talented… She evokes
feelings in Charlie that she hadn’t thought possible. When their friendship
blossoms into something more, Charlie discovers a new truth about herself. But
with Aspen’s mysterious past, they must keep their relationship a secret.
Will their love be strong enough to endure the trials of deceiving those
closest to them?
Do they have what it takes to escape the constraints of the south and the
closet together?
My Ticket Out is a Young Adult, LGBT story about love, and
self-discovery. If you enjoy stories that include romance, heartbreak, and
embracing who you are, then you will definitely love this book by author J.N.
Marton.
Buy Links
Amazon US
~ Amazon UK
~ Amazon Au ~ Amazon Ca
~ Also Available with
KindleUnlimited ~
Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
3.5 stars
This is an emotionally charged read, full of impossibly heightened adolescent
angst. It is the story of Charlie, a small town basketball star in her last
year of high school. The book follows Charlie as she grows into herself,
prepares for the future, and falls in love for the first time.
It is impossible not to fall hard for Charlie. Certain that she doesn’t belong
in her small town, she devotes herself to her basketball – her ticket out. I
love Charlie’s intense friendship with her friend and rival Riley, and I love
her complicated relationship with her brother. Charlie’s background is
complicated and her relationship with her grandparents is fragile. Charlie is a
fighter, she’s a survivor, and she’s pretty fabulous.
I’m not entirely sure why this book is marketed as a romance. It is definitely
a coming of age story and it is definitely a young adult, not a new adult read,
but I’d argue that the focus of this book is the growth we see in Charlie
herself over the school year. Without spoilers, there is a romance element to
the book but it is a difficult, fractured romance for most of the book and the
storyline doesn’t use a conventional romance novel structure.
My initial reaction to the dramatic storyline around Charlie’s coming out
experience was disbelief – but sadly I’ve seen enough American news in 2020 to
understand that small town America is quite possibly as hostile to LGBT teens
as Charlie’s story suggests. However, I do feel like the book gets
unnecessarily preachy in places – especially at the end where resolutions feel
too easy and a bit trite. I’m not sure deep hurts can be healed quickly with
pretty apologies. Charlie, Riley, and Matthew feel like complicated, fully
developed characters. I didn’t quite know how to feel about Aspen in various parts
of the story – but all of the other characters feel a little bit too
simplistic. Either goodies or baddies, there isn’t much room for multifaceted
humans in this book.
I recognise that as a teacher in my 40s, I’m definitely not the target audience
for this book. I think the angst, the emotional turmoil, and the intense
romantic scenes will resonate better with teen readers than they did with me.
It’s all a little too much for me but it did make me smile – and cry.
Shannan – ☆☆☆
My Ticket Out is a young adult angsty story.
Charlie is a senior in high school. She doesn't feel she belongs in her
hometown. She has hopes to get a basketball scholarship to be her ticket out.
When Aspen is a new student, Charlie immediately notices how beautiful she is.
Together they form a friendship that grows into something more.
The pace was very slow for me in the beginning, it did seem to move better the
further I got into the read. I didn't feel as though I connected with the
characters as much as I wanted to. As a young adult read, this is a very high-angst
book, but with teenagers that is pretty realistic. The ending seemed a bit too
easy for me, with a few apologies it was wrapped up in a bow. I did like that
it touched on very realistic issues affecting LGBTQ teens.
J.N. Marton graduated from the
University of Central Arkansas with a Bachelor’s degree in education. Along
with educating the future of our nation, she enjoys taking her daily morning
run, reading any book she can get her hands on, and binge watching the latest
shows on Netflix. Marton happily lives with her wife, Hollis, and their
Lab/Basset Hound mix, Sam.
Connect with J.N.
Twitter ~ Instagram ~ Goodreads
Hosted by
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided
a free copy of My Ticket Out by J.N. Marton to read and review for this tour.
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