REVIEW: The Year We Hid Away by Sarina Bowen
Dear Ms. Bowen:
Jane read your first book in the Ivy Years Series, The Year We Fell Down, and really enjoyed it. I’ll be honest, I was hesitant to read it because generally speaking, I’m not a big fan of “issue” books. I like my romance straightforward with the issues coming internally, rather than externally. But why I ever question Jane when she directly says to me, “I’m sure you’ll like these books” is beyond me. So this weekend I opened The Year We Fell Down and gobbled it up in giant bites. Of course, I immediately bought and gorged on book two, The Year We Hid Away, which I think I enjoyed even more that The Year We Fell Down.
Shannon Ellison is fleeing her life. The daughter of a well known former NHL star, and current hockey coach who is now accused of molesting multiple young boys, she wants nothing more than to escape the relentless news reporters and ooglers who chase her family and have made her a prisoner in her own home. She honestly doesn’t know if her dad is guilty. He was a pretty horrible father, always cold and critical. All she wants is to escape her family. She does this by legally changing her name to Scarlet Crowley and fleeing to Harkness College where she hopes no one will recognize her. Her senior year in high school was awful. She became an outcast, despite being a well recruited, extremely talented hockey player. She lost friends, and her position on the squad. Now, she just wants to start over.
She arrives at college, immediately informs the hockey coach that she can’t play for her, and tries to get on with her life. She enrolls in a Stats class and meets Bridger McCauley. He’s gorgeous, a former hockey player and seems really friendly. Bridger also has a secret. Since his dad’s death, his mother has become an addict. The last time he was home, he found drug paraphernalia on the dining room table, and he promptly removed his seven year old sister, Lucy from the home. He’s been hiding her in his dorm room ever since. He has no family in the area and is unwilling to tell his secret to anyone. He knows his best friend Adam’s mom would take Lucy in, but she’s just started college (the first thing she’s really ever done just for herself) and he doesn’t want to impose upon her generosity and kindness. No, he’s determined he’ll care for Lucy. She’s his responsibility. But he knows that if Social Services finds out about his mom or that he has Lucy, they’ll remove her from his care. He’s bound and determined that won’t happen.
Bridger catches Scarlet staring at him in Stats class. They strike up a cautious friendship, with him offering to help her with Stats and her offering to help him through Music Theory. They’re absolutely attracted to each other, but neither can take that next step because of their secrets. But the more time they spend together, the more tempting they become to each other. Once they finally do act on that attraction, they want nothing more than to be with each other, but Bridger really can’t build a life outside of caring for Lucy and Scarlet is terrified of her secret coming out. When Bridger finally confesses to Scarlet what is going on, she’s touched and impressed with his deep and abiding love for his sister and she begins to help them. But she knows the longer she’s with Bridger, the more likely he is to find out her secret. And she knows that if it comes out, she could risk both losing him, and negatively impacting whether he can keep custody of Lucy. But when Scarlet’s father’s attorneys and the States Attorney begin chasing down Scarlet to testify, she knows her secret will come out. Will the fragile relationship she and Bridger have been building be strong enough to withstand the storm?
I’ve been reading New Adult books for a while now, and so many of them are filled with what I’d call “pseudo-angst” or angst that feels manufactured, rather than a genuine plot point that propels the story forward. But both Scarlet and Bridger had true issues. Tough ones that informed their priorities and provide a true tension to their love story. I felt like the story had a few loose threads that I’d have liked to see you build upon, most specifically Scarlet’s love for music, which seemed so big at the beginning of the story and then was somewhat left by the wayside once the action began. But overall, the story is extremely well plotted. The characters both grow and change throughout, and it’s got a really fascinating hook to it. As usual, Jane was right. The Year We Hid Away was right up my alley and definitely one of a few New Adult books that I’ve read recently that truly resonates. Final grade: B+
Kind regards,
Kati
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I didn’t like this quite as much as The Year We Fell Down – there was a bit too much melodrama for my taste and Bowen overdid it with nasty people involved in Scarlet’s father’s legal defense. Also, the ending was once again a bit too neat. But despite these issues, I’d recommend it too – Bowen really is one of the better NA authors around.
How would someone get Bridger as a given name? I was sure it would turn out to be a nickname.
I love in general the angst in NA novels, but the molesting topic is a bit too icky for me.
Is the father really guilty of it? I hate reading depictions of sexual abuse, especially when it’s of children.
Please spoil it for me.
@Junne: There are NO depictions of sexual abuse in the book. It’s already unfolded and the family is pretty much being held captive in their home (at the beginning of the book) by the media frenzy surrounding her father’s scandal.
But there is no depiction of sexual abuse in the book.
Lovely review, Kati. I have thoroughly enjoyed Bowen’s Ivy series. I enjoyed both books though I think I liked this one a little more. The more serous tone, subject matter, and the characterization of the h/H worked well for me.
Have you read Blonde Date? So so cute.
Thanks for this great review. My first thought was that she used the Sandusky/Penn State scandal as her starting point – a coach who has access to young boys and abuses them and the subsequent public fallout to the family when it all comes out – even if there was no abuse within the family.
I don’t generally read NA but these reviews and recommendations are beginning to convince me to give this author a try.
@Junne: To expand on what Kati said – there’s very little in the book about the actual abuse. None of the alleged victims are shown on page at all. And you asked if he really did it – here’s the spoiler:
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Her father is guilty, although we don’t find that out until the end of the book. He didn’t abuse Scarlet. She had no idea before the story broke and spends most of the book thinking that he’s very likely guilty (because the evidence in the news is so damning) but feeling confused about it and like she should have known. The father is almost completely off page – we see him briefly interact with Scarlet maybe once, when he’s completely broken – he’s not portrayed in a sympathetic way at all.
@Joanna: I did see some similarities with the Sandusky case and I doubt that Bowen was unaware of this – Scarlet’s father is, after all, a sports figure who used his position and his charitable foundation to prey on boys. But as others have noted, the abuse is mostly off the page and Scarlet’s father is not portrayed sympathetically.
Oh lordy I loved this book like chocolate cake and chocolate buttercream icing. I liked it even better than The Year We Fell Down. I am just squee-ing all over the place about it. Can’t help it.
What’s with the cover? Is he deformed? Some bad photo shopping going on there, or are their odd-chested aliens in the book?
So, I’m officially addicted to this series. I bought The Year We Fell Down a few days ago, after Jane’s deals post – and then I inhaled the entire Ivy Years series. I’m impatiently waiting for the next release – first time in a while that I’ve been excited about a new release.
The Year We Hid Away was a little too melodramatic for me. I’m not a big fan of stories where the MCs make their problems more difficult by refusing to ask for help, so Bridger kind of drove me nuts. And the resolution to his situation seemed a little neat and tidy (and wow, what a display of tapping into Ivy League privilege). I think someone in another DA thread (Susan maybe?) said all of these books seemed a little optimistic and fairy tale like – and I agree with that. For the most part, I can go with it while I’m reading them, because I like all of the characters and I want them to get their fairy tale ending. But after three books in a row, it does seem a bit too neat and rosy.
Even though I think I liked TYWFD better, I did like the romance better in TYWHA – it felt more even. I liked that both Bridger and Scarlet seemed equally developed as characters – my biggest frustration with TYWFD was that Hartley didn’t seem like a fully realized character compared to Corey. And I still think Hartley needed to apologize more.
@SAO: OMG, the torso on this cover. I like the overall look of the covers in this series – I like that the series looks like a series and I think the colors are eye catching. But that torso is disturbing. Bridger is supposed to be a hot athlete, not an alien.