So Much It Hurts

August 12, 2013
Seventeen-year-old Iris Wagner loves pretending to be someone else on stage. When a 31-year-old theater director from Australia visits her Toronto high school and expresses an interest in her acting talents—and in Iris herself—she is swept into an intense sexual relationship. Initially, Mick is romantic and nurturing, even encouraging her to reconnect with her estranged father. But Polak (Miracleville) doesn’t conceal his controling tendencies for long. Iris goes from swooning over her older boyfriend to desperately rationalizing his erratic behavior: “Mick gets upset because he cares so much—too much, maybe. I could never be with someone who wasn’t passionate and creative or who didn’t care too much. Even if that someone never lost his temper or raised his voice or put his fist through a wall.” Though the patterns of Mick’s psychological and physical abuse of Iris are formulaic, Polak gives him enough sympathetic qualities to render Iris’s submissiveness believable. Readers will acknowledge Mick’s volatility long before Iris’s denial lifts, while recognizing how the desire to love and be loved can so easily turn self-defeating. Ages 12–up.

August 15, 2013
A teenage thespian becomes romantically involved with her abusive adult acting coach in this straightforward cautionary tale. Seventeen-year-old Iris is introduced to 31-year-old theater director Mick Horton by her drama teacher during a high school production of Hamlet. Iris, who is playing Ophelia, swoons under Mick's intense attentions and is soon drawn into a sexual relationship with him. At first, Iris enjoys Mick's protective manner: "Mick's not bossy. He's old-fashioned and romantic. He likes to take charge, and I like how that feels." But she begins to question the relationship after Mick gets angry and punches a wall--and then her. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Iris's largely absentee father has recently contacted her on Facebook, and she is telling lie after lie to her mother and friends to cover up her secret liaisons with both men. Iris finally ends the affair after her concerned friends and family stage an intervention, and Mick moves to Australia. The provocative, linear storyline, simple dialogue and textbook development of a typical abusive relationship make this an ideal title for teens who don't consider themselves readers. Those looking for a more complex depiction of dating violence should try Sarah Dessen's Dreamland (2000) or Chris Lynch's Inexcusable (2005). Best for bibliotherapy. (Fiction. 12-15)

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December 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-Iris Wagner's life changes in a big way when she meets famed director Mick Horton, who assists her high school theater workshop. Under his tutelage, the 17-year-old imagines herself becoming Hamlet's Ophelia. The praise and attention from Mick make Iris feel special and soon she finds herself spending all her free time with the much older, possessive man. Her emerging sexuality, vulnerability, and willingness to please allow Mick to keep her under his control. He woos her with romantic dinners and wine. This unequal relationship quickly develops into an abusive one, and Iris struggles to escape Mick's anger. Readers familiar with Shakespeare's Hamlet will be intrigued by plot parallels, and other readers will simply enjoy the story. Polak dedicates the novel to "all the young women who see themselves in Iris, and for the people who love them and want to know them better."-Lisa Gieskes, Richland County Public Library, Columbia, SC

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 15, 2013
Grades 9-12 Seventeen-year-old Iris believes her life has finally begun when she starts dating hot Australian director Mick Horton. So what if he is 31 and insists on keeping her a secret? His attention makes Iris feel like a sophisticated, talented, beautiful womanthough readers will quickly spot the warning signs of a textbook abusive relationship. While Mick showers Iris with gifts and fairy-tale excursions and encourages her acting career, he also easily dominates the passive teen who believes he knows all about everything. When his volatile temper becomes physical, Iris blames herself until an intervention from friends and family allows her to admit her dissatisfaction with her lonely, fearful life. Parallels between Iris and Hamlet's Ophelia, a role she is playing in her high school's production, are telling, and Polak does a credible job portraying Iris as a smart girl who nevertheless finds herself submitting to increasingly vile behavior. This undemanding problem novel may be more after-school special than riveting drama, but its positive outcome should give heart to those who need it.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)