Criminal

Starred review from April 8, 2013
Like McVoy’s previous books, a romance is central to this hard-hitting story, but the author’s fans may be surprised by just how toxic that relationship is. Readers are immediately plunged into the world of trouble that Nikki, 18, and her 20-year-old boyfriend, Dee, are in as they fabricate an alibi following Dee’s murder of a local deputy. Nikki’s unstable home life (her mother is an abusive drug addict) drove her to drop out of school to work at a hair salon, move in with single mother Bird (Nikki’s only real friend), and bury herself in an intensely sexual and unhealthy relationship with Dee. Nikki gets a rude awakening when the police close in, and Dee turns on her, leaving her alone and facing painful decisions. It’s a dark, devastating, and realistic portrait of a girl in over her head in more ways than one. What McVoy (Being Friends with Boys) gets so powerfully right in this novel is the way that love can descend like a fog, impairing one’s judgment and obscuring the truth. Ages 14–up.

April 1, 2013
Nikki would do anything for her boyfriend, Dee. But, when he talks her into committing a crime with him then leaves her to take the fall, Nikki begins to think that even true love has its limits. Even though all of her friends tell her that Dee is trouble, Nikki cannot seem to pull away from her moody and sometimes violent boyfriend. Nikki's stepfather is in jail, her mother is strung out on drugs, and her grandmother is dead. Only her friend Bird, with whom she lives, offers any real stability. Unfortunately, Bird hates Dee, forcing Nikki to choose. Even after the police reveal that Dee's "N" tattoo might actually be for another girl and Nikki is imprisoned, she defends her troubled boyfriend. Graphic sex, violence and foul language, while appropriate to the circumstances, overwhelm the tale. Even though it is clear that Nikki is lost in her own addiction--to Dee, not drugs--her continued reluctance to see Dee for what he is becomes wearisome. McVoy's story of abuse and addiction lacks the subtlety and depth that this difficult topic demands. Readers who make it all the way through the story will be grateful their incarceration is finally ended. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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July 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-Nikki's love for Dee is unconditional. She needs him and she knows, deep down in her heart, that he loves and needs her, no matter what her friends think or how he might sometimes act. And because he loves her when nobody else does, she is willing to do anything for him. Little does Nikki know how far down a criminal path that commitment will ultimately take her, implicating her in a murder that leads to prison. Told by Nikki, Criminal is not an easy book to read. The protagonist is very complex; desperate to be loved and needed, she is almost totally reliant on the affirmation of those around her. It is her search for self and freedom and finally redemption that readers will invest in. While they may not necessarily agree with her, they can certainly see and, on some level, understand why she does what she does. The story moves quickly and the characterization is particularly strong. McVoy's interpretation of life in the county lockup rings true but is definitely counter to stereotype. It is refreshing to see the bond that develops between Nikki and her fellow inmates. This is a book for any teens who might consider themselves lost and desperate for love and belonging.-Erik Knapp, Davis Library, Plano, TX

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