An edgy, sexy USA TODAY bestseller about falling for the one person you can’t have. Maise O’Malley just turned eighteen, but she’s felt like a grown-up her entire life. The summer before senior year, she has plans: get into a great film school, convince her mom to go into rehab, and absolutely do not, under any circumstances, screw up her own future. But life has a way of throwing her plans … has a way of throwing her plans into free-fall.
When Maise meets Evan at a carnival one night, their chemistry is immediate, intense, and short-lived. Which is exactly how she likes it: no strings. But afterward, she can’t get Evan out of her head. He’s taught her that a hookup can be something more. It can be an unexpected connection with someone who truly understands her. Someone who sees beyond her bravado to the scared but strong girl inside.
That someone turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke.
Maise and Evan resolve to keep their hands off each other, but the attraction is too much to bear. Together, they’re real and genuine; apart, they’re just actors playing their parts for everyone else. And their masks are slipping. People start to notice. Rumors fly. When the truth comes to light in a shocking way, they may learn they were just playing parts for each other, too.
Smart, sexy, and provocative, Unteachable is about what happens when a love story goes off-script.
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Rating:
Genre: Contemporary Romance + New Adult
This is the story of eighteen-year-old Maise O’Malley who is a high school student. Because of her circumstances and her life with an addicted mother and a father whom she never saw, she always lived like she was a grown-up woman. Having affairs with older men is something not new for her. But one night she meets this man in his thirties at a carnival and things get intense between them. The man later turns out to be her new film class teacher, Mr. Evan Wilke. The relationship between the two will have lots of ups and downs. They will do their best to continue and keep it a secret. But there is the society and other people in their lives who will never accept this forbidden teacher and student love if they find out. They both knew that very well.
“…You should love something while you have it, love it fully and without reservation, even if you know you’ll lose it someday. We lose everything. If you’re trying to avoid loss, there’s no point in taking another breath or letting your heartbeat one more time. It all ends.” His fingers curl around mine. “That’s all life is. Breathing in, breathing out. The space between two breaths.”
This is one of those romantic stories that have many sex scenes between the two main characters, so if that makes you uncomfortable this might not be the right book for you. The story tackles many subjects, forbidden love, age gap, substance addiction, obsession, and friendship. What I liked a lot about Leah Raeder’s writing is that it is relevant in so many ways. This is definitely not those brainless romantic stories that you will have fun with and as soon as it is over you forget about them. This story will make you think and question many things. To be honest, I did not expect it to do that or to be that intense. The chemistry and the love story between the two characters were so strong. Yes, there was a lot of lust but it was very obvious that the two were very much in love with each other.
The book is filled with awesome quotes that made the reading very interesting. The character development was solid. Sometimes the pace of the story became slow and events did not move in the same consistency, but still, that was not a major issue. I love how the story started on a rollercoaster ride and how it ended on a plane! The whole book felt like a rollercoaster ride. With you, as a reader enjoying all the ups and downs in the characters’ relationship just like the ups and downs of a rollercoaster ride!
I read this book because I wanted to write a “forbidden romance” and wanted a good example. I ended up thoroughly enjoying this book for its own sake. It is about a young, bright eighteen year old who has a torrid encounter with an older man two weeks before starting her senior year in high school, only to realize two weeks later that he is her new film teacher. This is a shock to both of them, and the book is how their relationship develops against all odds. The writing is gorgeous and, despite the subject matter, the story is not creepy at all. Just two people meant for each other with one big giant obstacle in the way. Highly recommended for anyone who enjoys romance.
Even if I hated this book, I’d still love it for the writing style. MY GOD this guy is a good writer. I don’t know where he disappeared to but I hope he’s somewhere writing and making movies because he seems to have a passion for it.
As the author writes in the acknowledgments, quote: “Writing is easy,” said someone far wiser than me. “You just open a vein and bleed.”
This story has an ominous quality to it—misty and mysterious and dangerous. It felt like I was viewing it through a gauzy curtain or a drug induced haze. There was lots of color in the author’s descriptions, but the movie in my head kept reverting to black and white like film noir.
I loved this story. It’s all about black and white and the many, many shades of gray in between. It’s about ethics and morality. When is it ok to not be yourself? When is it ok to do what you feel is wrong? When is it ok to betray those you love? When is it ok to give up? These main characters are spectacularly screwed up, yet despite their age difference, in terms of maturity they are a match. But Maise represents the aspirational, and Evan represents the jaded crushed spirit. Maise still has hope for the future and Evan wants her to have it even though he believes he’s blown it for himself. Their future as a couple is surely in doubt. They are the HEA that isn’t.
I can’t recall reading any romance stories that I can call a piece of art, that stimulate thought on so many levels—from the cosmic to the philosophical to the mundane. It’s the kind of story that you will want to read more than once to gain a fuller understanding. I know this story will stick with me for a very long time. I suppose it’s not for everybody, but for me it was over and above most other books I’ve read.