Review: Exposure by Therese Fowler

Book: Exposure by Therese Fowler
Pages:  381
Genre: Fiction / Young Adult
Buy A Copy: Barnes & Noble / Amazon
Available Formats: Hardcover / Ebook
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Publication Date: May 3rd, 2011
How Did I Get This Book:  For Review, From Publisher
Description: In Exposure, Therese Fowler has written her most gripping novel to date—a ripped-from-the-headlines story of ardent young love and a nightmarish legal maelstrom that threatens to destroy two families.Amelia Wilkes’s strict father does not allow her to date, but that doesn’t stop the talented, winsome high school senior from carrying on a secret romance with her classmate Anthony Winter. Desperately in love, the two envision a life together and plan to tell Amelia’s parents only after she turns eighteen and is legally an adult. Anthony’s mother, Kim, who teaches at their school, knows—and keeps—their secret. But the couple’s passion is exposed sooner than planned: Amelia’s father, Harlan, is shocked and infuriated to find naked pictures of Anthony on his daughter’s computer. Just hours later, Anthony is arrested.

Despite Amelia’s frantic protests, Harlan uses his wealth and influence with local law enforcement and the media to label Anthony a deviant who preyed on his innocent daughter. Spearheaded by a zealous prosecutor anxious to turn the case into a public crusade against “sexting,” the investigation soon takes an even more disturbing and destructive turn.

As events spiral wildly out of control and the scandalous story makes national news, Amelia and Anthony risk everything in a bold and dangerous attempt to clear their names and end the madness once and for all.

A captivating page-turner, Therese Fowler’s Exposure is also a deftly crafted, provocative, and timely novel that serves as a haunting reminder of the consequences of love in the modern age.

Exposure by Therese Fowler is a boldly captivating, riveting and at times, haunting story of young love that is distorted and misinterpreted by outside forces. What makes Exposure a standout novel is the fact that the characters are so utterly real. I think that everyone can relate to these teenagers because everyone knows an Amelia and an Anthony. You can truly connect with the story, because you can get inside it. You feel a kinship with these teens, because they have such honesty in them.

The story definitely has elements of heartbreak, especially in the way that the relationship between Amelia and Anthony is skewed and formed into something else by her father. As you read the passages narrated by the young adults, a vision of a all-consuming, genuine first love. When you see it from the fathers eyes and see what he tries to portray their relationship as – well it stirs up quite a reaction. Therein lies the gold-mine of Exposure – strong reactions and difficult emotions.

Fowler expertly plays up these heightened feelings and forces readers to take notice of this difficult subject matter. She beautifully crafts this complicated tale of a young love that is cast in different lights depending on the viewer. Fowler throws many difficult questions at the reader and forces you to feel. This, I think is the mark of a wonderful book -something that pushes the boundaries, something that takes hold of you and puts you through a riveting emotional ride. 

The writing is superb, the storyline is captivating and the characters are honest. Honestly, I do not know what else you could ask for. Exposure is one of those rare novels that quickly grabs hold of you and never really lets go. If you enjoy challenging storylines that not only encourage thinking, but demand it – then Exposure is the book for you. 

Favorite Quotes

"He, with his luxurious hair, his full lips, his quick wit, his quiet assurance, was her savior. He'd made her believe not only that she should claim her future for herself when the time came, but that she truly would. Her father did not own her. No man did. Whatever she would do, wherever she would go, it would be all on her terms."

"Loss creates a hole, true, but it also opens space to be filled anew."

"...but she had never loved a man with wholehearted abandon, with the rapturous blindness that seems possible for only the young. No one had ever adored her without reserve, planned his life so that it would braid with hers, not simply coexist."

"Amelia did things to him, to his brain, to his heart, that no girl had ever done before. She could make him dizzy, literally, just by standing close enough for him to smell her."