Alex feels that her boyfriend Cole is the only one who loves and understands her. So she forgives his occasional aggressive actions: being rude to her best friends, squeezing her wrist too tightly. As these incidents become increasingly violent, Alex finally accepts that she's being abused. Brown deftly captures the complexities of enduring--and escaping--domestic violence in this sensitive novel. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Haunted by the death of her mother many years earlier in a car accident, Alex has long dreamed of visiting the Colorado mountains that were her mother's destination. Alex and BFFs Bethany and Zack are gearing up for a cross-country road trip to Colorado as a graduation present when Alex falls for Cole, a new senior who seems to understand her in ways no one has before-and who is prone to violent rages. As in The Hate List, Brown demonstrates an expert ability to handle difficult subject matter. Cole's brutal abuse and manipulations, Alex's inability to disclose her battering (and her willingness to make excuses for Cole), and Bethany and Zack's frustration and fear all feel entirely authentic. The book's power-and its value-comes from the honest portrayal of characters who simply can't figure out how to bring an ugly, evident truth to light. Brown's deliberate pacing and the gradual unveiling of Cole's nature make the story, and Cole and Alex's relationship, feel akin to a train gathering momentum, one whose destruction is as assured as it is tragic. Ages 15-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Two young adult novels explore abusive dating relationships. THE purpose of young adult literature is often twofold: to tell a story, and to send a message, usually in the form of a much-needed lesson. This leaves parents alternately reassured ("The more cautionary tales about suicide, anorexia, drinking and cutting, the better ... ) and bewildered ("Why are there all these grim and gritty books? Doesn't anyone read 'Anne of Green Gables' anymore?"). When today's parents were themselves young adults, they were readsing books about adolescents but written for grown-ups ("The Bell Jar," "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings," "Go Ask Alice"). The books their children are reading, though, don't even pretend to appeal to grown-ups - which is, of course, part of their appeal. Two new novels for young women, "Bitter End" by Jennifer Brown (author of "Hate List," an acclaimed 2009 novel that took on school shootings) and "Stay," by Deb Caletti, do better than many in combining the requirements. But offering a lesson to teenagers is less graceful, less subtle, than conveying an idea or theme, and these books can feel like after-school specials. Where "Bitter End" and "Stay" fall short is more a reflection of the pitfalls of the genre than the talents of their authors. The lesson in both books - that dating violence is real and dangerous - is worth teaching. Nearly one-quarter of teenage girls report verbal abuse from their boyfriends, and nearly one in five have been threatened with violence if they try to break things off. Some 24 percent of teenagers say they know at least one peer who has been the victim of dating abuse. Neither Brown nor Caletti hits readers with such statistics, but they do take pains to make their portrayals of abuser and victim fit the established profile. In "Stay," Christian, the young man who will come to manipulate and dominate Clara, a high school senior, shows signs of trouble from the start. When Clara wears a low-cut T-shirt on their first date and Christian says, "You must have guys following you all over school, wearing that," she takes it as a compliment but will look back on it as a warning: "that moment in the fairy tale when we know what just happened but the princess doesn't." And in "Bitter End," Cole, the guy who will soon turn dangerously possessive of Alexandra, also a senior in high school, has done the same before. Both Clara and Alexandra are surprised that such desirable young men could be interested in them, and ignore protests from friends and family that their new loves are too controlling. When the relationships turn violent, both women blame themselves and believe their partners' promises that the abuse will never happen again. These are novels, however, not textbooks, and the authors wrap their research in dramatic story. Caletti has the lighter touch, giving "Stay" a summer-breeze, beach-read feel, as her distressed damsel flees to a remote island, finding new romance and uncovering family secrets. It is by far the better of the two. Brown's vision is harsher, more menacing and, arguably, more realistic. Realism, though, is a relative term, and while both books aim to illuminate a real problem, neither rings convincingly true. Both "Stay" and "Bitter End" are weighed down by preachy riffs, plodding dialogue and characters who can feel more like profiles than individuals. Moreover, the need to tell a good story gets in the way of the message. The central lesson of the conversation on dating violence, experts say, should be that abuse can happen to anyone, and that no one deserves it when it happens to them. But what these books teach is that victims have mothers who died when they were young (Y.A. novelists, like Disney storyboarders, like to kill off mothers) and fathers who harbor painful secrets. Oh, and once you shake off your stalker, new love is patiently waiting in the wings. Any girl who needs guidance navigating a threatening relationship will probably not find it here. But this assumes teenagers are more interested in morals than in sex and drama; if that's not so, the muddiness of the message matters less than the mediocrity of the tale. Lisa Belkin writes the Motherlode blog for NYTimes.com and is a contributing writer at The Times Magazine.

Gr 9 Up-Alex is looking for something real-more real than her distant father, who never speaks in complete sentences, more real than the faded memories of her mother, who died on the night she was leaving her family, even more real than her two best friends and their plan for a graduation trip to Colorado. She thinks she has found what she has been looking for in Cole, the new boy at school whom she has been assigned to tutor. Alex is flattered when he shows interest in her, and he rapidly becomes her entire world. As she tries to balance her friends and Cole, her life begins to unravel. Bethany and Zack do not like Cole, and he does not want to share her. His increasing jealousy leads to escalating abuse, both physical and verbal. Her friends and coworkers know something is wrong, but Alex covers for him because she loves him and believes him when he says that he is going to change. When a former girlfriend comes to talk to her about Cole's abuse of her and others, and tells her that he and his family moved because of her lawsuit against him, Alex finally admits that her boyfriend is an abuser. That night he is waiting at her car after work and beats her until she is certain she is going to die. Thanks to the intervention of her boss she survives and begins the long road to recovery. Gritty and disturbing, this novel should be in all collections serving teens. It could be used in programs about abuse, as well as in psychology or sociology classes.-Suanne Roush, Osceola High School, Seminole, FL (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

When Alex and new-guy Cole hit it off during their tutoring sessions, Alex can't believe her good fortune. Not only is Cole sweet, gorgeous, and fun but he knows exactly how to make her feel special. He wants to be where she is, even watching her while she works at the Bread Bowl. He cares enough to be jealous of her best friends, Zack and Bethany, especially Zack. He is certainly different from her still grieving, emotionless father! Many readers will spot Cole's ultimately abusive tendencies early on, but Bitter End is rarely didactic, and Brown draws on her professional psychology background to create a nuanced novel that will help young readers explore not only why women allow themselves to be abused but how love factors into their inertia in seeking help. Brown creates multifaceted characters as well as realistic, insightful descriptions of Alex's emotions, and readers will empathize with Alex's terrifying decision to cut all ties before Cole harms her further. A tough but important addition to the YA romance shelves.--Bradburn, France. Copyright 2010 Booklist

Hate List, 2009) tackles another taboo but much-discussed topic with authority and authenticity, and she doesn't let her victim completely off the hook. Every time Cole crosses a linephysically or verballyreaders will root for Alex to break up with him. They will read on with disappointment and sympathy as she forgives him again and again before finally breaking up with him after an especially violent confrontation. It's a little cheap to write a motherless girl, desperate to be lavished with affection, as the victim here, as if only a girl with deep-seated emotional problems would get sucked into an abusive relationship. Still, readers will be enthralled, horrified and ultimately relieved when Alex gets the mostly happy ending she deserves. (Fiction. YA)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.