MY EYES ONLY by Judith Otto

MY EYES ONLY
JUDITH OTTO
Young Adult Adventure Romance
Whiskey Creek Press
ISBN# 978-1-59374-129-7
190 pages
Price: N/A (ARC)
eBook - Available October 2007

Rating: 5 Enchantments

Mandy Rossiter is a on the point of taking a giant leap into the unknown world of adolescence. The era is the 1950s.

Her story starts with the gift of a diary from her best friend, Sally. From this point on, she’ll record everything that happens to her, from the trivial to the important. And also, she’ll put her secrets in the diary, secrets even Sally won’t know of.

As Mandy embarks on her journey, the world is changing around her. Her friends are wearing makeup, trousers, and going out with boys. Mandy’s parents are old fashioned and forbid her from doing all this.

Yet, Mandy has discovered the fascination which boys present to adolescent girls. There is the older, stovepipe-wearing, slicked back hair and dressed-in-black guy she meets while on vacation, who gives her her first real kiss. Then back home, there is sweet and handsome Gary, who wants her as his steady girlfriend. Then there is Roger, the bad boy spelling trouble.
There is the journey of discovery, complete with the lure of adventure and the thrilling temptation of seduction... It is also a time of love, sweet kisses, and betrayal.

While I will admit that at the start of the book I wasn’t too keen on this story, I cannot recall where Mandy Rossiter pulled me into her world and made me want to stay there. Ms. Otto writes in a poignant way which makes the reader feel Mandy as if she was there and the reader was her best friend. The reader is taken along this journey, and sometimes is terribly frustrated to be only a silent observer, wanting at times to laugh with Mandy, bash her on the head when she is about to do something stupid, and cry with her when her life goes hay wire.

Mandy’s story is one any woman can relate to, because we’ve all been there at one point, be it in different eras or decades. At heart, Mandy is the girl in us.

Thanks Ms. Otto for having caught this elusive essence of growing up in this book.


Zee
Enchanting Reviews
October 2007