"A compassionate story about confronting and overcoming your demons." —Vice
"An honest, emotional, funny, romantic, dark, hopeful, musical gem of a novel. I know that's a lot of adjectives, but it'd be a disservice to leave any out." —Adi Alsaid, author of Let's Get Lost and Never Always Sometimes
"The Temptation of Adam is the sort of novel you finish and immediately wish you could read again for the first time. It’s profound without being preachy, funny without pandering, and thoughtful in a way that few debut novels manage. Dave Connis is a writer to watch." —Bryan Bliss, author of Meet Me Here
On the surface, The Temptation of Adam is the story of a teenaged boy with *teenage-boy* problems, but the true brilliance of this novel lies in the way it uses heartache, humor, and music to reveal LOVE as both Healer-of-Wounds and Kick-in-the-Pants toward greatness. Highly recommend." —Nic Stone, author of Dear Martin
"Dave Connis's The Temptation of Adam confronts a difficult topic with honesty, humor, and heart. The friendships and love that form amongst the misfit cast of teens trying to overcome addiction are an important reminder of our power to destroy or give hope to those tangled in our messy lives."—Randy Ribay, author of An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes
"Connis emphasizes the importance of battling addiction with transparency, communication, and self-forgiveness. While the teens find support in one another, their recovery also relies on their relationships with adults who help them to set boundaries and goals. Impressively, this novel rarely feels preachy. Despite the main character’s obsession with pornography, there is very little graphic sexual content, and the teens’ dangerous activities, including drug and alcohol use and cutting, are never glorified. . . . VERDICT This debut may ultimately get lost among the multitude of recent books about teens with mental health issues, but its positive messages will make a worthwhile addition to most teen collections." —School Library Journal
"A compassionate story about confronting and overcoming your demons." —Vice
"An honest, emotional, funny, romantic, dark, hopeful, musical gem of a novel. I know that's a lot of adjectives, but it'd be a disservice to leave any out." —Adi Alsaid, author of Let's Get Lost and Never Always Sometimes
"The Temptation of Adam is the sort of novel you finish and immediately wish you could read again for the first time. It’s profound without being preachy, funny without pandering, and thoughtful in a way that few debut novels manage. Dave Connis is a writer to watch." —Bryan Bliss, author of Meet Me Here
On the surface, The Temptation of Adam is the story of a teenaged boy with *teenage-boy* problems, but the true brilliance of this novel lies in the way it uses heartache, humor, and music to reveal LOVE as both Healer-of-Wounds and Kick-in-the-Pants toward greatness. Highly recommend." —Nic Stone, author of Dear Martin
"Dave Connis's The Temptation of Adam confronts a difficult topic with honesty, humor, and heart. The friendships and love that form amongst the misfit cast of teens trying to overcome addiction are an important reminder of our power to destroy or give hope to those tangled in our messy lives."—Randy Ribay, author of An Infinite Number of Parallel Universes
"Connis emphasizes the importance of battling addiction with transparency, communication, and self-forgiveness. While the teens find support in one another, their recovery also relies on their relationships with adults who help them to set boundaries and goals. Impressively, this novel rarely feels preachy. Despite the main character’s obsession with pornography, there is very little graphic sexual content, and the teens’ dangerous activities, including drug and alcohol use and cutting, are never glorified. . . . VERDICT This debut may ultimately get lost among the multitude of recent books about teens with mental health issues, but its positive messages will make a worthwhile addition to most teen collections." —School Library Journal
11/01/2017
Gr 9 Up—Ever since his parents' divorce, 16-year-old Adam has struggled with feelings of abandonment, trust issues, and an addiction to pornography. In his junior year, he hits rock bottom and finds himself in trouble at school. As an alternative to expulsion, he agrees to participate in a type of character-building and rehabilitation program with a support group of other teen addicts. He gradually begins to build bonds with the other teens, including a beautiful (manic pixie dream) girl named Dez who is, in her own words, "addicted to being addicted." She tells Adam that she will not date him because she doesn't believe two addicts can have a healthy relationship, which leads Adam to finally face his addiction head-on. Connis emphasizes the importance of battling addiction with transparency, communication, and self-forgiveness. While the teens find support in one another, their recovery also relies on their relationships with adults who help them to set boundaries and goals. Impressively, this novel rarely feels preachy. Despite the main character's obsession with pornography, there is very little graphic sexual content, and the teens' dangerous activities, including drug and alcohol use and cutting, are never glorified. The overall tone is fairly maudlin, which will likely appeal to some teens and feel off-putting to others. VERDICT This debut may ultimately get lost among the multitude of recent books about teens with mental health issues, but its positive messages will make a worthwhile addition to most teen collections.—Liz Overberg, Zionsville Community High School, IN
2017-08-27
A coming-of-age story told through the lenses of pornography addiction, music, and romance. While the medical community still debates pornography addiction, books on the topic should offer nuanced, through-provoking, and interesting vantage points to allow readers to consider (and possibly challenge) their perspectives. Alas, this book does not. Readers meet Adam Hawthorne, a white high school student whose addiction to pornography is almost as strong as Connis' fondness for grandiose and cumbersome dialogue. A school-based MacGuffin forces Adam to meet weekly with a platitude-spouting music producer-turned-chemistry teacher with a drug- and alcohol-fueled past who saves Adam from expulsion by forcing him to attend a public addiction group and to meet with a group of students who all are caught up in their own destructive addictions. Adam also meets the white and infinitely sexy Desiree "Dez" Coulter, a self-proclaimed addict to addiction. When one of the students falls victim to his demons, Adam must re-examine his life and attempt to move forward as a recovering addict. Separately, Adam's melodramatic eccentricities are not wholly out of line with the teenage ego, but when assembled, they create a disingenuous character. The secondary characters seem little more than sketches with a few capricious quirks, while the character of Dez and her "addicted to addiction" storyline offer little insight or support for readers considering their own dependencies. Readers looking for addiction fiction would be better served elsewhere. (Fiction. 14-18)
