Book Review: Streamline by Jennifer Lane

Title: Streamline
Author: Jennifer Lane
Publisher: Omnific Publishing
Published On: March 27, 2012
Source: from author (for review)

Seems like Leo Scott has it all: looks, brains, and athletic talent. He's captain of his high school swim team with a bright future in college and beyond. But Leo has secrets. His mother's crippling car accident has devastated his family and left Leo to deal with his father's abuse, battered and alone. 
Leo's girlfriend Audrey Rose is poised for her own share of success. As one of Florida's top high school swimmers, Audrey dreams of college swimming stardom. But there's an obstacle to her glorious rise to the top. Her number-one supporter-her father-is in prison for murder. 
Part murder mystery, part tale of young love in a military family, this gripping story takes readers on a journey from Pensacola to Annapolis. Leo and Audrey must band together to rise above the adversity they encounter and find their true selves in the process. When everything's on the line . . . streamline. (image & summary from goodreads)

My Thoughts:

     The issues discussed in the novel are really deep and heavy, even I as a reader felt like I underwent the emotional roller coaster the characters experienced. It’s definitely not your regular YA contemporary romance. Well, it’s not really purely romance. As the summary said it’s part murder mystery, part young love tale in a military family. It certainly is a thought-provoking and enlightening novel.
   
     I for one, have no idea, anything, with swimming. Though I did not understand some of the things that the characters were talking about swimming- the scoring, etc, but I was still able to caught on on the story. Technically, the novel was a bit long and due to the heavy issues, I had to read another book then go back to it, or else I’ll probably be carried away by the awful storm the characters were going through. Otherwise, the writing was good.
   
     Indeed, all sorts of abuse were mentioned in the novel. Drug abuse, alcohol abuse, as well as physical and emotional abuse. Everyone of us experienced different sorts of abuses in our lives. Whether it be small or big, and just reading this story overwhelmed me. I can’t help but comment “Oh, boy! The three families sure got all the drama!”. Though the characters were not financially inadequate, but there were certainly lots of heavy emotional baggage they carried. I learned at the end of my reading that unaddressed issues in our lives tend to resurface in our lives, even to our lowliest moments of our lives. Also, they cause a lot of other problems, example? The life of James (Leo’s father).
   
I love the relationship between Leo and Audrey. Though they made a mess of a lot of things, and they are individually imperfect, and this is just fiction. But I felt the genuineness of their love. It was real. The other supporting characters each had their own story to tell, and together, as one book, this novel sure did made an impact. And at the end of reading the novel, I learned that the author was a psychologist. And I was like “So that’s why she knew a lot about these stuffs.” Makes sense.

    Streamline, told from different perspectives, but one story. You will laugh, cry and learn a lot from it. No wonder, I’ve read lots of good things about it.