Wasserman, Robin, (2005). Lust (Seven Deadly Sins). New York: Simon Pulse. ISBN:068987782X. 229 pages.

Summary and Evaluation: Sex, drugs, and a little bit of rock and roll. This book has all of that. Set in the humdrum town of Grace, California, six high school seniors vie for the "Behaving Badly" award. Harper Grace (related to the founders of the town) is the alpha girl in town who's set her sights on her childhood friend Adam. Trouble is, Adam's already taken by the good-girl and overachiever Beth. And when he's not with her, he's dreaming of the new girl Kaia. Funny how when things get rocky between Adam and Beth, because she's not ready to have sex, Kaia is right there. Kaia's really after the new French teacher who is much more interested in Beth. Strangely, Kaia and Beth seem to have a thing for the same men. When Harper isn't pining for Adam she's cutting class to drink and smoke with her best friend Miranda who adores the school player Kane, and is developing a bit of a bulimia problem. For his part, Kane likes being a player, but has his eyes on Beth--the same one who's dating his best friend, Adam.

So, the story's a bit twisted, very much like a soap opera. The only things important to these six are parties, status, and hooking up. Lucky readers have six more books after this one to follow these characters through their sexual exploits, deceptions, heartbreaks and all that other stuff that happens during a senior year in high school.

Each time I look at the book, I am more interested in the cover design than the contents. Is that the Da Vinci font they use for the title and chapter headings? By moving the narrative between all six characters, it's difficult to much of a sense of any of them as people. Even their "types" are, at times, difficult to distinguish or be concerned about. The best moments in the book are chapters 6 and 12 when the action moves from one character to another so that the interconnected web of the characters is distinctly clear. This web is far more interesting than the characters themselves.

Perhaps this is the point, and if so, than this type of book is just not my type of book. I for one will not be on the ride through the rest of sinville, but I could see that some would follow along as very little actually happens in this first installment. Maybe as the series progresses the characters will flesh themselves out and other readers will be tantalized and titillated. After book one, I have such little sympathy or empathy for any of them (except maybe Miranda--I do wonder if she really is bulimic) that I don't really care to find out what happens next.

Booktalk: I don't think I would booktalk this book. I might recommend it to people who have enjoyed the Gossip Girls, Clique, or A-List series, as it seems to fall into that category of book, but I wouldn't single it out for a group talk.