Undeclared by Jen Frederick (Woodlands #1)
New Adult
April 28, 2013
Self Published

Reviewed by May

“God, I’m like the poster child for every emo sad sack girl out there. I’m letting down my gender.”

Six years ago, Noah began receiving letters from a high school girl named Grace while he was deployed in Afghanistan. A part of a mandatory high school project, Grace had to write the letters and according to his CO, Noah had to respond. Over time the pair began to look forward to these letters, and Noah (and his buddies) always anticipated the care packages young Grace would send. After four years of letter writing, Noah wrote Grace a letter that crushed the romantic dreams budding in her young heart and that is the last she heard from him.

Two years have passed, and now Grace (a college sophomore) is stunned to find that Noah isn’t just back – he’s enrolled in the same college as a Junior, is an aspiring MMA fighter, and is doing his best to make something of himself in life outside the Marines.

We do not learn the exact ages of these characters until about half way through the story, and when I did I was shocked. From the way Grace carries on about her heartbreak and how she was saving herself for Noah I had assumed she was about sixteen or seventeen when the letters started, and was now somewhere around 22-23 years old. To discover that the letters she was writing him ended while she was still in high school when she was still a minor shocked me. At the time of this story she is only nineteen.

I sent her a letter telling her she reminded me of someone’s little sister and friendzoning her. I didn’t want to think about the anger I would have felt getting that kind of letter from her.

To me, this was the exact appropriate thing to send a minor who has a crush on you, a grown ass man and Marine. Why would he not “friend zone” her? She’s a kid.

I had made the mistake of showing Bo her prom picture, and then everyone wanted to see “their Grace”. My CO even made me pin the picture up, as if she were some kind of community property.

I suspected more guys jacked off to that picture of Grace than the chick on the cover of Juggs.

Based on Noah’s comments about some of the photos that Grace had sent him over the years, he had romantic inclinations towards her as well.

She was curvier than the average coed, but I liked that. In her prom dress, she looked like a 50s pinup model, with her dark hair curled and a flower pinned near her forehead. While it could have been her dress giving her padding, I suspected that she was stacked.

His lack of response and disappearing act over the last two years was not about her age, it was about him getting his act together. Not once did he think his thoughts about her were in any way inappropriate. I really don’t even care if she was a senior in high school when she sent a photo that he fond alluring. It’s creepy.

Now a four or five year age difference isn’t a big deal romantically speaking if we’re talking about adults, but there is a huge difference between a fourteen year old high school girl and a nineteen year old Marine serving in Afghanistan. Even a sixteen year old girl and a twenty year old man is a world of difference, and this part of the story I found incredibly disturbing.

Now nothing suggestive or romantic was in their letters we are shown in the book, which lead me to wonder why on earth Grace would think she had a chance at a relationship with her pen pal. Why would she think that he was going to come back home and be her boyfriend? Also, why would he expect that Grace is “his”?

The problem isn’t just the age, but also one of maturity. Grace has no idea what she wants from life, her only real friend is also her cousin, she doesn’t have a major and doesn’t have the courage to apply for the art program (she loves photography), she’s a virgin, she’s barely been able to be interested in men because she has Noah up on a pedestal, and she has poor self-esteem when it comes to her body. Now all of this in my mind sounds pretty typical, if not expected of a nineteen year old girl.

The reason Grace doesn’t work as a leading lady is because she is so weak, so in need of saving and prompting and help, that it completely throws the balance off in the relationship with Noah. She’s playing petty games that teenage girls favor, he’s working on building a life. She needs his approval, he’s telling her not to swear and directing her towards a better life. He tells her how much to drink, where they’ll be going, not to swear, and anything else he can think of to control subtly.

If I set aside the fact that Noah has lusted after Grace since she was a younger teenager and determined that she had a nice rack, I really liked him as a character. He is awkward and unsure on how to approach Grace and pursue a relationship with her. He makes mistakes, but he also carries her books and opens doors and is a gentleman. He’s on the alpha side – but that fits being that he is a former Marine and current MMA fighter.

With all the childish games these two played, the way that nothing bad ever happened no matter what bad choices these two made, and of course the obvious perv factor on Noah having lusted for Grace for way too long, this book simply didn’t work for me in any way.

What really frustrated me with this book is that it didn’t have to be such a mess. The author has a nice overall voice and I liked a lot of her scenes and details. Had Grace been a few years older (both during their letter writing and at the time of the story/meeting in person) and had some actual real world experience, this could have been awesome. As it stands though, I was thoroughly skeeved out by the entire relationship, and really bummed out at the weak young virgin girl meets handsome (slightly) older man who likes controlling her actions trope.

Grade: D

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