What Has Become Of You
by Jan Elizabeth Watson
I'm writing this review as I recently wrapped up my 9th year as an educator (and currently a middle school librarian). There were just way too many flimsy plotholes in this book to take it seriously.
The first gaping hole is when the teacher does what she does with Jensen -- ALL of it. All teachers undergo thorough training and are mandated reporters. The fact that Vera did not immediately report Jensen's journals are ridiculous. And then...AND THEN...(spoiler alert)...this idiot woman goes to a hotel room with her student...AND THEN...drinks alcohol with her student. It gets worse. She lies to the police, more than once. I just want to bludgeon Vera with something, anything, because it is incredibly stupid, and then I want to bludgeon myself for even taking the time to read this inane story.
(SPOILER) That Jensen is unhinged is obvious from the very first email she sends to Vera. So, it was not a psychological thriller for me. More like an exercise in vapidity.
But hey, the really dumb teacher who is fired can become a librarian, so at least there's that. I really hated the way librarians were portrayed in this novel, first as suspiciously-uptight (and no librarian would ever go on record and tell a newspaper what a patron checks out, that violates privacy laws--yet another hole), and then as a way for Vera to somehow redeem her idiot self.
OK, I'm done. Just DONE.
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