Exposure, by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes

Despite the fact that he is a jock and the new big man on campus, Craig is secretly friends with Skye, who is awkward and in a much lower social circle.  And despite the fact that Craig is dating the beautiful cheerleader Beth, Skye is desperately in love with him.  When Craig's friend and teammate Duncan mysteriously dies, Skye finds that Craig and Beth are hiding something.  Will her desire to protect him be stronger than her conscience?  Or will Beth prove to be the strongest force of all?

Even as a teenager, I really liked Shakespeare.  At times, I was a little frustrated with the language and style of his writings, but when I was able to strip that away and get to the heart of the stories, I was in love.  Young adults today have a little less patience, and are less likely to seek out the heart of his writing, which is why I think books like this can be so brilliant.  This book is a modern retelling of Macbeth, and I found it to be really well done.  It had the perfect balance of creative liberty with the story, while sticking to the most important themes and aspects of the original tale.

I found Skye to be really intriguing as a character, despite the fact that she is the biggest change from the original story.  She serves as a kind of narrator, her point of view frames all the action.  And the story is just as much hers at it is Craig's.  I liked that many of the characters bore strong resemblance to their original counterparts, while others, like the "witches" were quite modern.  Again, I found it to be a great balance.

The thing I really liked about the book is it seemed genuine.  I felt like it accurately portrayed young adult life.  The kids struggled with things real teens do, and for the most part they talked and acted like real teens do.  That means young adult readers will be more likely to connect with this book.  I really think that, by pairing this with the original tale, teachers could open up great discussions with their students over the deeper themes at work in Macbeth.  All in all, I think this is a real gem.

I received a review copy courtesy of the Amazon Vine program, in exchange for my honest review.

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