White Lines by Jennifer Banash and a Giveaway!

A gritty, atmospheric coming of age tale set in 1980s New York City.

Seventeen-year-old Cat is living every teenager’s dream: she has her own apartment on the Lower East Side and at night she’s club kid royalty, guarding the velvet rope at some of the hottest clubs in the city. The night with its crazy, frenetic, high-inducing energy—the pulsing beat of the music, the radiant, joyful people and those seductive white lines that can ease all pain—is when Cat truly lives. But her daytime, when real life occurs, is more nightmare than dream. Having spent years suffering her mother’s emotional and physical abuse, and abandoned by her father, Cat is terrified and alone—unable to connect to anyone or anything. But when someone comes along who makes her want to truly live, she’ll need to summon the courage to confront her demons and take control of a life already spinning dangerously out of control.

Both poignant and raw, White Lines is a gripping tale and the reader won’t want to look away. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads

My thoughts about White Lines ~~

I am having a hard time saying I loved this book, even though I did love it. It was a disturbing read for me. And maybe it's because I am a mother and I cannot understand how two parents could just wash their hands of their seventeed year old daughter. She is left to fend for herself in the Big Apple, in the 80's. And she's only 17!!

Okay! Whew! I got that off my chest. I can get past it and talk about the rest of the story. I really did love it! I immediately liked Cat and felt sorry for her, having to live on her own. And I admired her too, because she was living on her own. And getting by, sort of.

'When you're focused on survival , there's no way to plan for or even think about the future, It hangs there in the distance, as abstract as a Mondrian painting, shimmering just out of reach.'

Cat is a fairly normal seventeen year old, just trying to get through high school, but she gets sucked into the New York club scene and stays out all night partying and gets involved in the drug world.

'This is a world that bloomed at night like a black orchid, its petals unfurling luxuriously, a place that had nothing to do with the tight smiles and expectations I'd left behind on the Upper East Side.'

I loved the writing in this book. Jennifer has a poetic way of writing that is so beautiful and descriptive.

'... didn't make me feel as if I were cracking open some treacherous trapdoor in my heart, but like I was falling into a cloud of cotton candy, pink and warm, the comforting scent of vanilla sugar rising up like steam.'

And Cat is just trying to survive and be real. But she has a lot of issues to work through, just like everyone else surrounding her. Some of them are a good influence for her and some, not so much.

"As far back as I can remember, I've had this tendency to flinch when people move towards me too quickly - even if it's only for a hug. I'm like some freak that was raised by a pack of wire monkeys, scared of human contact.'

'It's easier to pretend that you need nothing and no one, that you're an island surrounded by miles of water, uninhabitable, than it is to let your real feelings out where they can be trampled on.'

White Lines really is an amazing look at a life most of us cannot even imagine. It was an edgy and intense ride but one that I was happy to be a part of. I loved my time in Cat's world, although I would not wish that world on any seventeen year old. But Jennifer makes us care about Cat and what happens to her. I am excited to see what Jennifer writes next.

And ....... Jennifer, being the wonderful person that she is, has offered to giveaway two copies of her book for two lucky people here at The Book Bag! Check out the Rafflecopter below.

About the author

Jennifer Banash was born and raised in New York City. She now lives in Southern California with her beagle, Sigmund, and her vast collection of designer shoes.

Connect with Jennifer

Website | Facebook | Goodreads | Twitter

Jennifer has offered 2 copies of her fabulous book
for a giveaway, right here, right now!

Thank you so much, Jennifer!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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