After reading Whale Talk, I became a huge Crutcher fan. Chinese Handcuffs, however, was more difficult to read than anything I have picked up by Crutcher. In the first 100 pages or so, there is rape, incest, suicide, child and animal abuse, drug and alcohol abuse. I talked about this with a friend of mine that is also interested in young adult literature. She let me know that it's a common trend of the genre and some teens seek out this content and even enjoy it.
That said, Chinese Handcuffs is written in the enthralling style that makes me enjoy Crutcher's books so much. There are a couple of main characters: Dillion Hemingway, an aspiring Ironman tri-athelete whose older brother, Preston, committed suicide before the time period of the novel, and Jennifer Lawless, a high school basketball star who has to deal with memories of a sexually abusive father and her current step-father with the same problem. Dillion often reminds me of the character T.J. Jones from Whale Talk: both are sensitive, self-driven teens and athletes. Some of the chapters are written in the form of a letter from Dillion to a posthumous Preston. Other chapters are flashbacks of Jennifer's where we are introduced to her little sister, Dawn, who Jennifer struggles to protect from her father and step-father. Dillion and Jennifer are able to bond over not only their athletic abilities, but the pain they have both endured. It is the story of their courage and bravery in the face of this pain.
I enjoyed this book and its character development, but it was a very difficult read. Crutcher's writing is often fairly graphic and I found myself wincing away at parts. I would somehow like to think that the intended audience, presumably high school teens, should know nothing about the horrors encountered in Chinese Handcuffs. I realize, however, that many know it far too well. If you choose to read this book, I wish you luck, since it was very difficult for me personally.
I strongly recommend Kelly Milner Halls' review of the book on TeenReads.com.
Buy it from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
