Just couldn't get into this really, and wasn't interested enough to attempt to keep going. Meh, school, teens, nonsense. ( )

More of a 2.5-star rating. I found this treatment of teen sex and romance rather precise in that British way (author is English) I'm not really keen on. Rich is quite the idealized, romantic boy that is almost too hard to believe exists (but they do). Maddy is pretty much the typical girl longing for love and romance. Both are fairly thoughtful when it comes to figuring out the issues of young love. The book addresses violent relationships and boy/girl stereotypes but points off for Rich not using a condom even though they're both virgins and Maddy is on the pill! ( )

Sorry, but I just couldn't get through this book. ( )

Maddy decided she’s going to fall in love and nice, sweet, jubilant Joe seems to be the perfect candidate. But Joe has a girlfriend yet he is sending Maddie signals!? Maddie has a friend, Grace, who is gorgeous and well adorned by the male population at school including (but definitely not excluding) Rich. Rich is an odd one though.

Rich and Mad’s written style had a style I particularly enjoy: short, clipped sentences with plenty of dialogue. Excessively long paragraphs of descriptions detailing the things that make my eyes glaze off are not found here—yes! Amber tinted eyes, long fringes, luscious, gorgeous, honey locks? Puh-lease. We are talking about real people with real flaws: wide-set eyes, blemishes/acne, lack of breasts, chicken legs, etc.

Rich and Mad provided a different perspective of teenage hormones, love, and sex. Can love exist without sex and vice versa? Yet the novel also points out acts of homophobia where being gay is a good reason to be fired and defending your “gay” teacher only makes you a “gay loser freak”. Rich and Mad was first published in 2009 in the UK yet I wonder how far society has come in this topic. (Speaking of the UK, slang and jokes in British-English in novel. Was lost, but still happily kept going!)

I do so love the characters in this novel. I love the rapid fast dialogue and jostling and butting and the ability to communicate to friends:
“Max Heiblorn joined them. He was eating a packet of crisps.

“I’d offer them round,” he said, “but I want them all for myself.”

“Also you need feeding up,” said Cath.

“Small is beautiful,” retorted Max.

“Them you can’t join our club. Can he, Rich?”

“No, I think Max can join.”

“What club?”

“The losers club. It’s seriously exclusive. We’re going to have a T-shirt.”

“You now what?” said Rich. “I think we should have two levels in the club. Ordinary members would have T-shirts saying LOSER. But the really top losers would have T-shirts saying GAY LOSER FREAK.”

“Like a gold card.”

“Or going to first class.”

“Now wait a minute here, guys,” said Max. “I can see why me and Rich count as losers. But how’s Maddy a loser?”

“Trust me,” said Maddy. “I’m a loser.”

“You sure you’re not just saying that to impress me?”

“Hey! Hey!” said Cath. “This is all getting out of control. Back to basics, guys. How to spot a loser.” She pointed at her own face. “Ugly mug.” She pointed at Max. “Little creep.”

“That’s nice,” said Max, offended.

“The rest of you are just self-pitying phoneys.’” —pages 200/201 of ARC

Rich, in particular, is one of most interesting male characters I have read. He writes in his diary a poetry observation of the world and his inner world that shocked me:
“Unrequited love — like carrying a jug of pure cool water. I must take care not to spill it because this is what I have to give. I will give it to the one I will love forever. The jug of water gets heavier each day. My greatest fear is that I’ll let it fall and all my love drain away before I find her.”—page 40 of ARC
William Nicholson is a male author so this cannot be blamed on the female delusional mind of the “perfect” boyfriend.

Both Rich and Maddy think about sex quite often because it’s all in the hormones, but the novel provides a much different approach. In the realistic world of Rich and Mad there is the abusive relationship where some girls like to be beaten and that is what turns guys on; there is the fear of commitment and the fear of not being worthy of love at that; there are relationships much deeper than what the eye can see and only seen through the beholders. And there is Maddy and Rich, two virgins, desperately connecting love with physical connection because it is as close as close can be. I think what makes this relationship work is the level of comfort in each other’s presence that seeps through from the novel where the spoken truth is as easy as breathing. It wasn’t that instant love connection or that dark brooding nature that calls for chemistry, but a simple understanding and capability.

However, Rich and Mad packed in a lot so some parts are skimped and some parts are left in the dark (Grace anyone?). I wanted to analyze the characters and their actions yet I want to laugh out of loud. Rich and Mad is clearly not for the young as scenes can get quite graphic. Let's just say William Nicholson is not afraid of the word: cock and clitoris. ( )

For once – you can tell a book by its cover. The front illustration depicts from the feet upwards a young woman lying on top of a man with the strap line: “First love. First sex. And everything in between.” The back cover bears the warning: SOME EXPLICIT CONTENT. This places it at the adult end of the spectrum of teenage literature, since there is plenty of graphic sex and a disturbing subplot concerning violence against women.
Maddy Fisher has decided to fall in love. Not just any sort of love; she’s decided to go all-out for can’t eat, can’t sleep crazy in love. “And sex,” as her best mate Cath points out. Meanwhile, in another part of the sixth form, Rich Ross is after the same thing and he’s decided to make it happen. The problem, the novelist suggests, is that life’s not quite that simple. So, we follow Rich and Mad through a messy whirlwind of friends and deceptions and expectations until they find the ‘real thing’.
However, within that it is a tender, moving, unexpected and intelligent take on family life, sibling relationships, mid-life angst and, above all, first love and first sex, which examines why we always want what we can’t have and don’t want what is there for the taking.
The central characters are wonderfully believable and in Rich, Nicholson has created a lovable, geeky antihero who worships Larkin and gets his ideas about love from a battered copy of The Art of Loving, Erich Fromm’s 70s classic on human behaviour, which his friends suspect is a sex manual. He feels so real you suspect he might well be based on the author’s young self. Alone among his peers, Rich refuses to have a laptop or a phone, reasoning that anyone who really wants to talk to him will actually come and find him.
Teenagers of both sexes will be blown away by Maddy. She is not completely without flaws, and there are moments when you want to just grab her arm and stop her from doing things, because you just know it's a mistake, but she is just so driven! She makes a decision about something, and then simply goes for it. Mad exudes a nervous confidence that many sixth-formers would absolutely die for!
This is most definitely a ‘young adult’ novel which is not afraid to depict sexual activity in a candid and graphic manner. However, it is done very tastefully, almost sweetly while also being very honest. ‘Rich and Mad’ is a novel that all young people should read – I only wish it had been around when I was hovering uncertainly on the edge of the adult chasm!! ( )