Personally, I really liked this technique. The pace of the novel is perfect, steadily moving towards the conclusion (which is, of course, the starting point as well) without rushing things or anticipating the twists and turns of Jenna and Mitch's relationship.ĭrowning Instinct is Jenna's account of what happened between her first hospital release and the present day, as spoken into a dictaphone left by Bob, a friendly policeman who visits her in the hospital. But we don't know why she is in hospital on this occasion. She was, relatively recently, released from a psychiatric ward after cutting herself. Jenna is a troubled teen - we recognise immediately that she is in some kind of hospital and quickly learn that this is not her first hospital stay.
The novel is narrated by Jenna, and gets the tone of the teenage girl spot on. It presents the situation without attempting to explain it, which would be to risk trivialising it or reducing it to cliché, and leaves things open for interpretation by the reader. It takes a controversial topic - a relationship between a teacher and his pupil - and deals with it in a non-judgemental way. This isn't one of my favourite books of the year, but it is an excellent young adult read.
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