phyllish
Written on Nov 4, 2017
High School Junior Eliana's life is a bit of a mess. She is a little shy and insecure, though she is smart. Her family is falling apart and she is in love with her best friend, Jess. Terrified that if she lets him know this that their friendship would be destroyed, she encourages him to date another girl. One that she hates.
It is so refreshing to read a book for young adults that doesn't have them doing things that they shouldn't. There was plenty of drama in the story. Mean girls, a disappearing father who committed a terrible crime, a mother who has resorted to alcohol and is a mean drunk. But despite the drama, this story was very clean. The only references to alcohol were parents drinking, and it was not portrayed in a positive light. There were no insinuations of "everyone" sleeping together and no sneaking out at night or into each other's bedrooms. Yet this story was very well written, the plot was compelling, and despite the terrible things that kept happening to Eliana, the story had a hopeful mood.
The author did a great job in taking me through an emotional journey, allowing me to experience Eliana's emotions. The choice of perspective, having the story written in first person, was perfect for the story and allowed me to wonder what others were thinking and therefore drawing me more in to Eliana's head and life.
Though this is the first story in the series, it is a complete story by itself. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys young adult fiction.This review was originally posted on Among the Reads