There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

I requested this one at the time, but wasn’t able to download it. I’ve since picked up a physical copy and read it. I thought it was a really great read, particularly for younger kids. Deals with some important issues in an age appropriate way.

(I received a free copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.)

Before Carolyn Lessing arrived, nothing much had ever happened in Adamsville, Alabama. Each week, at dinner tables and in the high school assembly, everyone would pray for the football team to win. Each year, the Adams High hotlist would be updated, and girls would rise and fall within its ranks. Each day, everyone lived by the unwritten rules that cheerleaders did not hang out with the swim team, seniors did not date freshmen and the blistering heat was something that should never be remarked upon. But then the new girl came.
All Carolyn’s social media could reveal was that she had moved from New Jersey, she had 1075 friends – and she didn’t have a relationship status. In beach photos with boys who looked like Abercrombie models she seemed beautiful, but in real life she was so much more. She was perfect.
This was all before the camera crews arrived, before it became impossible to see where rumour ended and truth began, and before the Annual Adamsville Balloon Festival, when someone swore they saw the captain of the football team with his arm around Carolyn, and cracks began to appear in the dry earth.

This was not what I was expecting after reading the blurb - sure, what it says is correct but at no point does it give any indication to the depth of the story and the perfect cast of characters created here. This book should be read. By everybody.

It is really hard to talk about this story without giving it away - cos the devil is in the details, as they say...and the details are fabulous.

What this book also raised in me was anger - I have a daughter. One who will go to school soon. One who may be faced with similar scenarios that play out in this book. I think that I have taken something from this book that will make me a much better parent...even if only for the high-school years :)

Get this book, read it and consume it. Let it settle in the pit of your stomach. Let it bleed slowly into your brain. Take it in and enjoy it. I sure did!


Paul
ARH