I knew from the author's reasoning for writing the book when I heard about it, as well as the topic and knowing that the main character had experienced something similar to what I experienced when I was younger, that this book was right up my alley. This did not prepare me for how good this book really turned out to be. The story was so realistic. The way certain people acted, the fellow students, to the types of questions people might have, as well as even when they're answered a certain way, some people still wanting to blame and pretend that she said something different that caused them their problem. I'm not a coder or anywhere close to being like one, but I enjoyed a lot of that part of the story. I could definitely relate to getting so sucked into what they were doing with what they loved, as I do with many things in my life. The way that Amber felt that liking something now was wrong when she had told the other guy no, the guilt, all of that is realistic.

But it was even more than just this specific issue that made this a great story. There was how strong Amber was, and how Dean knew it, recognized it, respected it, and even told her that's part of what he liked about her without being patronizing. It was even so realistic how he reacted at the end of the story, but especially because we got his inner dialogue and feelings on the issues, and knowing what he knew about her totally fell into all of it and his final decisions.

Honestly, I can't wait to put this one in my school library to share with students. Not only did the website answer honestly, Amber used research from experts and adults to answer things, but also always told them that this was an opinion, and they should try to talk to parents or girlfriend/boyfriends before they did anything on their own. It was very well thought out and exactly the thing that is needed these days with all of the experts and fake news and clickbait news stories out there.


Review first appeared on Lisa Loves Literature.