Carolyn is new in a town where nothing is ever new. Each year everything is the same. Until suddenly it's not. All Carolyn's social media revealed was that she moved from New Jersey, she had 1075 friends and she didn't have a relationship status. In pictures she was beautiful, but in real life… She was perfect. This is all before the rumours, the videos and the fights. Then the cracks began to appear.
The book is written from the point of view of everybody and I think it is a very clever writing style. It made me feel like I was in the story, watching Carolyn myself. It helped make the book simple and easy to follow.
When I read the blurb I could guess what the story was about, how it would unfold, and what would ultimately happen. However, the author managed to write it in a way that meant it didn't matter that I knew. She wrote it so that you could guess but it would still be brilliant.
The book tackles issues such as bullying, self-harming and suicide but the author has done it in a very "sensible" way. It is not over the top, or turned into a joke. It is simply how it happens and I think that was a very brave way of writing about them. But it worked. There is nothing new about bullying but Sarah Bannan highlights that there are new means of bullying, new weapons. Like the internet. Suicide in teens nowadays is more common than you would like to think, and she manages to show how it affects people and how all the warning signs can be there but people just don't notice. She tackles all the issues in this book head on and executes them perfectly.
You know you have read an amazing book when it makes you cry. And this book definitely did! I loved this book and the way it was so hardhitting. I would definitely recommend this book but it would have to be for older readers as it tackles some very strong content. I think it is probably suited to girls in Year 10 and 11. I would rate this book 5 stars as I read it in one sitting, and have read it twice since!
It was a truly amazing, gripping read.
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