As a qualifier for anyone reading this review: I don't generally
read Young Adult fiction, but I took a gamble on this one, sadly it
did not pay off.
I can see how this story would appeal to teenagers, afterall, the
characters are shallow and therefore easy to project oneself into,
but I definately found some of the messages in this book
off-kilter. That sexual assaults and rapes are treated so
non-chalantly frankly baffled me. To suggest that a misfit
character can be fixed with some trendy clothes and a haircut is
appaling to any young person with an ounce of free thought!
The main character has at varying times symptoms of depression,
social anxiety, and even an eating disorder. These issues seem to
come and to provide the necessary plot devices to create the most
horrifying situations possible for the main character, Mariah.
The story itself was disjointed, it seemed like the author couldn't
quite decide the direction she wanted it to go in. Like she was
trying to cram every swoony feeling and idealistic experience a
hormone-hyped teenager craves into her first novel, so I hope in
her future publications she can temper the need to overdo it.
There's some talent and creativity to her idea, but they are ruined
by sensationalism.
I personally think that writing a story from a first-person
narrative is the hardest was to do it, so I give kudos to Ms.
Bel'Harold for going that route. It makes a bigger challenge of
fleshing out and growing your secondary characters as you can never
get a true feel for their mindset. I found it impossible to trust
the judgement of Mariah when she consistantly makes so many
self-destructive choices, so to have her provide the narration
makes you wonder just how much is skewed by her perception. For
example, why should the reader believe her when she states that
Tony has changed, when the only fact based information we have
about his character shows him as nefarious at best. Perhaps if the
story had been portrayed from several points of view, the
characters would have come across as more redeeming and human.
Don't even get me started on the declarations of love tossed around
between characters that have met mere days ago and that every boy
Mariah meets magically wants to date her.
Now I know fiction is fiction, obviously the goal here was not to
write a reality-based story, but novels like this do affect how
their young readers perceive society around them and to suggest
that someone suffering abuse at the hands of their family, sexual
assaults from several strangers and bullying from their peers will
blow over with a positive outlook and some confidence boosting
storage room make-out sessions is frankly dangerous.
I think this story had some great potential. The main idea is
clever, but the execution is too over-the-top and downright
insulting to anyone who grew up under the oppression of bullying
and/or has experienced any form of sexual harassment/abuse,
depression, anxiety or eating disorders.