Source: Netgalley/Purchased
Genre: Romance, Contemporary, Young Adult
My Rating:
When his dad is caught embezzling funds from half the town, Rob goes from popular lacrosse player to social pariah. Even worse, his father’s failed suicide attempt leaves Rob and his mother responsible for his care.
Everyone thinks of Maegan as a typical overachiever, but she has a secret of her own after the pressure got to her last year. And when her sister comes home from college pregnant, keeping it from her parents might be more than she can handle.
When Rob and Maegan are paired together for a calculus project, they’re both reluctant to let anyone through the walls they’ve built. But when Maegan learns of Rob’s plan to fix the damage caused by his father, it could ruin more than their fragile new friendship...
This captivating, heartfelt novel asks the question: Is it okay to do something wrong for the right reasons?
Brigid Kemmerer is a goddess who writes some of the best YA and I know this and still sometimes put off reading her releases. I was approved for an ARC a while back on this one and was so insanely excited, but then the formatting for it was a little skewiff on my Kindle and I put off reading when various slumps happened. I treated myself to a copy (because there was never any doubt I would buy myself a copy as well) and I have no regrets.
This one was a little darker than some YA I’ve read of late. Rob is struggling with his fall from popularity due to the revelation his dad had been stealing from people and had blown the money folks had given him to invest. Rob used to be that popular, privileged guy in high school that you hated but people seemed to flock to just to be in his orbit. He’s struggling with that change and the isolation of losing his friends is tough on him. It’s made even worse that people seem to hate him and believe he was stealing right along with his dad. When the book starts he spends more time reading than anything else and it inadvertently led to him getting excellent grades.
And Meaghan? Everyone knows her as the girl who tried to cheat on the SATs and made everyone fail their test and have to retake it. She’s struggling with her own issues and she’s certainly had a few snide comments made in her direction. When she’s paired with Rob on a class project it’s hard to say who is less excited to be working with the other.
I have to say, I wasn’t sure how Rob and Maegan were going to work together, I mean they didn’t seem like they should fir but somehow they really did. It was lovely to see Rob’s polite good side come out, especially when so many people expected the worse from him from no other reason than who his dad was. Meagan saw the best side of Rob and I think he needed someone to see him that way. Especially as Rob has to face his father every day and struggle with the man he once viewed him as and then the reality facing him. He and his mom were primary carers for his dad and that was tough to read. It’s something no kid should have to deal with and it was a tough blow for Rob as he felt a lot of hatred for his dad but also loved who he once thought he was. It was a lot for him to reconcile and having Meagan there really helped him, I think, because she felt the pain Rob did and helped him realise it was ok to be hurt by his dad and still love him.
Now, the next paragraph is like a major spoiler so please skip it if you don’t want to know a big plot point of this book.
There were some moral questions being asked in this book. Rob is seen as a thief by everyone so is it wrong for him to follow through, especially when he’s doing it to help others? Where is the line on these things? And the people who are benefitting, would they want to know where these things are coming from and would they accept if they knew? It was all a series of questions and I really liked exploring it in this book. I didn’t know how Rob would resolve it with himself doing wrong and how it could possibly end well for him. It did go a little wrong, but I loved the ethics explored as he struggled with his choices as he was driven so far he wanted to cross the line. And was that how his dad felt when he crossed the line to stealing?
And now to non-spoilery things. I loved the friendships in this book, and how it explored friendship where you may not agree with your BFF’s actions but how they can act badly and still be looking out for your best interests. And the friendship between Meagan and her sister! I love strong bonds between family and seeing Meagan slowly grow slower to her older sister once more was brilliant, and when she had to stick up for her sister at one point in the book I was full on cheering, even though she was the younger sister she totally had her sister’s back.
This book was just brilliant and I strongly recommend you read if you haven’t already. it looks at ethics, friendship and what being an outsider is really like. It was just so good.
Have you read this or any of Brigid Kemmerer’s other YA books? What did you think?
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