I'm the popular girl at school.
The one everyone wants to be friends with.
I have the best boyfriend in the world, who’s on the basketball team.
My parents adore me, and I absolutely love them.
My sister and I have a great relationship too.
I’m a cheerleader, I have a high GPA and I’m liked even by the teachers.
It was a night which promised to be filled with love & fun until…
something happened which changed everything.
*****MY REVIEW***
Heartbreaking yet inspiring!!!
The blurb alone was enough to catch my attention! I truthfully didn’t know what to expect as I read, although the premise is a bit predictable. I did thoroughly enjoy sharing the journey with Dakota as she had to deal with her secrets partially alone. I know saying “enjoy” sounds sadistic, but what I mean is that Margaret McHeyzer pulled me right into the story and I was able to sympathize with Dakota on such a deep it level, it was kind of hard for me to keep reading the story at times. I felt the hurt, the pain and shared Dakota’s tears. I feel McHeyzer did an excellent job on tackling such heavy/dark issues that many teens deal with yet never speak about.
My absolute favorite characters were Dakota’s sister, Sam and friend, Reece. Samantha was witty, strong-willed and so funny! Reece. What can’t I say about Reece? He was a supportive, patient, kind and understanding friend. Some of the things that came out of his mouth totally made me swoon for this high school boy lol.
“Feel the way my heart beats.” He presses my hand further to his chest. “It only beats for you. No one else holds it in their hand the way you do.”
“Have enough faith in me to get you through this until you find your strength again.”
**swoon*
The only thing I found hard to believe were Dakota’s friends reactions to things that happened in the story. I felt like after being such good friends for so many years, their reactions wouldn’t have been so dramatic. I do think teens will come away thinking “what would I do if I were in the same situation?”
With all this said I would definitely recommend this book! Great eye-opener for the young and old.
5/5 STARS!!
(A free copy of this book was received through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)
