Review: Realistic but didn't grab me
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 03 2, 2013
I was keen to read this book because I'm 6'6". I was interested to see how the issue of height was explored in the case of a teenage girl.I thought it was done well. Unfortunately, tall women in my experience are usually not happy they're tall. I could imagine a teenager being really depressed, not knowing when she'll stop growing and how tall she'll be. I understood why Emily would want to find her mother, to see if she was tall as well.I liked the way that the author didn't pull any punches as the friendship between Emily and Trix fell apart. I liked the way she described how Trix's drug dependency developed, how she fell in with a bad crowd and then split with them, and how she moved from her mother's house to her father's at one stage.I liked how Ryan troubles were woven into the lives of both Emily and Trix. I could understand how the unexpected pregnancy could cause so much friction.At the same time, while there was plenty to like in how the book was written and how issues were explored, I didn't really like any of the characters. Possibly because they had so many unsolvable issues to grapple with and there weren't many really happy moments in their lives. I found myself wanting to find out what was going to happen but I couldn't really empathize with the characters as they grappled away.If you're interested in a book that realistically explores teenage issues without artificial happy endings, you'll enjoy this one.