Review: Promise Me Something by Sara Kocek

Synopsis
As if starting high school weren't bad enough, Reyna Fey has to do so at a new school without her best friends. Reyna's plan is to keep her head down, help her father recover from the car accident that almost took his life, and maybe even make some friends. And then Olive Barton notices her. Olive is not exactly the kind of new friend Reyna has in mind. The boys make fun of her, the girls want to fight her, and Olive seems to welcome the challenge. There's something about Olive that Reyna can't help but like. But when Reyna learns Olive's secret, she must decide whether it's better to be good friends with an outcast or fake friends with the popular kids. . . .before she loses Olive forever.
 
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Opinion
Growing up is hard, certainly when everything seems to change without you wanting it. Reyna knows it all. Starting high school is bad, but starting high-school without your best friends is worse. To top it off she lost her mom to a drunk driver and her dad found himself a new love.  Loyalty and friendship are tested in Promise Me Something. Will Reyna’s friendship with her best friends stand or fall? Will she make peace with her dad’s new relationship? But especially will Reyna be able to fight off her own demons and will she finally herself again to be happy again?
This book deals with a lot of hard topics: loss, friendship, homosexuality, suicide… But it happens in a way that doesn’t make the book over dramatic. I enjoyed reading this book, I even laughed a couple of times.  The characters were also very realistic, none of them were perfect. Except maybe Levi but he was just good, not perfect. Reyna is passive and doesn’t want to let the past go. Olive is honest, most of the time to hones to the point that she hurts people. Mr. Murphy is homophobic. Reyna’s old friends forget that she too is their friend. But I loved that we could see Reyna grow during this book. She accepted her father’s choice and she learned who her real friends are. Most importantly she decided who she wanted to be and how she was going to do it.

I really liked this book, it discusses a lot of topics. Topics a lot of teenagers are struggling with themselves. A very realistic read that I truly enjoyed reading.

Extra
Title: Promise Me Something
Author: Sara Kocek
Genre: YA, Contemporary
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Publication date: September 1st 2013
Pages: 311 (hardcover)

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