★★★★★
July 28th – 30th
I can honestly say that I’ve never read a character as different from me as Billie McCaffrey. The tomboy daughter of her small Kentucky town’s preacher, she’s rebellious (something I am not) and religious (something that I am definitely not).
I thought that this was going to be a very typical “coming of age” story, and since I’m not usually one for YA contemporary, I really didn’t have high hopes. 40 pages in, I loved the group dynamic, and really enjoyed the plot itself.
Billie McCaffrey and her group of friends are trying to save her small town’s annual festival. That’s the basic plot at least. The book is more about Billie’s relationships with her friends, some of whom she wants more than friendship with, and how she loves all of them for different reasons. It’s about her growing up, becoming herself, and realizing exactly what that means.
This is one of those young adult books that I desperately wish I had when I was in high school. I’m so glad that I gave it a chance, and read in a genre that was outside of my comfort zone. I saw this book recommended on YouTube by booksandlala, so definitely check out her recommendations if you like spooky thrillers and heavy contemporaries.
I’m interested in Courtney Stevens’ other novels, and I hope she comes out with something like this again in the future.
-Siobhan
Ghost Shark Reads 