Different than I was expecting, but I still liked it. Darcy was a character I won't be forgetting anytime soon. She was head-strong, tough, and fearless. It wasn't really as thrillery or mysteryful as I wanted, but had a cool atmosphere about it. Definitely will read more from this author!

I've been interested in this book ever since I first heard about it. I mean, it has all the ingredients that make this something I would like: "town slut" issues- CHECK, secrets- CHECK, beauty queen pageant- CHECK, a missing girl/murder mystery- CHECK.

The synopsis mis-led me a little though, because while I was expecting this to be a mystery/suspense book, it was more a coming-of-age/character study book. Which, I'm fine with, but I was hoping the mystery aspect was bigger.

So let's talk about what I liked about this book because I did really like it.

The Atmosphere. I loved reading about this small, dusty, agricultural town in Maine. It was interesting to read about these girls who were farming for the summer!! I'm sure there are lots of people who do this, but I've never really read about any of them, so points for being different!!

Darcy. As main characters go, Darcy ranks up there with some of my very favorites. She's smart and tough and fearless. I loved the relationships that she had with her sister and cousin (they were like the 3 musketeers), and the complicated relationship she had with her mom and aunt. It felt real.

So much of this book was about Darcy dealing with her past. The past she had with the missing girl, the past she's had with guys, and the past her dad left her. I liked that she was a wild card-- you never knew which direction she was going to head in, and I liked that she stuck to her guns. Darcy is not going to change who she is because you don't like her. She's unapologetic about that-- and I loved that about her.

Nell was also a stand-out character. She was portrayed as innocent and sweet-- a girl that has a learning disability and is sheltered and watched over. I knew she had more in her than that, and I was glad I wasn't wrong. I think Nell is going to have a lot of life to live, and I think she's going to live it-- someday...

The romance was my least favorite part. I didn't really "get" the appeal of Jesse. He was just a guy, and was pretty much just there so we could see how bad the other guys talked about Darcy. There wasn't anything wrong with the romance, I just wasn't wowed by it.

OVERALL: It wasn't as mysteryful as I was hoping for, but that turned out to be not a problem. The atmosphere and coming-of-age story was more than enough to hold my interest. I definitely recommend, and I'll definitely be reading more from Gillian French!!

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*This Review and more can be found at Love at First Write*


*****CW: RAPE, SEXUAL MANIPULATION BY TEACHER, SLUT-SHAMMING, SUICIDAL THOUGHTS, KIDNAPPING/DISAPPEARANCE*****

I was given a copy of this book by HarperTeen in exchange for honest review.

This book was a disappointment to me. It feels like it barely scratched the surface. I don’t read a lot of contemporary, so it was refreshing in that regard, and I enjoyed Darcy and reading from her perspective. Darcy is slut-shamed throughout the book which isn’t really warranted and was upsetting the whole way through. Even her aunt trash-talks Darcy in her own home. It was disgusting to read those scenes to be honest. I hate her aunt so much. The ‘tragic’ backstory of her aunt does not excuse her present behavior. Though apparently it does to the characters within the novel. All of the characters were flawed in their own way but there was so much going on it was hard to find a main plot or point. Darcy’s ex-best friend is missing, Darcy’s dad is dead, Nell’s father left her family before she was born, there’s rape, and sexual manipulation of a teacher to a student… there’s a pageant thrown in there, it’s a lot going on at once.

I think the slut shaming was done in semi-good taste. Slut-shaming by the main character is so prevalent in books these days that it was fantastic to read about the damage the rest of YA protagonists inflict. Darcy gets so much crap from everyone around her based off of rumors. Nobody ever listens to her truths and she takes the brunt of it to protect those she cares about from getting similar harassment. Hopefully a learning lesson for young readers to just keep an open mind about their peers.

What really disappointed me was that the rest of these issues aren’t actually addressed. Most of the events happen before the start of the novel, and the novel is Darcy living her life harvesting blueberries in Maine as secrets slowly spill out. It felt weird not knowing what all the horrible secrets were until the end of the novel. It didn’t leave any room for doing something about all of the secrets, or moving forward, or opening the discussion up for readers. It mostly felt like these serious issues were just quick plot points- aka my disappointment. The secrets-revealed-the-end sort of thing doesn’t work with stuff this huge.

The author says one of the characters may have been depressed and suicidal in one sentence and then never brings it up again. It needed to be addressed. Similarly, the rape happens and then it’s never brought up again with any sort of resolution. They even have to encounter their rapist multiple times throughout the book pretending like nothing happened. And the rapist is so casual and oblivious about how encountering him makes her feel. This was the biggest issue in the book for me, primarily because the other problems got more ‘screen-time,’ the whole town knew about them, and felt more resolved. This rapist is walking around and nobody knows and it’s implied that nobody will know. It was very uncomfortable to read. The victim doesn’t really take the time to address her situation either because they’re dealing with so many other people’s problems too. Suicide, kidnapping, sex, alcohol, rape, and teacher manipulation are deep and important issues. It felt like the least the author could’ve done is go in a bit more, hash out the problematic stuff, and leave the reader more fulfilled. Not closure per-say, but with more doors opened for discussion about these issues instead of just making them feel like plot points.

The author had the opportunity here to really do some good and bring light and understanding to tough situations, and I was really let down by how it turned out. Sure the book was more complicated and in-depth than I’m making it sound, pretty much all the characters are realistically flawed and have reasons for being problematic. I also don’t think I could really expect the author to do much more while still being under 300 pages, but I’m dismayed that the author created this platform… and then just did nothing with it. ( )

Just..... innumerable heart-eyes.

RTC ( )

I got caught up in this novel about a teen whose secrets compel her to risky behaviors. ( )

I received an ARC of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my opinion of the book or my review itself.

This book is a bit of an enigma to me. Not much really happens, but yet it's interesting enough to keep me reading.

In Grit, we meet Darcy, who everyone in town loves to spread rumors about and call the "town slut". But she's fine hiding behind the gossip so she doesn't have to think about the truth-what happened to her cousin Nell, her missing best friend, and herself, on the Fourth of July. Then someone nominates Darcy for Bay Festival Princess, and she can't hide anymore.

This book moves around through Darcy's everyday life, raking berries during the summer to try to earn extra cash, spending time with her family, interacting with boys and friends. But while on the surface it seems like a story that is meandering around, knowing that there is so much simmering under the surface kept me turning pages. French drops lots of small, almost hidden, hints that add up to subtle foreshadowing about what is to come, and there's this overarching sense of depressing dread that makes this book so atmospheric.

I don't see myself rushing out to read more of French's work, simply because there are so many other books in this genre that are already demanding my attention. But if you are looking for a quick, highly atmospheric almost haunting read, with a slow build and some real emotional punches, this would be a good one to pick up. ( )