Language: R (108 swears, 2 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
BUYING ADVISORY: HS - OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
Everything has gone downhill since Gabe’s brother, Josh, caused a fatal accident as a drunk driver. Not only has Gabe (17yo) had to deal with rumors at school, but his mother is pushing Gabe to forgive Josh as if Gabe is the one in the wrong, and he’s being forced to visit Josh in jail on Thanksgiving – his favorite holiday! The only bright spot has been tutoring Sophie after school, but even that is complicated: Sophie is the only survivor in her family from the accident Josh caused, and she doesn’t know that Gabe and Josh are related.
Forgiveness is hard, whether giving it or asking for it. Gabe struggles throughout the book on both sides of forgiveness, and it’s easier to see why others should forgive than why he should. Schrack invites readers to learn with Gabe on this journey of forgiveness. However, I found it frustrating to see Gabe procrastinate making good decisions, which made reading the last half of the book more painful to read than it should have been as I waited for the dramatic consequences I knew would follow.
Gabe is half Italian and shown as white on the cover, Sophie is described as “pale” multiple times in the text but appears to have darker skin on the cover, Matt is white, and Jess is Black. The mature content rating is for drug use; underage drinking; mentions of sex, condoms, boners, and rape; discussions of abortion; innuendo; and sexting. The violence rating is for fist fighting, discussions of a bad car accident, and mentions of gun use.
Reviewer: Carolina Herdegen
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