I’ve had this ARC on my shelf for a while now. I couldn’t bring myself to read something that seemed so heavy. But after picking it up I realized that it wasn’t as heavy as I thought it would be. Willa is really your average teenager of a blended family. Her mother, stepfather and stepsisters all seem like one big happy family; until the new that Willa’s father killed his wife and two of his three daughters. Everyone thinks that “Budge” is on his way to Willa and her mother, though they aren’t sure what for.

We go on the journey with Willa as she heads to the place where she was born to attend the funerals of the sisters she never knew. With so much of that part of her past not remembered, since she was like 4 when her mother got them out, it is hard for her to be there. She wants to know what her father was like in the years that she didn’t know him and while there she meets the older brother that she doesn’t remember having.
Back home after the funerals, Willa realizes that things aren’t as perfect and “happy” as she thought. Everything is changing and Willa seems to be getting the short end of the stick as always. When Willa is informed that she has the chance to accept an inheritance she isn’t really sure what to do. In the end I believe she made the right decision and I was happy with the way the book ended.
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I’ve had this ARC on my shelf for a while now. I couldn’t bring myself to read something that seemed so heavy. But after picking it up I realized that it wasn’t as heavy as I thought it would be. Willa is really your average teenager of a blended family. Her mother, stepfather and stepsisters all seem like one big happy family; until the new that Willa’s father killed his wife and two of his three daughters. Everyone thinks that “Budge” is on his way to Willa and her mother, though they aren’t sure what for.

We go on the journey with Willa as she heads to the place where she was born to attend the funerals of the sisters she never knew. With so much of that part of her past not remembered, since she was like 4 when her mother got them out, it is hard for her to be there. She wants to know what her father was like in the years that she didn’t know him and while there she meets the older brother that she doesn’t remember having.
Back home after the funerals, Willa realizes that things aren’t as perfect and “happy” as she thought. Everything is changing and Willa seems to be getting the short end of the stick as always. When Willa is informed that she has the chance to accept an inheritance she isn’t really sure what to do. In the end I believe she made the right decision and I was happy with the way the book ended.
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Terrible. Honestly, terrible even for YA -- insulting to the discerning teenage reader.

First of all, the plot that occurs after the murder is all nonsense. Trying to avoid spoilers here, but her parents would never let her go there, that family friend would never leave her alone with strangers, and the local police would never allow her to wander around unescorted. I guess it shouldn't be unexpected, then, that everything she does in the town is ridiculous and idiotic and her mom continues to be an immature mess the rest of the novel.

The writing packs zero emotional punch, which is strange for something about dysfunctional families uncovering their buried secrets. The "point" of her self-harm is frankly insulting to real sufferers of mental illness. The "twist" of her perfect family not being perfect was poorly done and again, because there was no emotional element to the writing, we never understand anything about her nonsensical actions. And why was her uncle in a cult? What does that even mean? It's never explained, just mentioned offhandedly multiple times without resolution. You can't just have a person be in a cult without being part of the plot. Did the author forget to include that subplot or something? Or was that just code for "he became a Buddhist/Mormon/other religion of which the author does not approve"?

Not recommended. ( )

A dark and powerful family drama. ( )

As I was thinking about what rating to give I found myself doing that eeny meanie my-nee mo thing. I was stuck between 3 and 4. Most of the book was just okay. But with juvie and ya books I try to review and rate from the perspective of how that marketed group would feel. Luckily I have a house full of girls at various ages and a lot of times I get them to read the books to and then we discuss them if a review has me stumped. That's where I was with this one and I agreed with my daughter that there were parts of it that were interesting for the most part it was just so-so. So together we landed on 3 stars. ( )