I really wanted to love this story and I made myself finish it to be fair to the author but I just can’t give this any more than one star.

The idea of poor Karla Hall, abused and neglected, pulls at my heart. The problem is there is no problem. Other than a brief recounting of what happened to Karla, the rest of the book becomes page after page of people telling each other they love each other and how proud they are of Karla for her strength and maturity. See how I used ‘each other’ twice in the same sentence? Get used to that sort of thing in this book.

The dialogue between the characters is stilted and robotic. I may be far removed from being 14 anymore but even I know this doesn’t work.

Every situation that could have been cause for well developed teenage drama is smoothed over with a hug and an ‘I love you ‘. I kept reading hoping the author ended a chapter truly different but I was wrong. Closest thing to a villain is a teenage boy who needs an ass kicking before a trip to jail and we are denied even that.

I sincerely hope the author will keep trying but we are going to need a thesaurus IV and a content editor stat.