Blurb
This is not a story of bad things happening to bad girls. I say this because I know you, Dex, and I know how you think.
I'm going to tell you a story, and this time, it will be the truth.
Hannah Dexter is a nobody, ridiculed and isolated at school by golden girl Nikki Drummond. But in their junior year of high school, Nikki's boyfriend walks into the woods and shoots himself. In the wake of the suicide, Hannah befriends new girl Lacey and soon the pair are inseparable, bonded by their shared hatred of Nikki.
Lacey transforms good girl Hannah into Dex who is up for any challenge Lacey throws at her. The two girls bring their combined wills to bear on the community in which they live and think they are invulnerable.
But Lacey has a secret, about life before her better half, and it's a secret that will change everything . . .
Prologue
TodaySee them in their golden hour, a flood of girls high on the
ecstasy of the final bell, tumbling onto the city bus, allgawky limbs and Wonderbra cleavage, chewed nails pickingat eruptive zits, lips nibbling and eyes scrunching in a doomedattempt not to cry. Girls with plaid skirts tugged unfathomablyhigh above the knee, girls seizing the motion of the bus tothrow themselves bodily into their objects of affection, Oops,
sorry, guy, didn’t mean to shove my boob in your face, was that aphone in your pocket or are you just happy to see me.Try not to see them, I dare you. Girls, everywhere. Leaningagainst storefronts, trying so hard to look effortless as theydangle cigarettes and exhale clouds of smoke; tapping phoneswhile shrieking about how Mom is a such a bitch. Girls hitching
up skirts by the liquor store, hoping for a handle of vodka ifthey show enough leg; girls in the makeup aisle, gazing helplesslyat the nail polish display like they can hear you silentlycheering them on, willing them to scoop those cherry redsinto a bag, to succumb to temptation and expectation, to giveGive in: Pick a pair of them, lost in each other, a matchedset like a vision out of the past. Nobody special, two nobodies.Except that together, they’re radioactive; together, theyglow. Nestled into a seat in the back of the bus, arms tangled,foreheads kissing.Long for the way they drown in each other.Follow them off the bus and onto the beach, as the one incharge—there’s always one in charge—shakes her curls free.Her makeup is expertly applied, her beet lips excessively large,kissable. The other girl wears no makeup at all, and her hair,bone straight and dyed platinum, flaps in the ocean breeze.Watch them lick soft- serve, pink tongues flicking spiraledcream. Watch them turn cartwheels in the surf, watch themslurp Dorito dust from sticky fingers, watch them split a pairof earbuds and stare up at the clouds, their secret soundtrackcarving shapes in the sky.Try to hold yourself back from rising over them, castingthem in aging shadow, warning of millennial futures, theend of days, days like this, warning them to taste each sugaryminute, to hold on tight.Hold back, because you know girls; girls don’t listen.Better, maybe, to knock them out, drag them into the sea.Let this perfect moment be the last, say, Go out on a high note,
girls, and push them into the tide. Let them drift off the edge
of the earth.Impossible not to see them, not to remember what it waslike, when it was like that. To sit there, shivering, as the sundips toward the horizon and the wind blows cold over thewaves, as the sky blazes red and darkness gathers around thegirls, neither of them knowing how little time they have leftbefore the fire goes out.Remember how good it felt to burn.
My thoughts
My thanks go to Little Brown publishers for inviting me to take part in this blog tour and for my copy of the book.
I am sad to report I didn't really get along with this book. Everything about this book suggested I was going to like it - from the title to the blurb, it sounded right up my street.
I didn't get to finish this book purely because I became bored and found myself rereading the same paragraphs over and over.
This is a creepy and disturbing story. I found myself feeling very confused throughout. Even though the chapters tell you the name of the person you are reading about, I found they went to talk about another person without warning.
However, because I did not finish this book this time around, doesn't mean I won't try again in the near future. I'm a firm believer in second chances and feel everyone or everything deserves a second chance. So this book will definitely be given a second chance.
Now, I would like to thank you for your time and hope you will consider giving this book a read. Please please please don't let my review put you off!
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