Any book about bullying, where a character has committed suicide, is not going to be fun to read. This even less so, as we’re told it’s based on a real event where a group of teenagers faced charges for bullying a new girl to their school.
What I did find interesting was that this was from the viewpoint of one of the bullies, Sara. We watch her recollect the events leading to Emma’s suicide, and see the consequences this event has had on her present day. I was never sure to what extent things were being sugar-coated – Sara, for a long time, cannot see how bad her behaviour has been.
Throughout the book I found myself thinking that Emma was a character who had a lot of things going on, some of which we were not told much about, and that nobody really seemed to take any time to find out more about her. Most of the characters in this book seemed content to fall into their stereotyped role, and to not challenge it.
All in all this is a book that felt like it was trying hard to get teen readers to think more about their behaviour, but it didn’t really hang together as effectively as other books I’ve read that aim for a similar effect.