Deviant

by Helen Fitzgerald

When 16-year-old Abigail's mother dies in Scotland--leaving a faded photo, a weirdly cryptic letter, and a one-way ticket to America--she feels nothing. Why should she? Her mother gave her away when she was a baby, leaving her to grow up on an anti-nuclear commune and then in ugly foster homes. But the letter is a surprise in more ways than one: Her father is living in California. What's more, Abigail discovers she has an eighteen-year-old sister, Becky. And the two are expecting Abigail to move in with them.
 
After struggling to overcome her natural suspicions of a note from beyond the grave (not to mention anything positive) Abigail grows close to her newfound sister. But then Becky is found dead, the accidental victim of an apparent drug overdose. As Abigail wrestles with her feelings and compiles a "Book of Remembrance" of her sister's short life, she uncovers a horrifying global plot aimed at controlling teen behavior: one that took her sister's and mother's lives, with vast implications.

Genres: Young Adult, Mystery, Fiction, Thriller, Science Fiction, Family, Contemporary

248 pages, Hardcover

First published June 11, 2013

About the author

Helen FitzGerald is the second youngest of thirteen children. She grew up in the small town of Kilmore, Victoria, Australia, and studied English and History at the University of Melbourne. Via India and London, Helen came to Glasgow University where she completed a Diploma and Masters in Social Work. She works part time as a criminal justice social worker in Glasgow. She's married to screenwriter Sergio Casci, and they have two children.

Follow her on twitter @fitzhelen

Reviews

[Meg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Have you ever read a book and by the end realized with utmost conviction that you just had media déjà vu?

For me, reading DEVIANT by Helen FitzGerald brought on these completely realized feelings that I had lived this book elsewhere, and it only took a few seconds for me to realize why. DEVIANT is the literary replica of the 1990s teen thriller Disturbing Behavior.



If you have not seen this movie, please, don’t google it and find out what Disturbing Behavior is about. And if you have seen this movie, there really is no reason to read this book. Well, actually, there are a few reasons that make it a very decent YA thriller. It just really, really reminded me heavily of a certain movie where Katie Holmes played a bad girl and James Marsden played an average teen boy who was labeled a… Well, that doesn’t matter.

FROM GLASGOW TO LOS ANGELES…

DEVIANT follows young, street-savvy orphan-ish Abigail, a girl raised in a girl’s home following the death of her caretaker after growing up on a commune. Her biological mother who abandoned her has died, leaving her a note and a plane ticket right into the arms of her biological father, a man who seems a bit too perfect, along with his new wife (think Stepford) and rebellious daughter Becky. Except Becky dies suddenly and Abigail tries to put together the clues, including figuring out what Becky was doing with her graffiti project that might just be the clue to everything.

Abigail’s life fascinated me, from her beginnings on the commune born to a protestor and raised by another, to the orphanage, to her new life in Los Angeles perpetually untrustworthy of her new family and new surroundings. Some of the events were a bit ridiculous, such as how she got $50,000 from a dead woman and into the US without a passport, but her determination was very nice to read, as was her focus on finding out what was going on with those around her and the mystery of the graffiti portraits of faceless youths with strange letters.

Abigail, though, was about the only fully realized character, besides maybe her Stepford step-mother, who really did seem to be an interesting take on the situation, albeit yet another plotline that showed up in Disturbing Behavior.

DISTURBING BEHAVIOR – THE BOOK

Okay, so yes, this is a book about rebellious teens and the parents that don’t need that for their own aspirations. It’s a book about control and change, in bad ways, and about the teen spirit. At its heart, the mystery is quite good until it becomes painfully obvious, and Abigail’s motivations are sound. The romance in this, if there even was a real one (not the most blatant ever, which is a plus), was left to the backburner in exchange for focus on the mystery elements. Being published by Soho Teen, and Soho being focused on mystery, makes this a perfect choice for this budding young imprint. There is definitely mystery here.

I just wish maybe this story had been more unique. Wavering between a three and a four left me with a lot to think about, and this one ended up with a three because of the lack of originality. I have seen this story before, in several forms, and I just wish that some elements had been different and more unique.

VERDICT: All in all, it’s a good, solid story with good writing and good characters. It’s downfall is in originality. If you’ve seen Disturbing Behavior, you know all too well how this one will end up. Although, not end exactly. I’m not spoiling everything.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

...
DOES THIS BOOK HAVE A SEQUEL?
Because, stars allotted depend on that answer.

Quick Summary: Abigail Thom has been orphaned since she was nine in Scotland- ever since her moms best friend died of cancer. She's most recently been living in a New Life Hostel, then suddenly she's told her mothers passed away and left her something. The something in question is money, an airplane ticket and a too short letter- but before the letter ends she learns she has a dad and a sister in LA. With the plane ticket she heads straight there, to a upscale neighborhood and a family she's never experienced. But, is everything as good as it looks?

The clear the answer is no.😐
Let's get on with this.

Okay, so this book is nothing like what I expected-I'm not sure what I expected but it sure as hell was not this. Especially the Becky turn, I'm still sitting here saying "what the hell, man?" The story kept changing. Anytime I thought I knew what was happening something else happened. I was even wrong about Bren (granted so was Abigail). Now, don't get me wrong I really liked that it kept blowing my mind-it's great not to have a super predictable story. However, then it ended.

So here's my problem with the ending. Either this book has a sequel (that I can't find any information about) and in which case I will just be annoyed with MYSELF for not knowing that to start with or this book doesn't have a sequel and I'm pissed because HOW THE FECK ARE YOU JUST GOING TO END IT THERE?

So. I'll mark it as three stars, and if one day I learn there is a sequel I'll change it to four.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Deviant I received this audio book for review from AudioGo through Audiobook Jukebox This audio was narrated by Kirsten Potter. Her performance was believable and enjoyable although the Scottish accent was sometimes a bit much. Since the main character was from Scotland, the accent was fitting though, I just didn't care for it. Otherwise, this was an adequate narration. Deviant was an interesting story with some unusual twists. Initially, I was able to really identify with the main character, Abigail, who felt abandoned by the mother who left her as an infant and even by her guardian who died when Abigail was very young leaving her to grow up in some shoddy foster homes and orphan hostels. Abigail was forced to learn some harsh life lessons and developed some street smarts that prevented her from becoming a victim like so many in her position. In order to survive, Abigail resolved to form no attachments, friendships or otherwise. Deviant started to read like a Cinderella story when Abigail found out about the father and sister she had never heard of and suddenly found herself living the life of a wealthy California teen. All of Abigails doubts and yet her desire to embrace the family she had yearned all her life for struck a chord with me and I really wish that the story would have went in this direction. However, as it states in the summary, Deviant deviates into a conspiracy rich kind of action/thriller and this is where the story kind of lost me. I did not find the intrigue to be completely convincing and I think it pushed past the bounds of plausibility. The machinations of the super secret agency to control teen behavior was over the top and unrealistic. And then of course, nefarious plots notwithstanding, a teen will always have time for a bit of romance. This didn't quite go into a full love triangle even though it hinted at the possibility of one, for which I am grateful. What felt genuine to me was that Abigail would absolutely be awkward and unsure after a lifetime of pushing people away, so when the relationship aspects didn't always fit right, I found it believable. Ultimately, this was a worthwhile read and I would recommend it to fans of book like The Program and similar reads.

[Keilani Ludlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow and dang. This was a Goodreads giveaway, and I received and advanced edition. The problem with this is that it will be FOREVER before I get to read the follow-up!

I like the story. It took me a while to figure out where it was going, especially in this hugely popular market of the supernatural power genre. I kept waiting for superpowers to show up and that's not it.

The main character, Abigail, is great. She's been through some hard times and it's left her a little rough around the edges. However, she has also observed the other people around her and how they reacted to the bad things and made some great determinations about what she would not do and where she would not go in her life. I'm impressed. In a world full of "it's not my fault, I can't help it because, I'm a victim...", we have a strong teen character who isn't perfect, but she is good and she is realistic.

Not quite the same as something like The Giver or John Twelve Hawk's series starting with The Traveler, but similar in it's impact. Too much of a good thing is a bad thing. Good intentions, wrongly used, are wrong. And good intentions to control others for their own good, wrongly used, never get better, they just lead to more and more bad choices.

I really like the book and I really look forward to the next one.

If you know my reviews, I don't like the vulgarities. In this book, there are a fair amount of swearwords, at least they aren't all the F word. And while I dislike them, they kind of fit. Often it seems like an author throws in a multiplicity of vulgarities to hide their lack of ability to write. This is not that time. I could still happily do without them and never once would I think "really someone should be swearing here, it's not realistic enough" but for what it is, at least they seemed to fit with the characters and settings.

[Viviana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to read something I would normally not read for a swapbot project.

This book came up in my random search. It starts out slow, but I find out some interesting things about Abigail.
There are several situations that made sence and other parts that had me wanting it to go a different direction.
perhaps because I'm more into science fiction and history that it was difficult to keep an open mind.
Abigail seems to understand a lot about having to grow up fast, then having to go to a new location and start over is never easy.
Abigail sounds like the kind of teenager that is closed emotionally to people, growing up she learned that life is full of lies. people care about you one minute and then leave the next, while uncovering a mystery she finds that trying to become part of a family is more harder and complicated then she had expected.

My personal opinion is that it seemed rushed, the author seemed to want to add too much into one chapter, it went from happy, sad, mystery, tragedy (lots of tragedy) and suspense all in less then a few chapters.
The book is for young adults so I suppose they just have a whole different style of story telling then for older readers. Not the best read but good enough to have me cheering for the protagonist to catch a break.

doing this swapbot review without spoilers was a challenge :) thank you for reading this.

[PopcornReads - MkNoah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review & Giveaway: There was something about the book cover for Deviant that drew me in. I kept seeing it and it kept haunting me, so when I got the opportunity to get a copy I jumped on it. Helen FitzGerald is an international bestselling author of both adult thrillers and YA fiction, with her novel Dead Lovely currently in film production. As a prior UK parole officer and social worker, who better to write a YA novel titled Deviant? I don’t know what I was expecting with a title like that but I got so much more and so will you. And you might even win a copy at http://popcornreads.com/?p=6092.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

6/10
This book was okay and I liked it but it didn't blow me away. I mean I liked the concept and it was okay and it was a nice read; however, it didn't make me emotional when I read it
I would recommend it for a nice little read.

[Lizanne Silvertant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really nice book! Easy to read and practise my english. I hope there is a part 2 of it, because the ending implies that there is still work to do for Abigail and Stick.

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of this book. I started it on Monday and finished it earlier today. I loved this book! I thought that the plot was great and as I read it I really felt a connection to the characters. There was a few unexpected twists that kept me reading late into the night. I can hardly wait for the next book!

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This kinda felt like the author decided halfway through to start writing a different book than the one she started. And then didn't have enough time to finish it properly.

[Disa Lagerqvist · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book and it makes me want to overthrow the government

[Ashlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Not terrible, but the author kept the main character dumb as to not reveal the mystery too soon, but we all had it figured out way before then..... And, it's a series so after all that eye rolling I did, I still don't know who dun-it. It was fun to listen to the Scottish brogue.
Some language
Talk of having sex, but nothing racy.
I'd probably give this any age.....

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teenage Abigail's mother dies and leaves a letter including the information that she has a father who's expecting her to move from Scotland to California to live with him and her older sister . She's enthralled by the stark contrast in living conditions. But when her sister is found dead by apparent suicide, the loss is shocking. She starts to piece together an underlying mystery.

[Tiffany · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had a good plot-line with interesting twists and turns.
I liked how you got a different perspective of Glasgow - from someone who knew how the city to its dodgy depths - and LA - where the character was a total stranger.

[Debra Lloyd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too Short...I wanted more

[L K · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, Deviant was a hard-hitting novel, and it was actually pretty good. :)

Alright, so let's see.. I don't review much, so you won't get much from my profile, but I really like mystery. Do you? Okay, then, that's either a "yes" or a "no". If "yes", you'll probably like this book! Yay! If not, you still probably will! Now, let's move on to the actual review which is what you came here for. Bear in mind.. I am far from professional, though, let that be said! :]

***SPOILER ALERT..Throughout.. Maybe just a few.. :***

Background Info:

Right so, it's about this girl named Abigail. Abi (although, she does not like to be called by the name "Abi") is a very stubborn, unique, but fairly lovable, main character. She is from Scotland, I suppose from Glasgow more specifically, and at the beginning, in a place for "Unloved Nobodies", as said by herself. I like that she considers herself one of those, because she really does have no one else to go to at that point. "Unloved Nobody" is a pretty creative way to put it. Now, let's move on. She was raised by a kind, hippie-druggie of a woman, not her birth mother, and in the corrupted areas of Scotland as she was raised in, apparently, if I've got that right -- I don't know much about Scotland, mind you -- but yes, she was raised in a corrupted area of drugs, cursing and theft and crimes, all that. Y'know? :) Anyway, I know I'm taking time, sorry, but let's try to get onto the point, the main plot of the story. Now, I've pretty much covered the extent of background info, would you suppose?

The Plot ***MAJOR SPOILER ALERT:***

So Abigail was stuck in this place for Unloved Nobodies, when she was alerted that her mum, her biological mum, who supposedly had gone crazy and put in a mental home, had passed away. Naturally, she came to visit the hospital, and was awaited by something her mother wanted her to have. Tickets to America, along with money.. and some surprising information. I will have spoiled this for you if you keep reading, but I'm not saying it now, so follow along well, and pay attention if you really want to know! Now, there was this poor girl Camelia, or Camilia or something, whom she felt sorry for, as a horrid man was going to take advantage of her, and so she sent Camelia back with some money and help, to where she came from. (I believe?) And, with a fake passport of some other woman, made by the horrid man, Billy, she was sent to America, where she had some trouble. Anyway, her dad got her through that because her dad & her sister & family (yep, I said dad & sis..) were wealthy. Bla bla blaaa it was all normal until we, the readers, learn about the Graffiti Tease. This is an assumed rebellion by un-revealed teens, and, her sis, Becky, was one of them. Bla bla blaaa, you'll see why that was a veeery important piece of information, and then we move on to the split-second fact that Becky, voila, like that, was dead! A suicide success? A strong drug attempt gone wrong? Hmm, well, we'll see. Followed by this are some mysterious evidence-finding, by Abi, and we find out a lot of things. Hmm, and then we find out some strange things about Abi's dad? What could that be?

That was a horrible plot-summary.. But yeah. You get the point I was trying to make; read the suspenseful, wonderful book to learn more & learn all! Moving on to what I would rate it and why. Hehe. :)


Rating:

I guess I rate this a 4 out of 5. Just around a solid 5, maybe a 3.89.. Haha.. Yeah, and the reason why is because this novel, although well-written, was lacking a type of.. pizzazz. A type of something that just catches your attention and holds you there so you don't lose interest and get bored. Mind you, I would never get bored of a book! But other people might, and to catch attentions of constant readers, you need a bit of a cliff-hanger in the middle. What do you call that? A climax? It needs one of those. I loved it though, and personally, I didn't grow bored. I'm assuming and hoping this is the first of a series, as it did sort of leave us on a stunning cliffhanger! Yes, so this was a wonderful medium-sized for the AVERAGE reader (for me it was a bit short, not to brag, because maybe it's short for you, too, at only around what, 200 pages? Maybe 400? :p)zip-read and I really liked it, not the finest, not the best, but great enough.

[Kasandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won a free copy from a goodreads giveaway. I this book is not really good but it's not really bad. And it's better than just okay.. It was a simple read and was a very quick read. There really wasn't any big complicated story even though there's this pseudo-build up. Just taking it from the surface it's not that bad I didn't feel like I wasted my time. But if you read my review and you are picky about these things then you may want to skip this book.

The story as you can gather from the description is about a girl who grew up with no family until her mother dies and she flies across the world to meet her father and sister. While the back of the book describes something a hint of a sinister mystery, it ends up literally telling you the plot, although the author makes it feel like a huge mystery and a plot twist.

So if you've read the back of the book you won't be surprised..... Unless they changed it in the final release. And even then I really don't think there weren't parts if the book that were surprising... It's all pretty easy to figure out.

The writing was a typical young adult book. Nothing complicated. The main character is a young girl yet she feels like she is created by someone older or out of touch with how young people think or speak. Slightly awkward to read. Abigail is so annoyingly redundant. Taking about her "robot mode" and other repetitive language that doesn't feel sincere for a 16 year old.


The characters are all flat. While the story only covers a short amount of time, I didn't feel like Abigail changed that much like you would expect a 16 might in her condition. And Becky was irritating. If she knew everything and the danger why didn't she tell Abigail anything except really dumb "clues" that Abigail only figures out at after it would matter... Why did Becky and Stick just hang around and not take off or try to find other people, their graffiti in the hidden meaning with the letters made no sense, especially for kids who are supposed to be very very smart. And what's the deal with the shots vs the "yogurt drink" no big explanation why there's been both unless it was meant for everyone which ruins the whole fire in their bellies speech....

The book has a lot of issues like these. If you can watch a movie just for fun without wanting or caring about the logic of the plot or the odd script but you feel it's entertaining, this is my experience in book form and you may enjoy this read. I read the whole book and was thinking "meh it was fun read through. " and tossed the book aside. in 5 years I probably won't really remember anything special about the book. I don't think if really recommend it to anyone unless they are really into young adult books. Maybe the 15 year old me would have really connected and like this book before I started reading complicated books.

Anyway if I keep thinking about all the little details that annoy me I will end up changing my assessment of the book and whether I could be entertaining if I am complaining so much....

[Jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

For me, the plot on this book had some weak points that made it a little challenged... There's a group called Granoch, that's experimenting with mind control drugs, at first I thought it was a government sanctioned experiment....anyhow a woman named Sophie get's involved with the main guy, has a daughter with him, at some point realizes that she doesn't agree with his project/experiment, and he tells everyone she's crazy, and takes their daughter to live with him in California. Sophie, has a second daughter and never tells him. And gives her into the care of her friend, and then, when that friend dies Abigail lives in this sort of foster housing situation, and has a rough life. Her Mother dies, and leaves her with a note, that says to go to her Father, trust her older sister, and gives her some money for both of them. Which Abigail does.

Abigail pretty much blows her wad in a few days, by giving most of it away. Yes, it's for a good cause, but she didn't have to give ALL of it. For a minor character plot.

When she get's to the states she finds Becky is already mired in trying to expose the Granoch plot. And as a drug using, wild-child, she's definitely not on the mind control drug. So....the point of keeping Abigail separate in Scotland, living a miserable life....versus letting her live with Becky, how that was helping Abigail? What was the point for Sophie in waiting till her death to send her to the Father's? If she was trying to keep Abigail from him all that time?

True, in her letter there's a thinly veiled message of "stop them" but it's not like Abigail has any special skills or powers, or even knows what's happening when she flies over.

Becky dies a few days into Abigail's visit, by a faked "suicide" which was really just some her newfound Father's partners tying up loose ends. But one wonders if Becky spread her message by sending documentation to the press, or anywhere else, instead of spray-painting confusing graffiti anagrams, that maybe she would have "stopped them" a bit better.

Also, the drug has been dispensed by shot form, to kids in Juvenile hall, however there's a giant warehouse with the drug in a yogurt style drink call "pre-biotics" when Abigail opens one, she instantly see's the tiny capsule in it...why would someone hide a pill in a drink? Why not make it liquid, or sell the pill as a vitamin supplement?

Also, if the idea is to control a rebellious teenage population, launching it as a beverage to the general populace seems, like a lot of people you wouldn't want exposed to a mind numbing drug would be.

There may be some loose ends that are wrapped up in the sequel, but for this book, I kept thinking, how does this make sense in this context, and that kept distracting me from the characters and the other parts of the plot.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll like to say that I'm not a big YA contemporary reader, however, I liked to think I'm a good judge on picking books of this genre to read, and I'm glad that I was right about this one for the most part. With my very forgetful nature, I knew I wanted to read this book, however, I couldn't quite remember what it was about. All I could remember was that it was about a girl whose mother (who had abandoned her) had died and she travels to America. And, that it involved some underground movement and street art. Which considering the description of the book (mainly the part about Abigail's sister) seems a bit of a spoiler since it doesn't really happen until about more than halfway through the book, I'm pretty glad about my current forgetfulness.

It's an interesting plot. Now when I think about it, and I can remember when I try, when I first signed up to be part of the tour, I remember thinking that it sounded original. This controlling miscreant teens, I don't think I've read anything like that before. Though one thing I found odd, was that one character had lost interest in his art after taking this drug. This reason this seemed odd to me was because it had always seemed to me that the most artistic people are smarter than those who are not, not always just in general. It just seemed like a strange thing to want to take from someone just because they're misbehaving.

Right from the beginning I liked the character Abigail, which is probably why I was able to jump right into the book. Actually many of the characters I liked, Camelia and Becky for example, though I wish we would have been able to gotten to know both these characters a little more. However, though I really didn't get to know these characters didn't mean that I didn't feel for them. There were a few moments when I did get a little teary-eyed, after things happened with Becky and there was a time or two when Abigail looked back at times with Nieve (the woman who raised her before her death). There are also moments when I laughed, like Abigail thinking that everyone was thinking about her on the potty or what being in heels meant to her. The latter part reminded me of Georgia Nicolson and her red bottomosity.

Okay, so it was a quick read (did I already say that, I can't remember), I feel like there was probably more that was missing and could have been said. The ending for example was kind of open-ended, it was a bit disappointing I'm not going to lie. We were also given this random romance thing that I'm not really sure why it was there. Also, I completely guessed the whole Bren thing.

I would give it a 3/5.

I received a copy to review for a tour put together by Precious Gem Book Tours.

[Bri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deviant by Helen Fitzgerald is a book that takes you on a journey with Abigail Thom. This book is a great read, Ms. Fitzgerald is able to take you into the moment and keep you reading until the end.

Abigail has been living in the state (Glasgow) care since she was nine when Nieve (her mom’s best friend) died, today she was brought to the office and told her birth mother had died the previous evening at a local hospital and the nurse had a letter for her. Abigail was curious--her mother was so close but had never sought for her. Upon retrieving the letter and reading it she was stunned... Her father, was alive and lived in Los Angeles and she was to go live with him. She had a sister too, and they both have $25000 from there mother.

Abigail spends the next 24 hours helping a girl from her group home, she gets a passport, and sneaks out to get to the airport to fly and meet her father. She encounters some difficulty at the airport--they are going to send her back to Glasgow, until her father Grahame Johnstone pulled some strings to keep her here. Upon arriving at her father’s home she meets her sister Becky and her stepmother, Melanie. The next few days are filled with a lot of changes for Abigail. Melanie signs her up for driving lessons and gives her a welcome home party with all of her Dad’s friends.

Becky, Stick, Joe, and Abigail go out her first night in LA. They take her out to a billboard sign and have Abigail be the lookout while Joe tags the sign. She is petrified of being caught and being sent back to Glasgow. She learns during the night that Becky is a very passionate person that leads a double life. Becky is the perfect daughter when she needs to be --but also has a lot of the free spirit her birth mother did. She liked to drink and smoke pot and she was part of an underground that was searching for answers to a question that she would not share with Abigail she doesn’t think she would understand.

I enjoyed the many twists and turns that continued to keep me the reader entertained. There was so much involvement of real everyday circumstances that makes it believable. Drugs, juvenile delinquent behaviors, the lifestyle of the rich, a corrupt group of adults and a passionate group of teens that are sure something is wrong and they will do whatever they have too, to expose the wrongs. If you are looking for that book that pulls you in-this is it. I rate it a 5 out of 6.

http://abbookreview.blogspot.com/

[Be · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abigail is a cynical, stubborn Scottish girl who's slowly starting to figure out her identity. Since the age of 9, Abigail has been living in a place for "Unloved Nobodies" until the day when she finds out that her mother has died and that she has a family in the U.S. Upon arriving in the States, Abigail begins to figure out that her new family has a fair share of secrets.

The beginning of the book was a bit slow for me, but the plot became a lot more interesting. Abigail's relationship with Becky was by far my favorite part of the book. I loved how they gradually warmed up to each other and became close enough to start quoting from "The Shining"(: I was so bummed when Becky died- I felt that her character could have been more well-developed and I would have loved to see her grow more, especially since she's my favorite character in the novel . Some gripes: I'm not really sold on the romance yet. Sure, there are descriptions of hotness, but I'm not really impressed yet. I fail to understand Abigail's obsession with Stick...sure, he's trying to expose corruption, but I don't really love him as a character yet. Let's just say I didn't cry when he fell into the canal. And Bren? His transition from a gay hairdresser to potential love interest was a little too abrupt for me. Come to think of it, the introduction to his family came really quickly too...I just felt that things could have and should have been fleshed out a little bit more . Overall, I'd like to see greater character development. The book was a little dry at times, and I felt that the big reveal was a little anti-climactic. I felt that the premise of the story is really interesting, but I'd like Abigail's thoughts to be more drawn-out and complex, as I think her background is fascinating and could add more depth to the story.

My favorite quote: "Stupid, beautiful, spoiled, misguided idiot kids. No idea about how cold and ugly the world really is." I think this issue between disparities in wealth and social standing is a really interesting part of the novel that I'd like to see more of in a sequel.

I kept going back and forth between 2 and 3 stars. This book isn't one of my favorites, but the plot did catch my attention. Ultimately, I give it 3 stars. A fairly interesting book overall- I'll probably read the second one, if there is one (which seems pretty likely).

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Source: Received an ARC from publisher in exchange for an honest review.

When I found out about this tour, I was excited to participate because Deviant sounded like a very unique story. I love the publisher's synopsis above because I think it does a great job at capturing the many interesting bits of this story: Abigail's upbringing in Scotland, her movement through foster homes, her newfound relatives, her sister's death, the plot aimed at controlling teen behavior. It sounded like a very far-reaching book and I loved that it was contemporary!

I'll admit that I had a bit of trouble getting in to this book as Abigail's harsh childhood was far bleaker than my own and I tend to click faster with characters who are like me. Once she arrives in America though, I found myself much more engaged. Abigail had to acclimate herself to a whole new culture AND to a previously unknown family-what a challenge! The pieces of the puzzle come at you slowly before quickly building up to a dark conspiracy with Abigail fleeing for her life and narrowly escaping death. I mean, it is tense and the last chapters just fly by, proving that all the buildup was worth it.

For favorite character, I would have to pick sister Becky although we don't get to spend much time with her before her "overdose." She's a spark and the way her courage and work inspires Abigail was wonderful to see. I also liked their stepmother Melanie who could probably best be described as a Stepford Wife. Her robotic behavior was bizarre but gripping all the same. As I said, Abigail had a much harder life than me turning her somewhat dark and withdrawn, which is understandable although it made me feel like it was hard to connect with her (the use of third person narrative rather than first person like many other YA titles possibly contributed to this as well) but by the end, I was thoroughly absorbed in her journey.

Sadly this book does not currently seem to be part of a series although the conclusion seems ripe for one. I wonder if the author plans to continue; I know I would be interested in coming along for the ride.

[Magic Shop · Rating 3 out of 5]

My sister read this book and she basically forced me to read it too. I read the back and thought it looked interesting enough that I should give it a try. I have kinda mixed feelings about it. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't that great either. I thought the plot was interesting, but it was kinda long and it got boring quickly. Also I know it's a suspenseful book, but there was not a lot of love. I knew it was sad because Becky died and Abi likes Stick, but there wasn't a lot of romanic feelings between them until like the second to last page. The characters were kinda good. I liked Abi, she was pretty funny at times and I liked her attitude. I felt bad for her because she had a hard life in the beginning and she thought bad about her mom until she died and she found out the truth. But I also liked Stick and Becky since they were trying to do the right thing. I didn't like Bren that much, even though he was helping Abi. He was old and he liked her even though she was only 16 years old which was just weird of me. I liked her better with Stick. The ending was kinda good. But there wasn't a lot of action and they didn't technally solve the problem, they just said they would. I also noticed no sequel for the book, so I guess this is it. But all in all, this was a pretty good book. Didn't have the best feelings for it. But it was short and the chapters were kinda short and I finished it in a day, so that's good, I guess.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

When we first meet Abigail, she is the sullen, moody, irritable teenager that she appears to be. We all either have known a teen like that or we were a teen like that, right?
While this story started out a bit slower than I would usually like, and this book was perhaps a bit outside of my comfort zone, I really did enjoy reading it. The second half of the story was a total roller coaster ride and you never knew what you were going to find around each corner.

Abigail was so used to abandonment that it was hard for her to accept anything at face value, and there are times when that can be dangerous, but there are also times when that can be a life-saving technique and will protect you from harm when nothing else can.

While on some levels, it was hard for me to connect with these characters, the underlying internal struggles are somewhat familiar to all of us, even in the best of circumstances. The struggle to figure out who you are and who or what you are really fighting against are universal. While others may have viewed this story as very dark, I saw that there was a message of hope buried within the pages. This is one that I think all teenagers should read. If they were to take absolutely nothing else from the story, they would gain a new perspective on things. I know I have.

Thank you to the publisher for a review copy.

[Beth Hewitt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, this really isn't the type of book I would pick up and read. To be honest, I thought it was a vampire story when I first read the description. Guess I should have given it more than a glance. It is a teen book about interpersonal relationship, friendship, and betrayal. With that said, this is the type of book you have to get through the first half to get to the good stuff. The author spends a great deal of time building up the characters and on more than one occasion lost me in the story. Personally, I think too much time was given to the individual characters and not enough time spent on explaining some of the bizarre things that happen in the book. Maybe they are put there to add suspense to the book. For me, they were a distraction, at best, but most of the time it is where the story line lost me. However, I persevered and was rewarded in the latter half of the book. The story line picks up after a tragedy befalls the main character and plunges her into a world strife with twists and turns with some surprises. I got an advanced copy and it really needed some cleaning up, things like typos/grammar and story clean up. Hopefully, some of the things I experienced in my copy will be improved through the editing process for the final copy.

[Samanthalangeleh · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first, I thought that Deviant, By Helen Fitzgerald, would be just another teen romance novel, but that is far from the case.
Abigail Thom, the main character, is a 16 year old girl from scotland that has been in and out of foster homes since she was 6. When her birth mother, that she never knew, dies due to cancer, she is sent airplane tickets to go to L.A., California. Her father, Graham, lives there and he wants her to come to L.A. to live with him, her 18 year old sister Becky, and his new wife. Abigail goes from practically living on the streets to living in a mansion with people she had never even known still existed in a matter of days.
Deviant means to stray from the normalities in life. In this case the word “deviant” describes Abigail perfectly, she doesn't fit in with al the rich people around her. She is used to worn out clothes and working for food.
The Graffiti tease is a string of single letters painted in random parts of the city. The letters spell something, something important. Abigail is the only one who can both figure it out and stop it, but can she? Or will she ruin everything her mother worked so hard for?

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Young Adult novel certainly holds a lot of surprises! Abigail Thom is a young girl in the care system in Scotland. She receives sudden notice that her birth mother has died - and left something to the girl she abandoned in a commune at only a few weeks old. Abigail is even more shocked to learn that she has an older sister and a father living in LA 0 and that she is to go meet them.

What opens as an engaging YA family drama, soon shifts into something more. It becomes a fast-paced thriller as Abigail navigates not only LA, but also learning more about her new family. The book ends with a clear set up for a sequel - and I certainly hope that one will be released soon! It’s an interesting premise for a novel and the plot moves in some sudden and unexpected ways. Abigail makes for a sympathetic heroine and the book, though obviously targeted toward the older end of the YA market, is for the most part very appropriate for younger readers. It is well-written and exciting! I hope the sequel is due out soon!

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Deviant was a refreshing read. I've been reading a lot of young adult books lately, and this was one of the most well written ya books I've read. To begin with, it's written in Third Person Limited, which establishes the main character as separate from the author.

The story does take a bit to get going, but it's well worth the wait. The last third of the book flies by. The story is well thought out with intriguing rising action and a fast paced heart racing climax. The book ends in a bit of cliff-hanger, which gives me hope for a second book.

Abigail the main character is interesting, smart, witty, sometimes dark, a bit gritty, and it was easy to care about her. She has a gentle heart despite her difficult past, and she genuinely cares about the other young people she meets.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes intrigue and suspense. I was definitely surprised by how much I enjoyed reading Deviant.

[Casey · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received this book as part of the Goodreads First Read Program.

I was unsure what to think of this book. I started out thinking it was simply a young girl getting to know her new family and her new surroundings but it quickly changed into something attempting to be more sinister. The pace of the book almost seemed rushed as though the author had an idea they quickly wanted to push through. The concept of the book is good, it just needs to be more developed in my opinion. The characters are mostly static and the relationships are nonexistent, with the exception of Abigail and Becky. The plot was, at a few moments, confusing and even when certain facts were revealed they were rushed and you did not have time to really absorb them. To me this book felt like a rough draft and not a finished copy. I think with more development it would be a great novel. I gave it 3 stars for the potential it holds and despite its flaws it wasn't a bad read.

[Jessy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a girl named Abigail, who grows up without her parents. She spends her life in different care homes for children. At the age of sixteen, her mother dies and leaves a note behind, letting her know that she has a sister and a father in the United States. After meeting her new family things change for the worse. There is a plot to control teenagers that misbehave and Abigail finds herself in the middle.

This book was enjoyable, but somewhat predictable. I liked the main character, but the other characters in the book were kind of blah. I liked the plot for the most part, but I feel that some parts could have been a little more developed. I am interested to read another book by Helen Fitzgerald.