The brutal reality of the saying, "What goes around, comes around," hits home when a teen girl, once part of a pretty nasty and mean clique at school finds herself on the wrong end of being bullied, humiliated, beaten and outcast.
There was a time when Kitty Langley was part of a girl's group called the Bee Hives, until she stood against them to help a former friend. What she endured after should never happen to anyone, EVER and now she knows how awful she had been to others. Help came from an unlikely source-the new boy at school. Reed Reynolds finds himself an accidental hero, coming to Kitty's rescue more than once, then concocting a plan to act as her boyfriend so he can watch over her.
While not a long story, the author has created a worse-case scenario of the evils of peer pressure and following the crowd like sheep without drawing it all out too much. Yes, there were times I wanted more, but there is much to be said about just putting it all out there and letting the reader expand the story mentally. What happens to Kitty is real, painful, shocking, embarrassing, and I found myself sickened at the lengths these teens would go to seek revenge, and yes, I wondered where their parents were when they are being raised. Frankly, there are things that should have been addressed legally, but, as in real life, went unreported because the victim knew things would just get worse. No one should be bullied, and for the life of me, I can't fathom how awful the bullies must feel inside for it to pour out in such venomous ways.
Kitty grows immensely under pressure. She didn't cave, she learned to accept help. Not easy things to do. By the last pages, I was completely in the moment picturing the final battle! I cannot recommend this book strongly enough for kids to read, because somewhere in there, they will recognize someone they know, something they've seen happen.
An excellent, emotionally charged quick read!
Many thanks to DeAnna Kinney for writing this book!