Review: Only the Pretty Ones by Rebekah Crane

Review: Only the Pretty Ones by Rebekah Crane

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Contemporary, only the pretty ones, rebekah crane, Reviews, skyscape, TLC Book Tours, Young Adult

Only the Pretty Ones

by Rebekah Crane

Thank you TLC Book Tours and Skyscape for this gifted book.

Publisher: Skyscsape
Publish Date: May 1, 2021
Hardcover
272 Pages
Standalone
Genres: Young Adult, Contemporary

Convention doesn’t carry much weight in Alder Creek. It doesn’t in Amoris Westmore’s family either. Daughter of a massage therapist and a pothead artist, inheritor of her grandmother’s vinyl collection, and blissfully entering her senior year in high school, Amoris never wants to leave her progressive hometown. Why should she?

Everything changes when Jamison Rush moves in next door. Jamison was Amoris’s first crush, and their last goodbye still stings. But Jamison stirs more than bittersweet memories. One of the few Black students in Alder Creek, Jamison sees Amoris’s idyllic town through different eyes. He encourages Amoris to look a little closer, too. When Jamison discovers a racist mural at Alder Creek High, Amoris’s worldview is turned upside down.

Now Amoris must decide where she stands and whom she stands by, threatening her love for the boy who stole her heart years ago. Maybe Alder Creek isn’t the town Amoris thinks it is. She’s certainly no longer the girl she used to be.

My Review:

Hmmmm... this isa hard one for me.  I truly appreciate what the author was trying to do.  This story touches on microaggressions, racism, addiction, privilege, love, family, etc.  So much to unpack in just 272 pages.  However, it felt a bit clunky in execution.

This is a good lesson in being aware of your own actions or inactions in a small town where microaggressions are running rampant.  Of course, in this small town, there is very little in way of diversity so these characters are used to just going about their business.  I do appreciate the lessons placed within these page.  At times it didn't feel very natural and had some "after school special" moments that felt a bit preachy.  

I'm weirdly having a hard time placing my feelings into words with this one.  I think the lessons here are important for sure and it sees like the author went outside her comfort zone to create this journey for others.  I really enjoyed reading her Author's Note at the end and implore you to do so if/when you read this.  I also needed a bit more with that ending...  So I'm splitting this down the middle as I felt what the author was trying to convey and respect her for it.

★★★

Contemporary, only the pretty ones, rebekah crane, Reviews, skyscape, TLC Book Tours, Young Adult

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