To Be Honest

T.C.
Booth
Genre: 
Young Adult

Starla Emerson is happy with her life. She has a hot boyfriend, a best friend and is content to exist in the background where no one can notice her deformed hand. When her family moves however, Starla is suddenly thrust into the spotlight.  Bad boy Chase McFall takes an interest in her, and that interest draws the attention of one of the popular girls. When she becomes the target of internet bullying, Starla decides to defend herself with the help of her new friends and uses a relationship with Chase to take a stand. But will their fake relationship become something more?

 

Starla is shy and insecure while Chase is fighting some demons of his own. With bullies both in school and online trying to separate them and high-school drama all around them, Starla and Chase’s romance is a bit of a rollercoaster. The cast of side characters are what truly move the story along, as Starla’s friends both old and new provide some comedy and push the story and Starla and Chase’s relationship along. Although not life changing, “To Be Honest” is the kind of story that teens will find relatable as Starla discovers that what makes her strong and what makes her love real has been inside her all along.

 

Sarah E. Bradley