Backlash
I have to say that I really enjoyed this novel. There were many things that kept me glued to my seat as I read it. The story felt very realistic of the situation which was presented. I also enjoyed hearing the story from a variety of characters and I felt the novel relayed some important messages. The only thing that annoyed me were the mothers of the two main characters. As I dug deeper into this novel, these mothers seemed overly staged to me. I could see some mothers behaving the way they did but these two individuals pushed their actions beyond extreme. Besides irritating me, they just didn’t feel natural. Hearing the story from four different viewpoints, I believe that the reader gets to understand the implications of the situation. The situation takes on a life of its own, spreading its repercussions beyond the main players. The novel’s main topic is cyberbullying and I don’t think I need to tell what the author wanted her readers to understand about this topic, we all know how wrong and serious this subject is.
The novel begins in the middle with the drama unfolding. Lara has just tried to take her life by downing lots of pills, for she has just been dumped by Christian on Facebook. Rushed to the hospital, Lara recovers physically but emotionally she is still a wreck. The emotions that accompany this drama are, just the beginning of what is to come later in the novel. As I traveled back in time, I am presented with how the situation unraveled and the novel continues on, past her suicide attempt. In her past, Lara has dealt with depression and self-image issues and these factors have a major role in her life. My feelings intensified as I learned the identity of Christian and her close neighbors. There were some bright spots in this novel but it’s the commotion surrounding the cyberbullying that takes center stage. I appreciated that the author didn’t try to put a nice bow on this novel in the end. The implications of what had occurred will take some time to heal. This is a great novel, one that I highly recommend.
