Lovely, Dark and Deep

November 1, 2012

Gr 9 Up-When high school senior Wren discovers she is pregnant, she panics and breaks up with her boyfriend at a party. Patrick, extremely angry, drives her home under the influence and is killed in an accident. Wren survives but loses the baby. In a complete funk from which she cannot free herself, despite medication, she decides to leave her mother in New York City to live with her artist father in a secluded town in Maine, where she tries to come to terms with her loss and guilt. There she meets and gradually falls in love with Cal, who is a bit older and dealing with the physical and emotional toll of having MS. The writing that unveils Wren's first-person perspective is indeed lovely, despite being introspective. However, it takes the teen an inordinate amount of time to work through her challenges, and her frequent setbacks wear thin. Yet the novel ends on a promising, if not shaky note, and Wren appears to learn from her mistakes. Teens who cheered for Amber Appleton in Matthew Quick's Sorta Like a Rock Star (Little, Brown, 2010) as she fought personal demons after her loss will find little of that book's humor and upbeat quality here. However, they may be drawn in by the intensity of Wren's remorse and step forward/step back struggle to regain her sense of self.Diane P. Tuccillo, Poudre River Public Library District, CO

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.