Review by Booklist Review
As far as family goes, Michaela has only ever really had her mom. Though she sees her dad for birthdays and holidays, she and her mom are the perfect twosome. So when Michaela's mom dies suddenly in an accident, it's a devastating blow. It's an even bigger shock when she learns that she wasn't the product of a brief fling, like she thought, but an affair, and her dad has another family, with three kids who knew nothing about Michaela's existence. While Michaela is shell-shocked, middle daughter Emery, just a few months apart from Michaela in age, makes her displeasure about the situation clear--especially as Michaela accidentally stumbles into Emery's life, first befriending Emery's ex-boyfriend, then getting cast as Cinderella in the school production of Into the Woods, the role Emery wanted. Michaela struggles to find common ground with her new family, especially with her father's wife, whose own mother is dying. Vincent unpacks Michaela's journey through complicated family dynamics and the never-linear trajectory of grief in this tender, emotional story of perseverance.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Sixteen-year-old Michaela Rutherford's world is upended when she's sent to live with her "pop-up parent" father in Bradford, Okla., following her mother's death. Once there, Michaela learns that she was the result of an affair and that her father had an entire family she never knew about. But even as she navigates living with her stepmother Cynthia and stepsiblings Gabe, 17; Emery, 16; and Cody, 12, she finds a niche at her new school when she lands the lead part of Cinderella in the prestigious theater department's production of Into the Woods. Unfortunately, theater is Emery's world, and handsome, charming Ben--whom Michaela quickly begins dating--is Emery's ex-boyfriend. As Michaela encroaches on Emery's territory, their already tense relationship implodes, and Michaela struggles to balance her own goals with the expectations of a family she just met. Certain plot elements conclude predictably, and the seemingly singular focus on Michaela and Emery's relationship causes Michaela's other familial dynamics to feel thinly developed in comparison. Nevertheless, Vincent's (Every Single Lie) imperfect characters are compassionately drawn, presenting a nuanced picture of one teen's feelings of displacement amid grief and guilt. All characters read as white. Ages 12--up. Agent: Ginger Clark, Ginger Clark Literary. (July)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Michaela struggles with bereavement and adjusting to a new life. Sixteen-year-old Michaela's life changes radically when, on what seems like another mundane weekday, her single mother is hit by a car and passes away. Enter her distant father, previously only present at birthdays and around holidays, and his secret family, consisting of his wife and three children, Gabe, Cody, and Emery, who are as shocked to learn of her existence as she is of theirs. After being taken to live with her father's family, Michaela struggles with grief that is compounded by the revelation that her birth was the result of an affair. She must adjust to new home and school lives and sharing a room with half sister Emery, who is almost exactly her age. As she slowly makes friends through a theater group, she finds herself accidentally treading in Emery's territory at school as well as at home. Tensions rise, and Michaela must negotiate their tenuous relationship while pursuing her own happiness. While slightly predictable plotwise (particularly the romance storyline), with depictions of teen drug and alcohol use that feel familiar and rote, overall, the characters, their growth, and their changing relationships shine. Discussions of familial responsibility, guilt, and the varied forms grief can take are realistic and well done. The explorations of the impacts of infidelity and hiding the truth are equally intriguing. Michaela and the main cast are White. Well-drawn, well-developed characters make this a worthwhile read. (Fiction. 12-18) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
