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A review by ravenness
Pasadena by Sherri L. Smith
4.0
***I received this E-ARC for free from Penguin’s First to Read in exchange for an honest review***
This book was amazing, terrifying, touching and so many other adjectives that fall short of describing the experience of reading this story.
The author does an amazing job painting the picture of this broken girls life. Jude the main character was relatable, especially for me as our childhood experiences and home life were parallels. Jude receives a call while visiting her family back east for the summer that her best friend, Maggie Kim committed suicide. Distraught and confused , she returns to her home to her oblivious but loving mother and her mother’s inappropriate (to put it mildly) alcoholic boyfriend.
With the help of Joey, the boy who wants to be more than her friend, Jude sets out to discover the truth of what happened the night Maggie died. She doesn’t believe that her rich, popular and enigmatic friend actually committed suicide. Of course no one believes her claims that someone must have murdered Maggie, so she goes through her own investigation to try and unravel the mystery.
Many twists and turns throughout the story will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew when the story first started. Jude’s pain is real and raw and it isn’t masked or glossed over for the reader to feel more comfortable with it. There are trigger warnings galore, so if you are really sensitive to issues such as suicide, drug use or rape, those things will be discussed. This does not take away from the story at all. This is a great book and I would recommend to anyone looking for a new YA read.
This book was amazing, terrifying, touching and so many other adjectives that fall short of describing the experience of reading this story.
The author does an amazing job painting the picture of this broken girls life. Jude the main character was relatable, especially for me as our childhood experiences and home life were parallels. Jude receives a call while visiting her family back east for the summer that her best friend, Maggie Kim committed suicide. Distraught and confused , she returns to her home to her oblivious but loving mother and her mother’s inappropriate (to put it mildly) alcoholic boyfriend.
With the help of Joey, the boy who wants to be more than her friend, Jude sets out to discover the truth of what happened the night Maggie died. She doesn’t believe that her rich, popular and enigmatic friend actually committed suicide. Of course no one believes her claims that someone must have murdered Maggie, so she goes through her own investigation to try and unravel the mystery.
Many twists and turns throughout the story will leave you questioning everything you thought you knew when the story first started. Jude’s pain is real and raw and it isn’t masked or glossed over for the reader to feel more comfortable with it. There are trigger warnings galore, so if you are really sensitive to issues such as suicide, drug use or rape, those things will be discussed. This does not take away from the story at all. This is a great book and I would recommend to anyone looking for a new YA read.