Cracked Up To Be

-Courtney Summers

"When "Perfect" Parker Fadley starts drinking at school and failing her classes, all of St. Peter's High goes on alert. How has the cheerleading captain, girlfriend of the most popular guy in school, consummate teacher's pet, and future valedictorian fallen so far from grace?" - taken from GoodReads

Summer's first book deals with a young girl and her turn to substance abuse over the guilt of having witnessed something terrible and having turned a blind eye to it.

I came across this read a few years ago in my public library and I was not disappointed, for the first time, my eyes were opened to the bad things that the world had to offer, not just the monsters that go bump in the night, but the monsters that often live inside our own heads.

I was thrust into a world filled with anxiety and depression and unhealthy coping mechanisms. As readers, we didn't just witness Parker's descent down the rabbit hole, we were a part of it, but more importantly, we were able to be there with her when she slowly began to pull herself out of the ruins.

Like all of Summer's books, this one was left open-ended, it left the readers satisfied, yet wanting more and I'd like to think that with the help of her parents and the new faces in her life Parker was able to move beyond the guilt and shame, that instead of it being a weight tied around her ankles, it is now a ring around her finger. Like the story of Prometheus, her past will always be a part of her and never truly forgotten, but the agony of it all a distant memory that she no longer has to suffer through.

[To all those who are interested; you can follow my very unorganized GoodReads account at DrewJoanne]

- Read the book yourself, form your own opinions, tell me what you think, and remember, make some tea, grab a blanket, and keep warm and read.