Dear Cassie by Lisa BursteinMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
GENRE: YA Contemporary
THEME: Romance, Drama
RECEIVED: Blog Tour
AUTHORS BLOG:
BLURB:
What if the last place you should fall in love is the first place that you do?
You’d think getting sent to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp for a month-long rehabilitation “retreat” and being forced to re-live it in this journal would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.
You’d be wrong.
There’s the reason I was sent to Turning Pines in the first place: I got arrested. On prom night. With my two best friends, who I haven’t talked to since and probably never will again. And then there’s the real reason I was sent here. The thing I can’t talk about with the guy I can’t even think about.
What if the moment you’ve closed yourself off is the moment you start to break open?
But there’s this guy here. Ben. And the more I swear he won’t—he can’t—the deeper under my skin he’s getting. After the thing that happened, I promised I’d never fall for another boy’s lies.
You’d think getting sent to Turning Pines Wilderness Camp for a month-long rehabilitation “retreat” and being forced to re-live it in this journal would be the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.
You’d be wrong.
There’s the reason I was sent to Turning Pines in the first place: I got arrested. On prom night. With my two best friends, who I haven’t talked to since and probably never will again. And then there’s the real reason I was sent here. The thing I can’t talk about with the guy I can’t even think about.
What if the moment you’ve closed yourself off is the moment you start to break open?
But there’s this guy here. Ben. And the more I swear he won’t—he can’t—the deeper under my skin he’s getting. After the thing that happened, I promised I’d never fall for another boy’s lies.
REVIEW:
After hearing a lot of good things about Pretty Amy, I was excited to read another chapter in Lisa Burstein series about three girls whose lives change after prom night. Dear Cassie is the second book and connects to Amy’s story in Pretty Amy. Even though I didn’t read the first book, Dear Cassie was easy to jump into and connect with the characters while learning about what really happened that night.
Dear Cassie follows Cassie as she is off to a camp to go through rehab after what happened, but there is something else that deep down is tearing her apart. As she tries to deal with the rustic outdoors and hard work during camp, she has to deal with the other campers and one boy who she wishes she could ignore.
Cassie is a complicated and broken character, she has a lot of issues that she needs to over come and her life wasn’t easy to begin with. Emotionally this story will hit the readers with the flashbacks that come out from Cassie writing in her diary. I was curious from the start on what secrets Cassie was hiding and if she would ever reveal anything. What I liked most is that her connection and trust in her brother, the only person who gets her. For me Cassie is extremely rough around the edges, I liked her spunk and wished she wouldn’t keep pushing Ben away. In the end as the reader you’ll root for her to get past what happen and try to find something or someone to make her happy.
There are some very colorful and entertaining side characters that help Cassie and push her while at camp. Ben is the love interest and at the beginning have a major love hate relationship, Cassie is just plain annoyed with him. I liked their dynamic and how opposite they were. The reader’s see how sweet this guy is, just trying so hard to get Cassie to open up. In the end with Ben he shocked me with something extreme and I loved it! Also Cassie’s bunkmates Nez and Troyer, who are both socially different from Cassie. Troyer is quiet and later on connects with Cassie and they become close friends. She has her reasons for being there but mostly I felt her parents gave up because she wouldn’t talk. Nez is a frustrating girl that clashes immediately with Cassie. I liked her boy crazy attitude and that I couldn’t quite figure her out. In the end this made for a interesting journey to read about and how they all go through this “rehab” along with Cassie.
Overall this was wonderfully well written and the pace keeps you guessing with trying to find out Cassie’s secret. My only issue was the language. Cassie is a hard character who hides behind her tough attitude but cursing to this extent was over the top at times. But past that I really enjoyed this story of understanding, heartache, growth and trying to move forward. I look forward to reading Pretty Amy now that I have finished this one. I’m curious as to Amy’s actions and see Cassie from another POV.
RECOMMENDATION:
This is a Young Adult novel with mature content for language. Fans of Such a Rush by Jennifer Echols and Things I Can’t Forget by Miranda Kenneally will enjoy Dear Cassie by Lisa Burstein.
Lisa Burstein is a tea seller by day and a writer by night. She received her MFA in Creative Writing from the Inland Northwest Center for Writers at Eastern Washington University and is glad to finally have it be worth more than the paper it was printed on. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her very patient husband, a neurotic dog and two cats.
She wrote her first story when she was in second grade. It was a Thanksgiving tale from the point of view of the turkey from freezer to oven to plate. It was scandalous.
PRETTY AMY May 2012 Entangled Publishing THE NEXT FOREVER January 2013 Entangled Publishing DEAR CASSIE March 2013 Entangled Publishing
AUTHOR LINKS:
BUY LINKS:
Amazon, Barnes & Noble, The Book Depository, Goodreads
1 paperback copy USA Only & 1 ebook International
Sounds super intriguing. I want to know more about what she's talking about in the blurb
ReplyDeleteHearing a lot of good things about this book, :) Thank you for the chance to win it :)
ReplyDeleteCassandra