A freak accident left Starla Emerson with a deformed hand, low self-esteem, and a need to fade into the background. However, she finds it impossible to be invisible at her new high school where she is pushed front and center by a behind the scenes internet bully.
She joins forces with newfound friends to launch a counter attack in order to expose the cyber bully, aka grizzlygirl2015. Part of the plan involves the school’s bad boy Chase McFall. Star feels more for this golden eyed boy than she should as the plan progresses. The plan backfires and lands Star in a mountain of trouble.
Will she have the courage to be honest about her part in the plan and her true feelings for Chase? Or will she be left heartbroken? Once the truth is out…there’s no turning back.
- Goodreads Synopsis
This Review Will Be SPOILER-FREE
I was sent To Be Honest in exchange for an honest review. I really did not know what to expect from this book, at the time that I received this there were no reviews/feedback on this book so I was left with nothing.
Bullying is something I'm sure all of us are familiar with. It is very rare for me to come across a book that comes across bullying, let alone cyber bullying. I feel like the things that people are bullied about can seem very harmless and laughable in the bully's point of point of view, but to the victim it's something that slowly destroys you. I couldn't help but finding myself relating to Starla, while I do not have a hand deformity it was so easy to relate to her. There were so many scenes in this book where I was like "That's exactly how I felt." Our situations were completely different, but they were just as personal and that was what really made that connection.
Something that I loved about To Be Honest was that we saw how strong yet vulnerable Starla was. In a lot of books that I read now a days showcase characters that are strong but they will often hide their soft side. That is something that I really love seeing in characters because you get to see different waves of the character.
To Be Honest is one of those books where it contains so many elements. It's truly, truly a story of finding oneself and it's so inspirational. This is a book where you will find yourself smiling at some points and there will be points when you suddenly feel kind of sad but empowered.
Once again, I was really impressed with the writing style and the voice of this book. I didn't find that it was an amazing writing style but the voice of the characters really brought this book together.
There are so many contemporaries that are about teens but they never really capture them. To Be Honest is a book where it does just that, it is so relatable because it deals with things that we go through. It's not just a sappy love story. It does have a love story but it has realistic elements, for example the bullying aspect.
This story is told in a way where things don't come across as cheesy or cliche. That is something that I fear in books like this. I think the reason is that it doesn't just deal with romance, there is so much more to it and it's truly incredible. There are little lessons in this that you need to be reminded of and To Be Honest delivers that message.
Overall, I would say that I really enjoyed this book. It had a great story and characters but I can't say that I really loved it. It is definitely a very moving/inspirational book and I would definitely recommend it to all of the teenagers out there. Maybe more towards teens who are younger than me because I feel they could really benefit/learn more from reading this. I would rate it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
There are so many contemporaries that are about teens but they never really capture them. To Be Honest is a book where it does just that, it is so relatable because it deals with things that we go through. It's not just a sappy love story. It does have a love story but it has realistic elements, for example the bullying aspect.
This story is told in a way where things don't come across as cheesy or cliche. That is something that I fear in books like this. I think the reason is that it doesn't just deal with romance, there is so much more to it and it's truly incredible. There are little lessons in this that you need to be reminded of and To Be Honest delivers that message.
Overall, I would say that I really enjoyed this book. It had a great story and characters but I can't say that I really loved it. It is definitely a very moving/inspirational book and I would definitely recommend it to all of the teenagers out there. Maybe more towards teens who are younger than me because I feel they could really benefit/learn more from reading this. I would rate it a 3.5 out of 5 stars.
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