Sydney has always lived in the shadow of her older brother Peyton. Bigger than life Peyton has always more confident, more charismatic, more EVERYTHING than Sydney. “I was used to being invisible…I wasn’t shiny and charming like my brother, stunning and graceful like my mother or smart and dynamic like my friends.” But when Peyton’s bad boy antics climax in a drunk driving accident in which he paralyzes another teen, Sydney is thrust into the spotlight. Suddenly it seems like everyone knows what her brother did and are silently judging her and her family. So she isn’t too upset when her brother’s costly legal defense forces her parents to trade her private school for public. At least at Jackson High she can escape some of the scrutiny that comes from being Peyton’s sister, and distance herself from her brother’s creepy ex-addict friend Ames. It’s at Jackson that she meets bold Layla and her dreamy musician brother Mac, and embarks on a journey of self discovery that includes, but is not limited to:  taking lessons in French fry etiquette, riding a secret carousel, donning the image of a mysterious saint, standing up to her take-no-prisoners-mom, and falling deeply in love. It is only when the worst happens that Sydney is able to uncover the best of herself. This latest offering from Sarah Dessen will be no doubt embraced by her legion of devotees, while new fans will quickly be drawn into her polished, quietly powerful orbit by her trademark Everygirl heroine and quirky secondary characters who steal both scenes and hearts in every chapter. As for me, seasoned Dessen reader that I am, this will always be the book where I discovered that Sarah Dessen LOVES THE REAL HOUSEWIVES FRANCHISE AS MUCH AS I DO. Sydney’s preferred method of escape  is to watch a reality TV show that is clearly based on the RH. And the particulars were just WAY too detailed for Dessen to just have a passing knowledge of Kyle, NeNe and Bethany. That alone was worth the price of a hardcover 🙂
