Sisters of Misery
by Megan Kelley Hall
Published by Kensington Books (August release)
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Reviewed by Stephanie Boyd
Maddie Crane has been raised with the “right” friends, wearing the “right” clothes, and taking all the “right” lessons to be a successful society girl in their wealthy town of Hawthorne, Massachusetts. Her cousin Cordelia has been raised free-spirited, free-thinking, and self-sufficient in liberal California. Now Cordelia has moved to Hawthorne, and Maddie knows her “right” friends will never accept Cordelia’s free-spirited ways or the interest the boys are paying to her beautiful cousin–but she never imagined that they might torture or harm Cordelia. Maddie will have to choose between defending her cousin and standing up against bullies that will punish her too–or looking the other way when they abuse Cordelia.
I have very mixed feelings about this book. For an adult reader of young adult fiction, it is a very good story but a little more extreme and violent than I expected in a book targeted for teen readers. The bullies in this book are excessive and I believe over the top. Most girls growing up experience or witness cliques of girls targeting another girl for some imagined slight or for being different–but not to this extent. On the other hand, there are important lessons that can be learned from this book about the value of family loyalty, knowing when your friends are wrong and standing up for what you believe, and the dilemma of knowing when or if you should involve adults in a situation out of your control.
If you are an adult reader, the story is good, the plot intriguing, and the suspense nail-biting. If you are the parent of a teen girl that wants to read this book, I recommend you read it first and determine if it is appropriate for your particular child. This book presents a marvelous opportunity for parents and teens to dialog about bullying, drugs and alcohol, and peer pressure situations that may occur in your child’s life and how you wish for your child to handle it.
I CANNOT, in good conscience, recommend this book to teen girls without their parents being aware of the nature of the abuse and violence perpetrated by teenagers in this story.
Armchair Interviews agrees completely!
Author’s Web site: http://www.MeganKelleyHall.com