Stella Parrish is an intelligent 17 year-old who is about to graduate and will be attending Princeton in the Fall. Teachers and students see a girl who is probably suffering no more than a case of bad attitude. What they fail to see is a teenager who is contemplating suicide.
As Stella reflects on her last two weeks of school we get a picture of a teen who has friends, good grades and a decent if somewhat strained relationship with her adoptive parents yet despite all of that there is just no explaining the emptiness she feels.
I particularly found it fascinating how the author shows Stella trying to connect with another classmate, Ainsley. The girls are quite the opposite from one another yet Stella tries hard to become Ainsley’s friend even to the point where Stella shows up at Ainsley’s art class and works on projects even though she’s not officially in the class. At that point in the story I couldn’t help but think that this was Stella’s own cry for someone to reach out to her.
Stella doesn’t have the best family situation or history, her parents died of a drug overdose and her grandfather wants her help in ending his life, so as a reader seeking answers I can’t help but assume these interactions also lead her to feel so alienated from life.
The subject matter is bleak but the narrative is dotted with a lot of wry observations, some which even had me smirking. This isn’t a book that will leave you feeling warm and fuzzy but it is one that will make you think.
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Added 11/06