Author: Donna Cooner              
Publisher: Point
Genre:  Young Adult
Source: BEA

Publication Date:  August 26, 2014

Goodreads:  Donna Cooner establishes herself as our own Jodi Picoult in this timely tale of sisters, loss, and redemption.

Torrey Grey is famous. At least, on the internet. Thousands of people watch her popular videos on fashion and beauty. But when Torrey’s sister is killed in an accident — maybe because of Torrey and her videos — Torrey’s perfect world implodes.

Now, strangers online are bashing Torrey. And at her new school, she doesn’t know who to trust. Is queen bee Blair only being sweet because of Torrey’s internet infamy? What about Raylene, who is decidedly unpopular, but seems accepts Torrey for who she is? And then there’s Luis, with his brooding dark eyes, whose family runs the local funeral home. Torrey finds herself drawn to Luis, and his fascinating stories about El dio de los Muertos, the Day of the Dead.

As the Day of the Dead draws near, Torrey will have to really look at her own feelings about death, and life, and everything in between. Can she learn to mourn her sister out of the public eye?

Ope’s Opinion:  Grieving is hard enough, then add being a teen, your sister and doing your grieving in public.  For Torrey that is what happened.  Watching her navigate her way through this tragedy felt realistic.  She is a typical teen – she is concerned about what other people think, how she looks and who is watching her.  

There were a host of characters, as there usually is any teens life.  Those characters were interesting and brought a lot to the story line.  There were some unexplored aspects of those characters that would make an interesting companion novel to this one.

It is good to see the progression of her healing.  It was a slow process – which felt realistic. I think Torrey is a good example to a young person who may have lost someone close to them.

I think those readers who enjoy blogs and youtube videos would enjoy this read.

Rating:  Three Chairs – I like the book enough to suggest it to a friend or two.