What They Don't Know

Today's post is on What They Don't Know by Nicole Maggi. It is 348 long and is published by Sourcebooks Fire. The cover is a picture of two girls from behind. The intended reader is someone who is interesting in hard issues and teens having to make tough choices. There is some mild foul language, talk of sex and rape, and talk of voielnce in this book. The story is told from first person close of the two main characters moving from chapter to chapter. There Be Spoilers Ahead.

From the back of the book- Three secrets. One decision. A friendship that will change everything.
Mellie has always been the reliable friend, the good student, the doting daughter. But when an unspeakable act leads her to withdraw from everyone she loves, she is faced with a life-altering choice―a choice she must face alone.
Lise stands up―and speaks out―for what she believes in. And when she notices Mellie acting strangely, she gets caught up in trying to save her...all while trying to protect her own secret. One that might be the key to helping Mellie.
Told through Mellie and Lise's journal entries, this powerful, emotional novel chronicles Mellie's struggle to decide what is right for her and the unbreakable bond formed by the two girls on their journey.

Review- This a hard book about tough choices and two teens are having to make them. The two main characters feel so real with their problems, concerns, and the people around them. Mellie has had something horrible happen to her and now she's pregnant. Her family is very conservative but she does not want to have her rapist's baby. Lise has grown up with the believe that a woman has the right to control her body and notices that something is really wrong with her old friend Mellie. The story is tightly plotted, the characters are understandable, and the pacing it great. The only weak point of the book is the villains are one dimensional, they are bad and they do bad things because they are bad. I know that having a more three dimensional villain when writing from a first person perspective difficult but that is the only flaw in my opinion for this book. An interesting read about a hard topic.

I give this book a Four out of Five stars. I get nothing for my review and I borrowed this book from my local library.