Lisa Burstein

Review originally published on my blog: AWordsWorth.blogspot.com
eBook provided by author for review

Amy is a girl struggling to find herself, without knowing she's even fighting. Or rather, she knows she's fighting, she just doesn't know why or against what. High school started out rough, as her relationship with best friend (and neighbor) Joe gets strange, but when she finds Lila and Cassie, Amy starts to feel like she belongs somewhere. The three make it to their senior prom without major show more incident, and then their luck runs out: after being stood-up, the girls steal a huge bag of pot from Lila's date Brian's house, and things go downhill fast. High and reckless, they attempt to sneak into prom, then are arrested driving around town. That moment is both the end and the beginning.

As Amy begins the long process of trying to stay out of jail, she finds herself in battle after battle - with her parents (especially her mother), with her new therapist, with her coworker-slash-supervisor, with Joe, and most of all, with herself. Amy struggles to find the answers, the perfect solution to happiness - and oblivion. She's on a fast-track to self-destruction, even as she claims to be wanting better for her life. Once she hits the inevitable brick wall, she starts to see clearer - realizing she was the one making the choices all along, realizing she is the one who needs to come to terms with her actions and reactions. The fight's not over, but it suddenly gets a whole lot easier.

Pretty Amy is tough and gritty. There are some serious situations that arise, and Amy's reactions are not always what they could be - let alone should be. She's flawed, deeply, but she's human. She's real. I bet there are a lot of Amys out there in the world right now, fighting the same battles, trying to find the same answers. Though I wanted to shake her into waking up and looking at her world, I also found myself rooting for her - the journey is important, and Amy just made hers a little longer, learned a little more. As a reader, I took that journey too. show less

Pretty Amy by Lisa Burstein
ARC received from Entangled Publishing
Release Date: 5-8-2012
The Sisters Say: A candid portrait of a teenager’s painful road to self-discovery

Pretty Amy is a heart-breaking tale of a teenager’s struggle to climb herself out of the downward spiral that has landed her at rock bottom. Lisa Burstein shows us what it’s like to be lonely and then accepted and then outcast and vilified in high school.

When I first started reading this book, I had a very difficult show more time getting from one chapter to the next because Amy was so heart-breaking. She’s shy and insecure and every bit of her self-worth is based upon how other people see her. She’s an avid smoker and, following her friends, tries to rebel against the normal life that haunts her. I had a really difficult time relating to Amy because I never got in trouble in high school (my parents were teachers so I steered clear of trouble!), and I loved high school and cheerleading and prom and all the other experiences it had to offer. With that said, I am glad I finished the book because it did get much better near the end, and I finally had some respect as Amy began to forget about the world and concentrate on herself.

Amy wasn’t the only character that caused high emotions with me¬¬—there were times I literally wanted to punch her parents (especially her mom) in the face. And then stomp away, only to return and hit them again! Being a parent, I tried to imagine myself in their situation—a child in trouble with the police for drugs; but even thinking about that, I was still angry with how her parents responded. I won’t say any more because I don’t want to spoil it, but let’s just say, high school isn’t the only obstacle with which poor Amy must learn to deal.

So…what did I enjoy about the book?

I love Amy’s sarcastic side—that’s the only part of her that is truly her at the beginning. She’s smug, smart, and misunderstood; and all of those characteristics come out in her sarcasm. For example, at one point Amy is talking about her mom, “For Chanukah last year she got me an itchy sweater and Chicken Soup for the Daughter’s Soul. The inscription read, FYI.” This is the part of Amy that I enjoyed, and as she grows throughout the novel, we see more and more of the true Amy.

I also really love Joe, Amy’s ex-best friend. We catch small glimpses of him throughout the novel, and although at times he comes off as a jerk, you can truly see that he has a good heart. He is the character that brought a smile to my face and kept me waiting for more! I do wish there would have been more of a romance in the novel because I’m a sucker for romance, and I think it would have given a slight break from the gut-wrenching torment that Amy went through day by day.

Overall, I think many readers will relate to Amy or will recognize a friend in her. It’s a truly honest depiction of the pains that loneliness and insecurity can create, and how, seeking attention, someone can act out in the worst ways. While this book wasn’t really for me, I do believe that it will gain a large number of fans who feel for her situation and who can learn from Amy’s road to realization. Plus, the parrot, Amy's pet, is adorable! show less

Lisa Burstein has done it again - DEAR CASSIE is full of raw emotion and unique characters. Cassie's story picks up after the 'prom arrest' in PRETTY AMY...

Cassie is tough, snarky and seems completely sure of herself. It seemed like nothing could shake this girl. Nothing. And then her and her friends, Amy and Lila, where arrested on prom night. And now she is working at a pizzeria, trying to keep out of trouble until she is shipped off to do her 30 days in rehab at a wilderness camp instead show more of jail. She's ready for it. Nervous, but anxious to get it done and over with... but before she goes, she meets Adam... secretly starts seeing him... and falls in love.

There are some serious consequences to falling in love; especially with the wrong person.

Cassie arrives at rehab broken but ready to keep the attitude going and to tough things out. She's got her armor on and no one will be able to penetrate it. No one will ever know her dark secret or what she feels and goes through on a daily basis. But under all that toughness, there is a very scared and lonely girl; her bad-girl-I-don't-give-a-shit attitude isn't fooling anyone. And Cassie soon realizes that she is starting to unravel and doesn't know how much she can hold it together until everyone finds out the truth that she's been so desperate to hide.

When Cassie first arrives at camp, she meets Ben, who instantly takes a liking to her and reaches out to her. Ben's story is rare, and he is a good guy. He doesn't care what Cassie's past is about. Ben is willing to accept her, all of her, including her flaws and past. But Cassie has sworn off boys. They're not trustworthy, no one is. She can barely look herself in the eye; and if Ben ever found out the truth about her, he would never want to have anything to do with her. So why waste her time with the emotional roller-coaster of trying to have any type of relationship with him.

And then there are Cassie's roommates: Nez, the pathological liar. Troyer, the mute.
Nez was who Cassie used to be - the person who would take charge of the situation, who would answer back with smart-ass witty remarks. They obviously didn't get along, they were too much alike.
It was hard to understand Troyer at first. She didn't speak and although she did sometimes write things down, it wasn't enough to get a good reading on her, at first. Little by little, Cassie grew patient with her and they did develop a sort of friendship. One that helps Cassie immensely. One that she will never forget.

Lisa Burstein's writing is captivating - you can taste Cassie's angst and worries. You can also feel the grimness and smell the dirt of the camp. It is definitely one that I would never want to vacation at, let alone, send anyone in for rehab. Lisa tackles some tough issues that unfortunately some teens are faced with nowadays, self-harming and pregnancy. And Cassie's casual use of the f-word was to be expected and laughed at. It fit her personality so well, I couldn't imagine her any other way.

Overall, DEAR CASSIE is about forgiveness to oneself. You don't have to forget what has happened, but to learn and grow from it. It's also about letting your walls down, taking chances and finding a way to do better, to liking yourself. Because if you don't don't, no one else will be able to either. show less

Dear Cassie is, initially, a very hard book to like. Where Amy in Burstein's debut Pretty Amy is weak and sympathetic, Cassie is brash, vulgar and completely uninterested in anyone's pity. At times, Dear Cassie hurts to read, and I had a pretty visceral reaction to some of the hatred that Cassie spews at everyone. However, Dear Cassie is also the kind of book that slowly changes over time to become something else entirely, depicting an impressive character arc through the alteration in the show more writing style.

For approximately the first half of the book, Cassie insults everyone, both out loud and in her head, and she swears like a sailor. She slut shames, she makes nasty assumptions, and she generally hates on every single person in the world. While it's fairly obvious Cassie uses this hate as a coping mechanism, as a way of avoiding her own problems, it's not pleasant to read. What Burstein does quite effectively, though, is reflect Cassie's progress in rehab through her writing. As the book progresses, Cassie talks less about others, and sticks much more to the basic facts. She swears less, mostly only in her dialog. Over the course of the novel, her outlook becomes healthier, and that's reflected so well in the narration.

What I am perhaps most glad of is that Cassie had a deeper issue than the arrest that was so central to Pretty Amy. Yes, it was the catalyst that sent Cassie's life spinning off the rails, but she had much bigger problems come after. Burstein deals with a larger, darker subject than that, and does so well. Burstein does not try to fully heal Cassie over the course of the book, and she doesn't oversimplify her experiences. In fact, I think Cassie's still trying to bury her past, to forget what she's done at the novel's closing, which is more realistic than being over what she's been through.

I almost DNFed Dear Cassie, but pushed on in hopes of the change that I did eventually find within its pages. Like with Cassie herself, the other characters come off as stereotypes of the different kinds of rebellious teens: the slutty one, the tortured one, the hot one, the tattooed one, the jock, etc. It's a regular breakfast club of teen lawbreakers. Burstein does eventually give a bit more depth to the others, but the story really isn't about them. I get that the focus is on Cassie's mental progress, and that this wasn't the kind of camp where they all sit around and talk about their feelings. They're there because they're sort of beyond the point where ordinary behavior, like talking with others, can shock them out of their ways. Still, a bit more development into some of them might have been nice.

What left a bad taste in my mouth, though, is the romance. I do understand the purpose the flirtation served in helping Cassie overcome her issues with boys, but I think they got too serious too fast. I never felt a real connection between them, and I really don't think she's mentally stable enough for a relationship right now, not to mention a long distance one. On top of that, I'm not entirely convinced Ben is on the level. The romance sort of overpowers the plot towards the end, and that is unfortunate.

Much darker than its counterpart Pretty Amy, Dear Cassie tackles rough subject matter in an honest, harsh way. Though not for everyone, Dear Cassie will appeal to those looking to see more grit in YA writing, those sick of wimpy heroines. Burstein's sophomore novel is daring, and sure to be a hit with the right readers. show less