Kirkus Review
What begins as a dark comedy, with a viciously cruel cheerleader found dead (clad only in a coconut-shell bra and a grass miniskirt), takes a surprise flashback turn into raw emotional honesty.High school junior Emma is totally fine with her divorced mother's newly discovered bisexuality, but why does her mom's new girlfriend have to have such a complete hellbeast of a daughter? Quinn's not mean in the sense of petty or snarky but in the sense of "full-throttle mega-mean girl with acid spit and laser eyes." A hot, popular, white cheerleader, Quinn happily destroys lives; her homophobic, racist, fatphobic vitriol is the least of her nastiness. Emmaa fat, studious, white fan of comics and Doctor Whowants to keep things civil for the sake of her mom and Quinn's, but she sees only two options: being complicit in Quinn's destructive behavior or becoming its prime target. Emma's blossoming in the face of her semistepsister's spite seems at first to be a straight-up Heathers-style bitch-clique comedy, but Quinn's death shocks her into some painful introspection. Without ever excusing Quinn's (or Emma's) sins, Darrow's dark novel forces its readers to see beyond character clich. The macabre black humor is spot-on, while the subverted tropes rework edgy nihilism into a sniffle-inducing recognition of humanity. Another smart, savage winner from the author of The Awesome (2015). (Fiction. 13-16) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
With precise language that rings with sincerity and wit, Emma narrates her shift from thinking of her stepsister, Quinn, as a full-throttle mega-mean girl with acid spit and laser eyes to a green banana. Bananas don't get delicious until they're yellow. High-school juniors Quinn and Emma are forced to cohabitate when their mothers start dating and move in together. Tall, blonde, beautiful Quinn is basically the antithesis of geeky, shy Emma, but the real strain on their relationship is the havoc Quinn starts wreaking on the life of anyone she perceives as an obstacle in her life: teachers, classmates, and even Emma herself. But when Quinn dies suddenly from an allergic reaction, Emma reflects on the past several months with Quinn and wonders whether anyone really knew her. Darrows' (The Awesome, 2015) new YA novel is a seriously smart, funny, and empathetic look at how someone's manufactured exterior might be hiding inner turmoil, and ultimately advocates for looking past labels and categories.--Kling, Caitlin Copyright 2017 Booklist