Wow! Just wow! This book blew me away! I've loved this authors work in the past and she just always continues to amazing me. Definitely one of the best books of the year so far

Wow. This book was like a sucker punch. So many of Grace's words could have been mine. While reading this book, I kept thinking to myself "This author has been in an emotionally abusive relationship. She has to have been. This is so real". And I was right. I was also in an emotionally abusive relationship, though it took me awhile to realize that. Though it didn't take me as long to realize that I was constantly unhappy with someone who should have made me happy.

Demetrios skillfully shows how a smart girl like Grace could fall for someone like Gavin, someone who exhibited clear warning signs that he wasn't all right. But Grace thought he was hot, and he was tragic, and thought that was beautiful. He made her feel special, like he was the only one who truly got her, and he knew how to manipulate her to make it feel like only he could save her from her hard life. That's how it goes. It felt honest to me that Grace would fall for him because of how he'd "save" her and how he made it seem like he was the only one who could really love him.

And how it was great at first, but after awhile it wasn't. While my own "Gavin" had a completely different personality than book Gavin (my ex was on the other extreme end of "emotional" from Gavin... as in he pretty much had none while Gavin had too much), the manipulation and mind games and "tests" and ultimatums were all too familiar. It broke my heart to read Grace falling for it every time, because I did too.

This book spoke to me. It was well-written, and it was an excellent view of someone trapped in a relationship that she knows is toxic and damaging but who feels she has no choice but to stay in because so much of other peoples' happiness is riding on it, and because she felt it was her only escape from her abusive home life. She felt as if her own happiness was incidental, even if it wasn't explicitly said. I highlighted so many lines in this book, either because they showed how abusive Gavin was, or because I felt exactly like Grace when I was 22 and in love with someone who hurt me, though thankfully I didn't fall as deeply as Grace did.

This book doesn't pull any punches. There's sex, drinking, and very clear depictions of abuse. But it's honest and important. I especially appreciate that the author included resources for anyone who may be in an abusive relationship.

I'm very glad that this book showed that not all abuse is physical.

Terrific book for teens. Interesting story telling voice/style. Realistic characters who clearly struggle with relationship boundaries in an escalating domestic violence situation. I really enjoyed the 'thinking back' approach. Kept me interested and engaged until the last page.

I originally requested this title because my teens had been requesting it, but I'm pleased to have found a new favorite author! I loved the atmosphere and the cover art, the characters... there's a lot to talk about here and I think it would make a good book talk pick.

WOWZERS! This book just wow! It blew me away. It really hit me in the feels as this book focuses on abuse. Relationship abuse from parents and her boyfriend. Poor Grace is such a smart cookie and i absolutely loved all the theater / music references in it! The book starts at the end of the relationship and continues on to describe how Grace came to be in this abusive relationship. This book was beautifully haunting and imaginative. Heather will send you on a roller coaster of emotions as you look deep inside the scary parts of toxic relationships. Grace was well written and you are instantly drawn to her because she is such a beautiful dreamer, funny, and charismatic. The supporting cast was well written and your emotion for them is to slap the crap out of them as they are just awful people. (awful character wise but very well written). I stayed up way late reading this beautifully written story as I could not out it down. I love emotional books and ones that cover dark things in life and this one is definitely on my top 10 list! Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Children's Publishing Group and Henry Holt and Co. (BYR) for sending me this book in exchange for my honest review. 5 stars from me!

I was really excited but also so incredibly nervous to read Bad Romance because it tackles a subject that is incredibly sensitive for me and is rarely done right. I am a big fan of Demetrios though so I trusted going in that if any one could write this story, she could. Grace's story was so raw and I saw so many parallels in my own life that it made reading the story very difficult but it was so necessary. I do think Bad Romance should be required a required reading for teens (and adults) because it has the potential to help people understand the different forms of abuse and help people recognize it in their own lives.

I wish I could shake her hand and thank her for writing this story. For getting it right. For not romanticizing abuse. For showing me that there are people out there who understand what it's like. I highly, highly recommend reading this one even if YA contemporary isn't your usual genre

What a powerful book. This book not only has the typical YA conflicts but adds a powerful new issue of teen abusive relationships. The main character adding the comments into the text actually builds up the emotions and feelings of the book. It did not end as bad as I thought it would but is definitely is a good example of the abuse cycle.

This title was tough to take in, and, in the end, I couldn’t swallow it. Demetrios’ novel starts out in almost a whiney voice. Grace is obviously depressed and pining for a love now lost. It was a little stereotypical and quite overdone. The idea of looking back at a relationship to see it grow and fall apart is a solid one, the problem with this story is that the reader couldn’t enjoy the good times, because they were continuously reminded by Grace that it was going to end, horribly. I would have liked to have read about the relationship, without commentary, so that I could have fallen in love with Gavin myself just to be crushed right alongside Grace. This would have had more effect on the reader I feel.
Grace’s family life was also to overdone to be believed. I have known people with strict parents and in bad situations with step parents. Her Cinderella status could have been believed if it was more consistent. Grace is force to do ALL the chores and gets into trouble if she messes up one, yet she has time to be a good student and have a fairly decent social life. She misses movie nights and social gatherings with friends, yet punishments never interfere with her theater, which, from personal experience, takes A LOT of time.
The nail in the coffin for me was the references made throughout the novel. Music, directors, movies, and Rent references were made fairly often and, although relevant for me (a mid-thirties gal) would not be well known to today’s normal teen. I asked my teen group about these subjects, titles, and people and was met with blank stares. Demetrios will need to update her pop culture trivia and work on her believability to fix this novel.

Grace knows what she wants in life - out of her house, town and to a career in New York. Her stepfather is cruel (bordering on abusive), her mother is mentally unbalanced and uses Grace as her maid, and Grace is counting the days until she can leave. Then school heartthrob Gavin decides to bring Grace into his orbit. At first it is a great relationship. But quickly Gavin becomes possessive and twists their love. He becomes manipulative and everyone around Grace can see how toxic the relationship is long before Grace does. But the big problem for Grace is how to extricate herself from the relationship as Gavin is so skillful blocking her every exit. It is interesting that Grace, who has seen her mother deal with an abusive relationship, does not notice the same thing as it happens between her and Gavin.

*I received a copy of this book free, Via Netgalley. In exchange of an honest review.*

So, when I first started this book, my initial thought was " Oh Great, a book that is going to use an absurd amount of foul words, to make up for the lack of creativity" I'm glad I chose to keep reading. Let me state here, I hate books with a lot of curse words, I think it's something that just doesn't need to happen, especially in YA books.

Next let me say, this book was like reading chapters of my own teenage years, and the terrible relationship I was in. Most people will read this book, and think, "Just Break Up With Him". It's not that easy, in relationships like this you are brainwashed, your self esteem is the lowest that it has ever been, and you are so mentally weak, that the thought of breaking up, and being alone, is more terrifying than being in the relationship. You worry more about them, than you worry about yourself.

I connected to this book, I connected to Grace, I knew how she felt, I knew what it was like to have everyone telling you what to do, and how to do it. Her parents sucked, She gave up everything, and learned the hardest lesson a teen could ever possibly learn.

This book was written incredibly well, and thankfully the over abundance of curse words stopped, and what was left was a gut wrenching story of a girl, and her first love, and the power it, and he has over her. Guys, this is a book, most teens should read. June 13th, 2017 make it a priority, to buy this book.

Admittedly, I think I have a more personal connection to this one having been in a similar relationship. That being said - I think this is probably one of the most important books coming out this year. It shows that abuse isn't always physical and how easy it is to find ourselves in a cycle. I also loved Demetrios's method of storytelling - we as readers are already given a heads up that the relationship between Grace and Gavin is troubled, but watching it unfold adds a profound depth that really hits home. I cannot sing enough praises for this book. I want to put it in the hands of not only every teen girl but every woman out there. A definite must for every YA collection and one I hope gets the recognition it deserves.

I give the book 2 stars. I had difficulty getting through the book. I had trouble with the writing. I think it's the structure of the writing, what trouble me. I think there might be others who would enjoy the style of writing and the subject matter of the book. Since I had trouble with the writing I could not connect or like any of the characters. This is not the first book I would recommend.

This book was so very difficult to read. It saddens me deeply that domestic violence is a reality, but how much more so that teen dating violence is a reality as well. It's easy for a third party like us readers, or Grace's friends, to say a victim should just break up and leave, but this book shows a pretty accurate picture of why that is so much easier said than done.