I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn’t. It was very raw and emotional, and was really well written in that aspect. However, I just had a really hard time with this one. It really bugged me how Edmonton was portrayed as basically a frozen wasteland, and I found the characters very stereotypical. I’m sure there are people who will love this book, but it just wasn’t for me at all.

It took me a while to figure out where the title of this book came from, but figured it out!

Short book, but I loved it. The story of family violence and hope when they managed to get away. This book was both inspirational and scary as it does not shy away from domestic violence and the results of living it.

I loved Vienna, who was a strong character that I immediately loved. Story was very well written, sensitive but honest.

The only negative for me - the characters speak a mixture of Parisian French, immediately followed by the English translations. First of all, most French people do not say "cherie" at random times, especially not in a sentence. I hate when authors do this as it makes the characters sound so silly. I am bilingual and can tell you that nobody says something in French and then translates it immediately for that same person. UGH! pet peeve.

Otherwise, I loved this book (

I received a copy of this book for a fair and honest review. I have to say this off the top that the title did not work for me for this book. I know that her getting through her final year and graduation was important, but the story about so much more. It was about the strength of a mother and daughter who put the end to the violence that was going on in their lives. Vienna does what she has to keep her friends and her mother save when her family's problems come after them. It is a good fast paced story. I enjoyed it.