This really just wasn't for me, although I do believe that many people will enjoy reading it. At times it felt very unrealistic, stereotypical and over the top, which is something that I just don't enjoy in books, especially for teenage characters. It felt very along the lines of shows like Riverdale, or Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, so if you enjoy those shows then I absolutely recommend it.

I understand the bullied-becoming-the-bully thing, but at the same time, I don't. It was a really great story, don't get me wrong, but it just wasn't really for me. However, the whole revenge thing was amazeballs!





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Stevie knows her school has its cliques, but she doesn't think they were too bad until she falls foul of the popular girls. Alone both in school and at home, she finds friendship with other outsiders. Together they start to get their revenge on the bullies, until things start going too far and the line between bully and victim blurs.

This seemed like it would be a really good read. However, it's extremely slow paced. The whole first half of it is setting things up - it could easily have been done much faster, but no one even mentions revenge until 48%, it's all just set up until then. The revenge itself is mostly done offscreen and just discussed afterwards. Stevie was occasionally childish and self absorbed, but as a teenager that's justified. And I'm not sure I understand the revelation about Dee.

I don't want it to seem like this is a terrible novel. It was interesting and I liked all the shout outs to classic movies. I am a bit confused about how old the characters are; it says fourteen at one point and they're in ninth grade, but they're described as drinking and having sex and they certainly act older. I hope they are older, to be honest.

Not an awful read, but not a great one either.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a free review copy.

Love, Heather was a powerful yet uncomfortable journey for me. It takes you into the life of Stevie a teenage girl who has been thrust into life at high school. Her childhood best friend turns on her now that they are hanging with the "popular" kids and all of sudden Stevie is the target of bullying. She feels anger and sadness take over. These new popular kids think they rule the school. Stevie and a new friend Dee come up with a plan to fight back and take the power back from all the bullying that goes on at school. Soon things get out of hand and Stevie can feel herself spiraling out of control. She makes a decision for one last powerful statement.
This is considered an YA novel but I found it was relatable to me as a mother and just overall as a women who knows how tough high school can be! This book touches upon subjects of bullying, social media, family disputes, rape culture, mental health and trans gender. This book definitely made me feel a lot of emotions. I was uncomfortable with the bullying and felt great sadness but I think the author wanted to make that statement. How easy it is now to be a bully with social media, and how quickly people can turn on each other through gossip. Also how quickly things can escalate if we are not watching our youth and being supportive. A very impactful read!

DNF @ 50% I am throwing in the towel on this one at 50% It just isn't holding my interest at this point.

Wow!!!
Well written, amazing, captivating, intense... storyline with interesting characters. Good pace.
Good from start to end, not boring!
Kept me turning the pages to see what happens next...

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book. This is my honest review. All opinions are my own.

“Nothing’s a big deal until everything is.”

Stevie is a fourteen year old girl who is trying to fit in, stay close to her long time best friend, and just make it through her teen years and high school. Seems simple enough, but when you’re unexpectedly dragged into the popular crowd and then kicked out just as quickly, dealing can be a struggle. On top of that her home life is rather lonely, and in the loving bubble she found with her best friend’s family she feels suddenly placed on the outskirts.

She’s just trying to be herself and be apart of the things she loves with the people she loves, but not everyone is taking her eagerness to fit in well. Honestly once she starts getting bullied it’s so abrupt and blunt that it made my stomach roll, but honestly that’s real. It can take nothing but a whisper and then gang mentality and lies roll out from the high school telephone game.

Although this book does start off rather slowly it eventually picks up halfway through. I want to say that I enjoyed this one, but honestly I was cringing nearly the entire time I read it. Not because it’s a “bad book” but more so because almost everything that happens in it is cringe. I was bracing myself for what would come next. That being said, it feels that way, because half the things in this book are what teens and even younger experience every day in schools and online. It’s shocking and just a reminder that it’s tough out there. We need to do better. We need to pay attention.

Love, Heather is a very real take on the high school experience from one person’s perspective. How you are in the mindset that things revolve around you, even if you’re not truly a self centered person. You’re still in the mindset of how what everyone else is doing plays into YOUR life. How someone who is your very best friend can also be your very worst enemy. Or at least seem like it. The small intimacies you share with someone can become their greatest weapon against you. How someone can be lonely and sad and no one really notices it, because they are focused on themselves. How bullying really does break someone down, and how people react in different ways to bullying. How social media can make you feel loved, but also destroy you as well. How people can take their insecurities and jealousy and turn it into something vicious and cruel. How things can be going one way, but the script can flip almost instantly, and then back again. How the bullied become the bullies, and that isn’t the answer either.

I think that this book is filled with lessons and morals. They are just weaved into a story that is hard to read at times, with characters that you want to cheer for, but also want to shake a bit.

Thank you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Publishing for the advanced copy of Love, Heather.

I enjoyed this book. It was engaging for the most part and I liked Stevie. I really felt for her. It’s hard to be 14 and only wanting to fit in. Especially while losing your best friend. I liked that there is a broad cast of characters and you get to really see them through Stevie’s eyes.

This books hits a lot of topics. Like a Lot. And so it seemed like the focus was spread a little thin. Because this book was trying to cover so much, there were parts of the story that dragged. Situations had to be set up and there was sometimes a lot of explanation to go with it- almost felt like info dumps.

The ending was a little rushed. There is a lot of build up to the twist and so many clues left for you to see. But for me, the twist fell flat. I was surprised, yes, but it didn’t feel like it was given a proper amount of time before the reader has to move on to the conclusion. And if you’re looking for a book that is totally focused on revenge the whole time, this isn’t it. The revenge plots don’t start until almost 50% of the way through the book.

I think this is going to be a popular book when it releases. It has the potential to be a very important and powerful book to someone going through some of the things these characters experience.

Love Heather - Laurie Petrou
A truly gripping read. Laurie Petrou really demonstrates the modern day life for high school and how to survive it..... or not. Social media, peer pressure to behave in a certain way and the cliques is not a good mix if you are isolated from it all - Listen, notice and be kind always.

Thank you NetGalley for this book in exchange for a honest review.

Loved this book! The story flows the characters are fascinating and I couldn't put it down. Highly recommend.

This struck me as some wonderful modern version of the movie Heaters.
A movie I LOVE!!!
The author puts her own twist on it and it's a good one ;)
I'm positive she was aware of this comparison since she references the movie several times throughout the book and even ties it into the title.
I do wish the ending had been a bit more drawn out since I feel like there was more that could have been addressed or just in more detail.
Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for my ARC.

So this book I thought was a very good look at how bullying can lead to actions that none of us would like to see happening in high schools today. The main character Stevie is being raised by her mother in a small town in Canada. Her father has left some time ago (the timeline issue I had will be discussed further below) and barely stays in contact with her. So Stevie has thrown herself into the family life of her best friend Lottie. I thought though that some key aspects of the book that were shown Petrou ignores later on. I wish that it had been brought up later on, but it seems like there was a rush to get to the ending. Petrou does a great job of showing the terrors of high school, how those who "don't fit in" can be bullied, and how many adults just either ignore it or think that it's something that kids need to get through.

"Love, Heather" follows 14 year old Stevie. Stevie feels a bit unmoored due to her best friend Lottie now being pulled into the cool crowd at school. Stevie at first is grudingly accepted along, but due to a faux pas and her need to be part of everything, she starts to turn off one of the Queen Bees and then Lottie. Soon she is being bullied and harassed via social media and has no one to turn to except for a girl named Dee who seems just as sick of the Queen Bees of Woepine High School as Stevie does. Taking inspiration from the movie "Heathers" the two girls soon start to get back a those who have overlooked them, harassed them, and bullied them by leaving their calling card, "Love, Heather".

Stevie pulls at your heart strings. She just wants to fit in. A girl who loves movies, who misses her father, and wishes that her mother was there for her more, you can see why she envies Lottie's family and pushes her way in there, even when she is not wanted at times. When Lottie's family goes through a big upheaval, Stevie still pushes her way in and doesn't read the nonverbal and even verbal cues from Lottie to just let things be for a bit. That said, at times I wanted to take Stevie aside and tell her to relax, to not try so hard. Throughout the book you can feel her anxiety at being left out of things, at Lottie getting new friends, and even a guy she may like. She wants to keep them looped into one another and she doesn't understand why Lottie is trying to pull away from her. And then of course that loops back to Stevie's father who in essence abandoned her, and her mother who is focused on finding love again.

The other characters in the book needed some development I thought. Maybe if Petrou had shown Lottie and Stevie prior to this time period it would have worked. But since we just get Stevie's POV, we get the sense that Lottie was pulling away from Stevie long before now. I wish we had gotten Lottie's POV at times since I can see why she gets frustrated with Stevie. It's hard to be responsible for someone else's happiness.

We get Lottie's mother who is going through something big that Stevie feels close to.There is a whole plot dealing with this so I won't spoil, but it makes things more complicated for both girls.

The other girls in this story, Dee, Paige, and Breanne are all different, but yes, you can see that Breanne is the typical Queen Bee who slaps down at anyone that she perceives as weak. Paige at first seems a little nicer, but just seems eager to go after anyone in order to keep Breanne out of her face. Dee reminds me of JD from Heathers. Looking to cause chaos in anyway that she can. I can see why though Paige pulls away from Stevie, Breanne is just a nasty piece of work though.

I thought the writing was good, Petrou obviously thinks that her readers will be familiar with the movie Heathers and get the references to that in her book. I do think though that the "twist" should have been discussed or analyzed. It seems to have been largely ignored after readers get the reveal about it and I honestly then went back to certain scenes. The flow was up and down and I do think that is because sometimes things are discussed and I would get confused about the time period. For example, there is reference to Stevie's father leaving and her mother having to be a single mother. Then it's inferred he must have left years ago which made no sense based on what was said. It was little stuff like that which threw me. Petrou does showcase the months that are passing in the story though so you can see how long it has been between incidents.

Though the book takes place in Canada, it of course has similarities to schools in the United States. We have Stevie going through the motions of the day and dealing with the never ending onslaught of bullying and you can see the toll that takes on her. Lottie's mother

I thought the ending wrapped things up too neatly. Though I don't know Canadian law, I would still wonder at the lack of consequences for things that go down in the book. I can't complain though since I think the American justice system at times has too harsh of a sentence instead of trying to address a problem.

Teens are asshole, man.

Love Heather is a story of the bullies.....who are bullied. It hits all the bullet points: transphobia, gun safety, sexual harassment..... it's hard to talk about because this has the potential to be a powerful book for YA readers.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

**Disclaimer: I received a free early access copy of Love, Heather from Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for review purposes.  Thank you to them for this opportunity.

Love, Heather by Laurie Petrou is a YA contemporary, with some mystery/thriller aspects, that draws inspiration from classic 80s revenge flicks.  It is set in Canada and primarily revolves around a girl named Stevie who is a freshman in high school and struggling with certain social dynamics.  I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads.  It publishes on October 8th.



Here’s the summary from Goodreads:

What you see isn't always what you get.
Stevie never meant for things to go this far. When she and Dee--defiant, bold, indestructible Dee--started all this, there was a purpose to their acts of vengeance: to put the bullies of Woepine High School back in their place. And three months ago, Stevie believed they deserved it. Once her best friend turned on her, the rest of the school followed. Stevie was alone and unprotected with a target on her back. Online, it was worse.
It was Dee's idea to get them all back with a few clever pranks, signing each act Love, Heather--an homage to her favorite 80's revenge flick. Despite herself, Stevie can't help getting caught up in the payback, reveling in every minute of suffering. And for a while, it works: it seems the meek have inherited the school.
But when anonymous students begin joining in, punishing perceived slights with increasingly violent ferocity, the line between villain and vigilante begins to blur. As friends turn on each other and the administration scrambles to regain control, it becomes clear: whatever Dee and Stevie started has gained a mind--and teeth--of its own. And when it finally swallows them whole, one will reemerge changed, with a plan for one final, terrifying act of revenge.

Love, Heather was an interesting read for me.  I was super intrigued by the basic premise as sold by the NetGalley website.  Of course, before I started reading it, I forgot what it was about and just faced it with what it presented me with.  From the start, having forgotten the blurb, I could tell this book was going to make me cry.  There was a girl and she felt like she was on shaky ground with her bff, and that’s something that really gets to me.  I really struggle to read about end of friendships and rocky friendships.  And I did cry.  I bawled.  I cried so much my boyfriend stopped what he was doing and came to cuddle me to make sure I felt okay.  Stevie is a deeply relatable character and I truly felt her devastation as she was pushed into being a pariah.

However, there was a line that she crossed where I struggled to relate to her and struggled with the concept of the book at all.  I don't want to spoil the ending, but I wasn't really a fan.  I also don't really know how I feel about a certain twist that happened.  So I really did struggle with my rating for this book.  I just was so deeply emotionally effected that I felt like I had to give it a four star rating.  However, I may go back and change it and drop it down.  It was hard.  I'm very indecisive.

This is a book that if you end up reading it, I recommend that you tread carefully.  It deals with a lot of sensitive subjects, and I'm not sure it dealt with all of them super well.  I felt that the depiction of bullying and bullying in a social media era felt very realistic.  The main character also gets raped, and I felt like that was depicted realistically, but again I get stuck on the ending and the aftermath of that final, terrifying act of revenge mentioned in the summary.

I appreciated the representation in this novel though.  One of the main characters, one of Stevie's teachers, transitions from Rhonda to Pete.  I thought this was dealt with well, and it was interesting to see how the other characters reacted to it.  There were a variety of reactions, and they all felt very understandable, even the negative ones.  Obviously, people should be accepting of those who are transitioning, but when you heard about certain characters thoughts, it made sense that they might be struggling with the knowledge.  It was also good to see students be accepting of their teacher as well.

In a lot of ways, it felt like a realistic depiction of what some kids deal with on a daily basis in high school.  However, it also made me really sad.  I don't want any of my students to be dealing with something like that, or to feel like they can't reach out to anyone.  I know that it's some kids' realities, but it's still rough to read about.  I felt like Petrou covered the all encompassing feeling of bullying nowadays very well.  It was heartbreaking to read about.

All in all, I'm not sure that I want to recommend this book.  It's weird to say but I really had a lot of conflicting feelings about it.  If you're interested, check it out, but tread carefully.  It deals with a lot of triggering content, and I don't think all readers will enjoy it.  I think that's all I want to say about this book today.  Thank you again to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this.  I had a lot of feelings about it and none of them were very well expressed, but it was definitely an interesting book.

Wow!! This book was an eye-opening read.. The bullied, end up being the bullies in this dark novel. My emotions were all over the place, hating the bullies, there was every kind of bullying, it was a dark, very disturbing, but educational book.
This book should be read by Young Adults and their parents, it's realistic, harsh, gut-wrenching painful, but I feel like this book needs to be read even in high schools English classes. My daughter was bullied in elementary school, we pulled her from the school and home-schooled her for 3 years. So reading this book had my emotions all over the place.
We need to learn how to not pass judgment on our peers, but yet be there for them, as we don't know what someone might be dealing with at home.
Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book..

I read this one as an e-book on my phone. Thank you to netgalley for giving me a copy of this. This was definitely a great book as well as very strong and powerful.
There are lots of trigger warnings in this book such as bullying, cyberbullying, rape, emotional abuse, mental health. It also does contain LGBTQ with a very interesting spin that is different from anything I have personally seen so far.
Stevie is in high school and lives with her mom. She is very close to her best friend and life is just plain good until it isn’t. Life takes a turn for the worst when her best friend since childhood turns on her and leaves her to face bullying from the kids at school. I’m not going to sugar coat this so I will tell you that it was some of the worst bullying I have ever read about in a book. In the beginning we get a mean girls vibe and as the story progresses it turns sinister and dark. I was bullied when I was younger so this brought up a lot of memories and feelings for me. The writing is done so beautifully in this novel that you can really feel what the character is feeling which is why I loved it so much. It is so raw and beautifully done.
Back to the summary… Stevie faces bullying at school, online and at work. There is really no safe place for her and she begins to feel very alone. Then Dee walks in to the story and she is a new girl at school who doesn’t take anyone’s bullshit. Stevie is hesitant at first but then eventually a friendship is formed and the two girls take a stand against bullying using some tools right from the movie The Heathers. I loved this because I love that movie! Stevie is a big movie buff so I loved all the pop culture references as well.
Once the two girls have acted some revenge on the students at school it quickly becomes clear that they have lost control of the situation. One of the girls plans one last final act of revenge that is so terrifying it literally blew my mind.
I highly recommend this to anyone who is not worried about the trigger warnings I mentioned earlier.
The last thing I want to share is a quote which I think describes this story so well, “…Monsters aren’t born, they’re made…” -C.J. Roberts

An intriguing book that will be a hit with many different types of readers: drama lovers, mystery/suspense, and revenge story readers will all find this "un-put-down-able". As a fan of the movie "Heathers", I enjoyed this book! As someone who works in a school and is a parent, I worried about what message it might end up setting. As a reader, I didn't care for the narrator. It all works together though and creates a book I was invested in.

I just couldn't get into this book. I was hoping for darkness in the style of Courtney Summers but it's actually a pretty juvenile story. The characters are a lot younger than I originally believed and their voices definitely reflect that, making it all a bit too childish for my taste.

First up a big thank you to Netgalley/publisher for allowing me to try this one.

However I am at 24% and so far no revenge has been done. In fact we are just at the beginning of the shit storm of bullying to happen. Which probably has to do because our MC made the mistake to compliment Paige on her weight, and then get roasted because apparently Paige has an eating disorder. Did our MC know about it? No, what do people expect her to be? Telepathic? What the fuck people. She made an honest mistake and she is trying to fix it.

Given that Lottie's and her relationship is already falling apart at the beginning I couldn't really feel much for that falling apart. I was instantly not a fan of Lottie. However Stevie and her overgrown jealousy didn't help either. Yes, girl it fucking sucks that your best friend has another friend, but no need to go bonkers jealous on it.

I did like that we have a trans character in this book, however I felt the plotline didn't really fit in with the story. I did like how Stevie reacted to the news and how accepting she was.

So yeah, I am sorry but I am kind of bored, Stevie is annoying, there is NO revenge and I am not going to wait any longer.

Wow. I had to sit down and process my feelings after finishing this book. Love, Heather follows Stevie, a Canadian high school student who loves movies from the 80s and has her own Youtube channel where she talks about them. When she becomes the victim of some pretty serious bullying, she turns to Dee, a new friend who emboldens her to fight back, but everything has consequences, and she gets swept up in the current of high school vigilantism and a culture of getting even.

This book does an incredible job capturing the reality of how it feels to be bullied, and at parts I actually had to set the book down because it was so visceral and real. It tackles important issues like toxic friendships, mental health, and rape culture. It is written in such a thought-provoking way, and really plunges you deep into the lives of the characters.

¾ of the way through it grows darker, and even the prose changes in tone and voice. Stylistically, it was a very cool choice on the part of the author, and just made it that much more visceral. The twists and turns this book took makes me want to go back and reread it with the knowledge I now have, which I think mirrors an important issue in the book.

Overall this book is a 5 star read- I recommend it to both teens and adults alike.

Trigger warnings for this book include some transphobia (that I think is incredibly well handled on the part of the author) and sexual assault, as well as violence in schools.