Petrou Did a wonderful job of capturing a teen girls inner turmoil. Being a girl and being a girl friend is hard. We are definitely able to see that through the characters that she has developed. We really get a feel for what the narrator is thinking and feeling, and I felt just as hurt and confusion as she did.

There were a few moments when it seemed to trudge along; but they were typically part of progressing the storyline.

I think a lot of kids can learn from this and many others can relate.

Unfortunately, I did not enjoy this book. I felt like it tried to deal with too many issues at once. I was also not a fan of the writing style. There were also some topics dealt with that were just too intense for me. I think this is the kind of book that could have a big impact on some people, however, I was not one of them.

Ms. Petrou had created a really intriguing and full of all kind of emotions story in her new YA book.
Stive has it all - good school life, great best friend, her friends family consider her as their own. Yet one bad move makes it all disappear, gone. Now everyone is against her - bullies arise from the shadows.
Love, Heather has brought me into a subspace where I felt so much that I wanted to cry and scream at everyone!
I loved reading this book, as it shows that always there is something that needs to be done before someone will take action that would not be reversed
This book touches topics that are really hard - rape culture, shootings, transition and psychological problems.

I was really excited to read this story as it sounded intriguing and one I would really like. However, I did not enjoy it as much as I would have liked. It was a bit slow moving at first for me and while I know it is fiction, parts of the story were a bit much or not believable. While this book may have not been for me I do recommend others give it a shot because they may love it.

I was fortunate enough to receive a Netgalley ARC of Love, Heather by Laurie Petrou. While I will admit that I sometimes found this book a little tough to read, it was the good kind of uncomfortable, similar to my feelings when reading Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak or Thalia Chaltas’ I Am Furniture. Stevie is a freshman who finds herself losing a grip on all of her relationships; her mother is busy with a new boyfriend, her father has started a new life, and her best friend has fallen in with a new set of friends. When the popular crowd start targeting Stevie in a systematic bullying campaign, Stevie finds that she has no one to turn to besides her love of cult classic 80’s movies and a new girl, Dee, who has a vendetta against the status quo. Dee hatches a plan to get even in the form of the movie Heathers, and Stevie jumps on board without realizing how far things will go.

The piece that made this book shine was the clear tone of anxiety that pervades the plot and reflects life in our digital age. Petrou reminds readers that social media allows 24/7 access, and that’s not always a good thing. In the midst of her bullying, Stevie’s anxiety never abates, leading her to call her cell phone “that tiny little pocket bomb that has haunted me for so long...Shiny pink case glinting in the moonlight. I can almost see its beating heart...Pulsing, throbbing. Trying, dying to draw me in. I know who’s in there, who’s out there.” As an adult reader, this was a stark reminder of what my students have going on below the surface, and teen readers are likely to feel a sense of connection to Stevie and the trials she endures. An additional sense of anxiety is brought to the forefront by the feeling that readers can’t completely trust Stevie as the narrator. Things occasionally don’t add up, especially considering the immense amount of stress the protagonist is facing, leading readers to the uneasy realization that they may not be getting the whole story.

I left this novel feeling that it would find a special readership; not only will teen readers identify with Stevie’s struggle, but educators would benefit from the reminder of what their students are contending with outside of the classroom. Love, Heather is a strong choice for any school library.

Love, Heather by Laurie Petrou is a young adult thriller. Stevie was trying to get back at all her fellow students, including her best friend, who turned on her. She just wanted to put them in there place, and stop the bullying. Dee on the other hand planned some pranks and signed them Love, Heather, after the 80's movie, Heathers. But did the revenge go to far? I found this book to be unique, and I enjoyed it. Highly recommend for both young and old.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books. Thank you.

Love, Heather caught my eye from the second I saw it pop up on my computer screen. A story of revenge in high school? Sounds intriguing? Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out as good as I had hoped.

The story mainly follows Stevie as she is shunned from her friends group and the entire school and makes a new friend, Dee, who then leads her in to an act of revenge on all those who have hurt or put down others around them. Now this sounds like it could be good, but the first problem I had was that the story really didn’t get to any acts of revenge until 40% into the story. Almost halfway and the only thing I’d really read was how Stevie got dumped by her friends and most of the kids at school. It seemed to have been very drawn out where a lot of that first portion could have been condensed into a more quick paced, yet still fulfilling story of bullying.

Then, once the revenge acts started, most of them were anticlimactic at best, and we didn’t hear about most of them. Most of this story was hearing about how Stevie went back and forth on if she was doing the right thing and being convinced by her friend Dee. Which, in turn I think was another issue I had. Was Dee real? I am fairly certain Dee was imaginary and made up in Stevie’s mind, but that was never really said distinctly. She kind of just… went away. No explanation to that.

Last issue I had was the ending. There is no way that ending is believable to anyone. A teenage student takes an entire room hostage with a manufactured firecracker gun and ends up blowing up herself and the teacher, but basically gets NO punishment except therapy and a very short juvenile stint? How? Absolutely not. It was so unbelievable that I instantly disliked everything happening. Not in this day and age with gun violence.

The one part I liked was the home life issues. I felt like some of these were very normal for kids these days and those issues at home effect their social life and how the interact with others. I felt Petrou wrote that well. I did feel the whole transgender story line was kind of out of place, though. I have read some really great books about transgender people and their struggles and how it effects those around them, but this kind of felt forced. It really didn’t have a huge impact on the story and was just this random side story that could have made a fantastic book on its own, but was dropped into the middle of this other story to diversify it somehow. Felt a bit out of place. Wished it was more the focal point of the story.

I really wanted to like this book, but I just could not with all the questions left and unrealistic aspects that ended up playing out. I will definitely try out another book by Laurie Petrou, because I’d be curious to see if it was just me and this book. I do encourage everyone to check it out and make up their own mind though.

I rarely read YA thrillers. This one was different. If you never picked up anything in this emerging genre, check it out.

I was drawn to this book immediately because of the title. I thought it has 90s movie vibes written all over it and I was right! This book was a perfect throwback to all of my favorite 90s movies while still being so relevant to today's world! It was thought provoking, gut wrenching, and relatable! A definite 5 star must read with a twist!!

A fantastic story for teens and young adults. A very gripping and heart wrenching story but beautifully written xx

Not a light-hearted novel by any means, but rather a gut-wrenching, deep fall down a bullied character’s mind and the traumatic effects that bullying can have. I did not expect the twist at the end, but I think it made everything even more real and gritty. I would recommend this to a high schooler due to the mature and deeper content in this book. I think it was well-done though and reflected today’s society about girls and bullying.

4.5 stars

Wow.
Wow.
Oh my wow!

Laurie Petrou's main protagonist, Stevie, is a contender for best literary character of 2019. Few books literally break my heart but Love Heather may just have completely destroyed it forever. I am not really sure that I can just pick up another book and leave Stevie by herself. That's how special this book was to me.

I don't want to say a lot about the book because the less you know, the more I think the book will make you react. It doesn't mean that you and I will reach the same conclusion but it's definitely a book we're all going to be talking about this fall.

So I will just say it's spot on about the social society of high schools today, it was a little slow in the beginning but I did quickly lose myself in the narrative. I took a .5 off because I felt it was a bit rushed in the end. Overall, it was fantastic!

Goodreads review published 13/08/19
Publication Date 08/10/19

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for a digital galley in exchange for an honest review

I gave myself some homework to complete before I would allow myself to pick up this book. I watched ‘Heathers’ for the first time and it really helped having it fresh in my mind when I began reading. I understood references that likely would have whooshed over my head unnoticed otherwise and having just watched a revenge fantasy story, I had some idea of what was to come.

“No one knows what she can do. No one has ever known.”

Lottie and Stevie have been best friends all their lives. Stevie spends so much time at Lottie’s house she’s practically family and Lottie’s mother, Rhonda, is like a second mother to her. Lottie is a bookworm and Stevie loves movies (primarily those made between 1975 and 1995) so much that she’s had her own YouTube channel, FlickChick, since she was twelve.

“Woepine High is like every other school: there’s a hierarchy.”

The popular kids in their year have an undisputed leader - Athlete Barbie, A.K.A, Breanne. Then there’s Paige, Breanne’s “second in command”, and Paige’s boyfriend, Aidan. Lottie and Stevie have recently and quite accidentally become friends with them.

“Some kind of wall went up when we started hanging out with all of them, and I’m not sure where the door is.”

When a series of events results in Stevie being relentlessly bullied by ex-friends, other students and even complete strangers, her entire world comes crashing down and she has no one to turn to. Except Dee, the new girl.

“It’s people like us against the world, Stevie.”

Dee, who understands what Stevie’s going through. Dee, who decides it’s time the bullies were taught a lesson. Anonymously, of course. Each prank is accompanied by a message written in red lipstick: “LOVE, HEATHER”, an homage to teen revenge movie ‘Heathers’. How very!

These acts of “mischief” soon take on a life of their own. The stakes are raised exponentially, with creative and sometimes brutal acts of revenge being played out across the school and beyond. What began with bullies being targeted becomes something where it’s harder to draw a line between bully and victim.

“I mean, it’s hard to know who to root for, isn’t it?”

I’ve agonised about what to write in this review for a couple of days. There was so much I loved about this book but there were also a couple of key points in the story that didn’t ring true and/or disappointed me. Please keep in mind that while yes, I had some niggles, that doesn’t necessarily mean you will agree with me.

After establishing the history of Stevie and Lottie’s friendship and Stevie’s sudden social pariah status, I felt this book then took off like a rocket. I was immersed in the acts of revenge and am fairly certain teenage me would have imagined some creative vigilante themed fantasies if I’d read this book then, much like when I conceived (but never acted upon) my own versions of poetic justice as I cheered Matilda on from the sidelines. Revenge fantasies are always fun, with their drama and the opportunity to cheer on underdogs.

If nothing else, this book reinforced my gratitude that I didn’t grow up surrounded by social media. Bullying is horrific enough when it’s physical and/or verbal. I can’t even imagine how the effects are compounded now that it follows you into your home, on your phone and spreading like a virus on the internet, where strangers can add fuel to the fire. Besides bullying, this book also delves into other complex and emotionally charged areas, including rape culture and gender identity.

Because I’m old now I have seen, or at least knew the general plot of, most of the movies referenced in this book but I’d be surprised if most young adults would have heard of the majority of them, unless their parents have introduced them to the movies they themselves grew up with. The lack of familiarity with these movies could potentially lead to the target audience not understanding some of the references to them in this book.

I found Lottie and Stevie’s friendship relatable and empathised with Stevie as she was bombarded with bullying and dealing with isolation. I ached for her as she was consistently let down by her parents. I kept wanting to read more about Pete and couldn’t decide if I was more interested in having them as my friend or teacher. I had problems with the character of Dee but can’t be specific because … spoilers.

I really enjoyed the majority of this book but I had a couple of fairly significant problems with it. Variations of this particular twist have been done so many times before in so many other books and movies. Because I’ve come across it too many times I’m desensitised to it and I expect I probably even have a bias against it now. It would take something remarkable to occur in conjunction with that particular twist for me to not groan or roll my eyes when I encounter it. My main problem with that twist being in this book was that the psychology of it just didn’t sit right with me. However, to partially undo this entire paragraph, I need to acknowledge that because this book’s target audience are young adults, (i.e., not me) this may well be the first time some readers encounter this particular brand of twist and I hope they are blindsided by it.

My biggest problem with this book was its ending. It felt rushed and too neat. All things considered, the consequences seemed minimal and peoples’ responses to the character in question were too easy. After spending sufficient time setting up the important aspects of the friendships, bullying and pranks, the finale fizzled for me. This was quite a dark book in places and the end felt much too polite. Where was the rage and all of the other complicated feelings that would be expected after what happened?

Sidebar: Had I known before reading this book that Lottie and Stevie had exchanged best friend necklaces I would have called the demise of their friendship immediately, without even reading the blurb. Those curses that came in the innocent forms of hearts that declare you’re ‘BEST FRIENDS’ and break in two so you each get half of the words and heart were THE present when I was growing up but whenever anyone I knew shared them, they wound up having a massive, often irreparable, fight shortly afterwards. You may think that this is mere coincidence or paranoia talking but I kid you not: those cutesy charms have some sort of friendship voodoo attached to them! Exchange them with extreme caution! 😜

Content warnings include bullying, eating disorders, sexual assault, racism, transphobia, mention of homophobia and suicide, rape culture, gun violence and mental health.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this book. I’m rounding up from 3.5 stars.

N.B. Quotes included in this review have been taken from the ARC and may be subject to change prior to publication.

(3.5 Stars)
This book took many more turns than I ever thought it would.
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Love, Heather is about a movie loving, YouTube channel hosting girl named Stevie who sadly has gone through what many teenagers have experienced: bullying. Once her best friend turns on her and it seems that the entire school hates her, she finds refuge in the spunky, IDGAF girl named Dee. Dee decides to take matters in her own hands and they become the school’s vigilantes with personalized pranks and the tag line “Love, Heather” on each of them. It starts to get out of control and Stevie then finds herself in the same place as before: not knowing who she is. The story takes a drastic, deadly turn that really makes you think. .
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This book was hard for me to read, which I think was the author’s point. It touches on bullying, transphobia, slut-shaming, and gun violence. While there were a few plot holes in my opinion, I think it is really important to read this. This ending is sadly a reality and it sheds light on problems that are in our schools today. It took unexpected turns and it didn’t have the nice, lovely ending that normally happens in YA. For that, I was thankful. I really enjoyed this piece.

(Also posted on my GR account!)

"...it wasn't that bad, or it was really bad."

Whoa. Just whoa. This book messed me up and it had this intensity that made me had to put it down for a while before coming back because holly crap I got cold all over my body and I was shaking during the climax.

There are a lot to unpack and a lot that I should/could write about, but I couldn't stop endorsing the book enough and is not coherent enough to write anything worthy to judge it.

I'm so gonna buy the book when it's available on BD.

Going into this book, I was pretty excited. High school revenge and references to classic eighties films? Count me in. As I was reading though, the book took too long to actually get to all the revenge, and when it got there, it tried to focus on too many other things. It had good concepts and I like the attempt to bring light to some serious topics that are going on right now, but everything felt too watered down because of it. The plot started by focusing on bullying, social media, and sexuality, then focused on the sex ed issue and rape culture then ended with school shootings and mental health. It was all too much. I did feel for Stevie, I really did, but with everything going on, she didn't seem to be the most important thing which was a shame because I think the whole book was supposed to follower her. I do think Love, Heather has some real, valid points but there are too many problems.

Also Dee? She wasn't a real person at all? Maybe I just missed some of the clues, but it seemed too random. That on top of Stevie losing her friend Lottie(for reasons I'm still unclear about), her mom having a new boyfriend, and the environmental club, it was too much.

Good ideas, but it was trying too hard. I think I would've liked it better if it just cut all the issues except for maybe two. As I said at the beginning of this review, there's way too much going on for it to have made any impact.

Oh man. This book is not exactly what I thought it was going to be.

The bullied becomes the bullies in this dark read by Laurie Petrou. This book is a slow burn that leads to a dark area that I wasn't really expecting, even though I feel like I should have been.

Stevie and Lottie have been best friends forever, but as things in Lottie's life change, so does Lottie. Suddenly she's hanging out with a new crowd and there's not very much room left for Stevie.

When things become bad for Stevie at school, she slowly finds a new group of friends. And that's when things take a turn for the dark.

At first Stevie and her friends choose to just do some harmless pranks to get back at the kids who have done the bullying. But soon things change and it's clear that someone's out for revenge.

I will warn you all that although this book is good it isn't for the faint of heart. In fact it's violent and sort of in the 13 Reasons Why vein. So read with caution.

Love, Heather is a unique book and truly its own. The characters are interesting and go through some difficult things.

Love,Heather was an okay read for me.

I actually DNFed it at 70 pages because the narration felt off and I didn't connect with either of the characters.

But, DNFing for me is not something I like and so I decided to log in to Goodreads and check what others thought about it. And the 4s and 5 star ratings, definitely prompted me to give it one more chance.

So, I started the book again with an open mind. I still couldn't connect with any character except the MC and she too wasn't someone I was much fond of. But I loved how the plot played out.

The narration somewhat got better and pulled me in and the twist was absolutely out of the blue.

Stevie likes her world the way it is - she's got her best friend Lottie, her mom, and life is good. She has a YouTube channel of movie commentary on old-school flicks that she doesn't really publicize. But when Lottie starts hanging out with the popular girls, and turns on Stevie when they do, Stevie becomes a social pariah.

As her world spirals out of control, she makes a new friend, Dee, who shares some of Stevie's affinity for old movies. In particular, the girls relate to Heathers and the idea of taking revenge against the popular kids. Dee eventually convinces Stevie that they should take some retaliatory action against those popular students, signing their pranks "Love, Heather."

But the pranks don't make things better - in fact, they seem to get worse. And author Laurie Petrou takes the reader down a rabbit hole of suspense and surprise, to a twist ending one would never suspect.

Stevie as a character is easy to love and pity - you just want to help her make things better every time something happens to make her feel worse. Add in the female-to-male transition of Lottie's former mom, who is now "Pete" and Stevie's homeroom teacher, and Petrou really touches on a lot of sensitive issues throughout this book in a well-developed novel.