'Double Negative' by Susan Marshall is full of relatable teenage angst, and has some excellent disability representation. Recommended for a younger YA Contemporary audience.

Thank you NetGalley, Evernight Publishing and Susan Marshall for letting me read “Double Negative” in exchange for an honest review.

The cover drew me in right away. I love the dark background with the shadowy couple and white title. A lot. But for me, the cover was the only positive about this book.

This is clearly a YA book and I knew that when requesting it. Sometimes when I feel younger than my 37 years it’s nice to go back to that teenage angst and know I made it past that!

Reece is a junior and competitive swimmer at Elite High School. Due to a shoulder injury she can not train and is transferred to the local high school. Her brother Jaime is attending the same school as a senior and gunning for president to add a resume to his college application. Due to a drop out, Reece steps out as hide Vice President. Jaime is the kind of goofy person that on the outside does not take anything seriously.

Zain, a senior in the basketball is the Athletic Council’s presidents and not a big fan of Jaime. He takes his role very seriously.

Reece is torn between family loyalty and responsible plus a growing crush on Zain. Especially as she discovered the big secret about the accident. As an adult I agree with the dad, that’s life and life sucks… I get the rational part of it and Reece is a huge ball of teenage emotions.


reece seems to have a lot on her plate plus a ton of expectations.
******

I found this harder to read than expected. Maybe it is the age, but there is a lot of angst that I can not relate to, but which is fitting for the YA audience. Most of the characters were stereotype and on the flat type. I did not even like Reece. I don’t care for politics, so this was not a good one for me. The story was too bland in my eyes, all these little petty dramas.