Rachael @ Moosubi ^__^

After reading and really relating to Amy in PRETTY AMY last year, DEAR CASSIE was originally one of my most anticipated reads. Unfortunately, however, the book couldn’t quite live up to my expectations…

One of the reasons why I really enjoyed PRETTY AMY was that I felt like I could really relate to Amy’s character. Sure, sometimes she was whiny and filled with angst. Sure, sometimes she was a bit of a brat. But that didn’t really matter to me, because realistically, it was probably how I really would have felt. In DEAR CASSIE, however, I found that Cassie still had that teenage angst without the relatibility Amy had. Throughout the whole book, Cassie was either swearing at her campmates or whining about her situation. I understood that she was in an extremely unfortunate situation. However, until about 80% through the book, she never bothered to change herself or make her situation better.

The love story also didn’t work for me. I did like that it wasn’t the focus of the story, but it didn’t stand out to me either. Basically, you have the classic arrogant and cute boy who’s able to warm the heart of the broken and standoffish girl. Of course, the girl doesn’t really like the guy at first, but they eventually fall in love. Realistically, I’m sure we’ve all heard of that story multiple times :/ What’s more is how crazy the romance went in the end. For the sake of not spoiling the book, I won’t give specifics. But let’s just say that it went a bit too far…

The only real redeeming factor in this book was Cassie’s eventual development. The overall message of forgiving yourself was pretty encouraging, as was her more positive character. Despite my frustration with her character, I also felt like Lisa Burstein did a realistic job of getting into her head.

Overall, I did not enjoy DEAR CASSIE. Not only was I frustrated with Cassie’s voice for the majority of the book, but I also felt that the romance was subpar. Teenagers or readers who particularly enjoy stories about broken people might enjoy this book more, but I’d give the book 2.5 out of 5 flowers.

* Originally posted at The Book Belles.