The Accidentals
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4.4 • 45 Ratings
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- $6.99
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
Never ask a question unless you’re sure you want the truth.
I’ve been listening to my father sing for my whole life. I carry him in my pocket on my mp3 player. It’s just that we’ve never met face to face.
My mother would never tell me how I came to be, or why my rock star father and I have never met. I thought it was her only secret. I was wrong.
When she dies, he finally appears. Suddenly I have a first class ticket into my father’s exclusive world. A world I don’t want any part of – not at this cost.
Only three things keep me going: my a cappella singing group, a swoony blue-eyed boy named Jake, and the burning questions in my soul.
There’s a secret shame that comes from being an unwanted child. It drags me down, and puts distance between me and the boy I love.
My father is the only one alive who knows my history. I need the truth, even if it scares me.
"A brilliant story." USA Today
"With intense, honest depictions of hope and rejection, The Accidentals will break your heart. Highly recommend." - Miranda Kenneally, author of Breathe, Annie, Breathe and Catching Jordan
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Seventeen-year-old Rachel Kress has just lost her mother to cancer. Music has always been her "drug of choice," and though she has never met her famous musician father, Freddy Ricks, she has followed his career through social media. Now she's about to meet him face-to-face. Amid confusion, anger, and curiosity, Rachel allows her father into her life, which changes everything. Whisking Rachel from Florida to California, Freddy eases into fatherhood, helping Rachel prepare for her senior year transfer to Claiborne Prep in New Hampshire. The move is a blow to her loyal best friend, Haze, but Rachel finds solace in emails and phone calls from fellow rising senior Jake Willis, her Claiborne peer liaison. Further complications arise, however, when Rachel discovers she has extended family through Freddy. Self-professed "good girl" Rachel must continually adjust and rely on her maturity to guide her, especially her self-awareness and focus on forgiveness. Bowen touches on themes such as drug use, emotional and sexual abuse, and the negative effects of fame, but this romantic story is more an ode to optimism and the power and beauty of music. Ages 14 up. (Self-published.)
Customer Reviews
The Accidentals
The Accidentals by Sarina Bowen
I love Sarina Bowen’s writing and The Accidentals is no exception. I admit I hesitated briefly because Young Adult novels can be either a hit or a miss for me but I really needn’t have worried.
Following the death of her mother, Rachel is placed into the foster care system until her absent father turns up to take her into his custody until she turns 18. When I say absent, I mean completely: all Rachel knew of her father were the tidbits her mother had given, that he sent monthly cheques, and also what she’d gleaned from the internet over the years. Given that her father is a pretty famous rock-star, there was plenty online to keep her going but while she idolized him from afar, she had a burning desire to know him in a much greater capacity.
To me, The Accidentals was a journey for Rachel to - as cliché as it sounds - find herself. She moves away to Claiborne Prep, makes new friends and leaves behind old, builds new relationships, and becomes a daughter to a rock-star. I enjoyed all aspects of this book and witnessing Rachel’s growth in many areas was special. The Accidentals certainly has romance in it but it’s not the focus of the book. The only reason I’m not giving this book five stars is because I felt the book ended too abruptly. I wanted - no, I needed - Rachel and her father to work through more of their past.
*I voluntarily read an early copy of this book.
**Reviewed by Melinda for Joandisalovebooks Blog
Enjoyable
I did not realise that this book was for YA but I found it an enjoyable read.
Amazing!!
Wow!! what an awesome story that has everything. This book made me laugh out loud and shed a tear and I loved the characters both young and older. Loved it!! Thanks for writing great books!!! I would love to read from Freddie’s perspective now. Hint hint 😁