Love, Heather
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2.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
One of Refinery29's Favorite Books of October 2019!
Award-winning author Laurie Petrou makes her YA debut with this atmospheric thriller exploring the addictive pull of revenge.
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Petrou sheds light on mob bullying in a well-told tale of teenage revenge that pays homage to works such as Carrie and Heathers. Stevie, the 14-year-old girl who narrates this novel set in Woepine, Ontario, from Canadian author Petrou (Sister of Mine for adults), has just entered high school, "that melting pot of cool and cruel, that place that will change you for the better and worse." Stevie befriends Dee, a new student and one of the outcasts ruled by the "privileged dicks that roam the school... like medieval lords." Dee urges the bullied to fight back. At first, their pranks are innocuous: unflattering photos posted on lockers along with the words "Love, Heather." But soon these stunts take on a vicious tone, leaving Stevie to wonder: is it "the victims fighting back or a new many-headed bully-monster?" And before long, Stevie becomes the target of horrific social media intimidation as well as physical threats from classmates. The buildup to the shattering climax is a tad slow, but readers will keep turning the pages to see how the inevitable emotional explosion plays out. Ages 12 up.)
Customer Reviews
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.
*there are some assault/bullying/attempted school violence triggers in this one.*