A Review of Dear Cassie (from someone who knows this world)

Dear Cassie by Lisa Burstein
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I was intrigued by the premise of this book from the start, because I work as a counselor at a therapeutic boarding school, a place many kids end up attending after going to a wilderness experience like the one Cassie is sent to.

Because of that, I found this book generally hit-or-miss. It didn't matter that I hadn't ready the first book, Pretty Amy, which I definitely consider a positive point. Cassie is one of those girls who's tough on the outside but all soft of the inside. A mix of messed-up emotions and unfocused determination. She knows what she wants, realizes that what she wants might be more complicated than she initially thought, then has to deal with that realization. The book doesn't have some neat bow wrapping it all up, leaving us with a perfectly healed girl, but that's life. That's real.

One of the "misses" I found with this book though was the actual therapeutic aspect of her wilderness experience. I don't know of any therapeutic program that would have boys and girls camps so close to each other (really? Half of the problems these kids have is with boundaries and relationships)--I felt like this was just stuck in there so Cassie could have an opportunity for romance. And this need for romance also bothered me because while totally swearing off boys isn't the answer, Cassie still does need to discover who she is without a guy. I felt like the author went through the motions of creating the wilderness setting (hikes, journaling, hard work), but didn't actually have the program delve very far into the issues the girls and guys were working with.

Either way, it was still good to see this world explored somewhat, and I found myself highlighting some of the passages. I think this book could be good for teens struggling with things in their own lives, as long as they're open to it. And I think they could be, because the author doesn't come off as preach at all. In fact, things like the main character's vulgarity (possibly a shocker to some readers) would possible make her more relateable to troubled teens.

Well-written ad interesting, I was tempted to give it four stars, but ended up giving it three because I think it could have done more than it did, and I definitely wasn't a fan of the abrupt, 'what the heck' ending. It was an okay place to end, just not enough questions had been answered.

This ARC digital copy of Dear Cassie was given to me by NetGalley & Entangled Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

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