I loved this! Emma is such a great character and she completely pulled me into her story. She has the kind of 'attitude' I love - lots of sass and she certainly says what she thinks.
This is definitely a character driven novel. It's mostly about Emma and her desire to leave the small town in which she lives. When she witnesses the truth behind an event she has to decide whether to tell what she knows when doing so will cost her what she thinks she wants the most. We get to see the town unravel around Emma as she questions what she should do. I found it all very interesting. It was scary to see a town so wrapped up in what they thought was 'right' and the lengths they were willing to go to protect that.
Seeing all of this through Emma's eyes also made it great fun. There is a locker scene that had me laughing out loud! I just adored her character and her voice. She comes across as witty, intelligent and willful but still vulnerable enough to keep her relateable. I also liked the other characters - Joann, Colin and Todd. Especially Todd. Colin did start to annoy me slightly but I still liked him.
I didn't have a clue what was going to happen in this - many things happened that took me by surprise - and the things I thought would happen didn't. My only quibble is that the ending left me wanting more - it was as if we just had access to the characters for a little while - I wanted to know what happened next! I do hope a sequel is being considered.
I can't wait to read more of Eileen Cook's work and I highly recommend this one.