Sisters in Sanity by Gayle Forman

[description from Amazon]

"Where are they taking me?"

"It's for your own good, Brit," Dad said.

I was shoved into a small, stuffy room, and the door was locked behind me. I waited for my dad to realize he'd made a terrible mistake and come get me.

But he didn't.

For sixteen-year-old Brit Hemphill, it's hard to know who she can trust. Convinced she's out of control, her father has sentenced her to Red Rock: a center for supposedly rebellious teens, where the therapy consists of name-calling and the girls who get privileges are the ones who rat out their peers.

But then Brit meets V, Bebe, Martha, and Cassie—four girls who keep her from going over the edge. Together, they'll hold on to their sanity and their sisterhood despite the bleak Red Rock reality.

Review:

With all the If I Stay buzz happening, this novel is sure to either be overlooked or heavily scrutinized. As of now, I've seen it be overlooked because everyone wants to experience the awesome that is If I Stay. Which sucks, because this book, while definitely not as great as If I Stay, is pretty darn good.

I loved the unique setting of this one. I'm not familiar at all with these teen centers, so I found the one in the book interesting. The rules, restrictions, therapy, and levels the girls can be at are thoroughly explained and are present enough to make the whole setting come alive. Red Rock itself becomes a character similar to the crazy workers and the crazy inhabitants: it's imposing, mean, and scary.

Gayle's characterization is just as good in this first novel of hers as it was in If I Stay. Each of the girls are unique and even though it is expected that they're cliche, they aren't. For example, Brit is sent to the school for having pink hair and singing in a band, so it's expected that she would be this hardcore punk girl. But it's just a look; there's no real attitude that comes with it, unless Brit happens to be talking to her parents. Then there's an attitude. But she and her friends break their stereotypes also while being deep and completely awesome, with them breaking rules and trying to take Red Rock DOWN stuff.

I don't exactly know why this one didn't blow me away. It just didn't, but I still really liked it. It might be the ending, which was a little too coincidental and happy for the story, or maybe it was just that Brit's voice wasn't that strong until the end, when she finally gained the confidence she needed to complete her goal. Also, some things that weren't in the ending were a little to coincidental. Not going into detail since I don't want to ~*spoil*~ it, but some events were just a little too convenient.

While not as great as Gayle's sophomore novel*, Sisters in Sanity, is still an interesting, unique read with strong characters.

8/10


*I bet you did not know Sisters in Sanity was Gayle's first book. BUT IT IS. It was rereleased this year after not doing so well when it first debuted.

Links: Gayle's site

HarperTeen/Paperback/$8.99/Amazon/Barnes and Noble/Borders/IndieBound