Canary
By Rachele Alpine
ISBN #: 9781605425870
Author’s Website: http://freckle-head.blogspot.com/
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Valerie
Synopsis:
Staying quiet will destroy her, but speaking up will destroy everyone.
Kate Franklin’s life changes for the better when her dad lands a job at Beacon Prep, an elite private school with one of the best basketball teams in the state. She begins to date a player on the team and quickly gets caught up in a world of idolatry and entitlement, learning that there are perks to being an athlete.
But those perks also come with a price. Another player takes his power too far and Kate is assaulted at a party. Although she knows she should speak out, her dad’s vehemently against it and so, like a canary sent into a mine to test toxicity levels and protect miners, Kate alone breathes the poisonous secrets to protect her dad and the team. The world that Kate was once welcomed into is now her worst enemy, and she must decide whether to stay silent or expose the corruption, destroying her father’s career and bringing down a town’s heroes.
Canary is told in a mix of prose and verse. (Goodreads)
Review:
Warning: Do not read this book or this review if you are under 14. Do not read it if you are not okay with mature themes. Only proceed if you know you can handle it.
This being said, Canary is one of the most touching books I’ve read so far. I entered Canary not expecting much and not knowing what to expect. I wasn’t exactly sure what Canary was about, even though I should have been well informed by the synopsis. I expected something average, but I didn’t get it. I got one of the most beautifully written books ever, both the poetry and the prose.
If you review Canary simply based off the plot, Canary is just a cliché sob story. Girl goes to prep school with her brother, girl dates a player, girl gets hurt. Girl is just too scared to stand up. Girl’s story is so boring to read, and you should not buy this book.
Wrong.
Canary is an internal struggle. It’s a book about personal growth and maturing. It’s about finding yourself. It’s EMPOWERING. It should be read by any girl, no matter what she usually reads. As for guys, read it too. Canary is worth it. I guarantee it.
It’s intoxicatingly lush and sad and bittersweet.
Sometimes I feel like I need a lot of words to describe a story and convince people to read it. This time I’m not going to. Canary is so much better than that. I need not convince you anymore.
