Yvonne Woon, author of If You, Then Me, has crafted a slow-burn thriller about fixing—our friends, ourselves, and our complicated pasts, perfect for fans of Allegedly and We Were Liars.
At the most elite private school in Washington, DC, whenever anyone has a problem that they need to go away, they hire Hana Yang Lerner.
Hana is a fixer. She knows who to call, what to say, and how to make sure secrets stay where they belong—buried. She can fix anything. Except her own life, which was destroyed when her father, senator Skip Lerner, was arrested for an accident that left one woman nearly dead.
Now Hana’s reputation is ruined and her friends are gone. So when she gets a job from an anonymous client called “Three” to follow her former best friend, Luce Herrera, Hana realizes this might be her way of getting back her old life.
But the dangerous thing about digging is that you never know what you’ll unearth. As Hana uncovers a dark truth about her supposedly flawless classmates, she’s forced to face a secret of her own.
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School Library Journal
Gr 7 Up-Hana Yang Lerner is the go-to fixer at her prestigious Washington, DC, private school, where her wealthy classmates routinely hire her to dispatch their problems. Hana was once a member of the in-crowd, but two years ago her senator father was involved in a car accident that left a woman severely injured, and now Hana is an outsider looking in on their wealthy and powerful world. When an anonymous client asks Hana to follow her ex-best friend Luce Herrera, Hana seizes on the opportunity to engage with her old life. Reluctantly partnering with her childhood friend James Li, now editor of the school newspaper, Hana finds deep corruption at the heart of her former friend group and comes face to face with her own past. Hana is a compelling narrator, but the novel's pacing feels uneven, with a slow start that may deter reluctant readers. Still, those who push past the opening will be rewarded with a climactic twist. Woon creates a diverse cast of characters-Hana is biracial (her mom is Chinese American and her dad is cued white), Luce is Cuban American, and James is Chinese American-and the characters' discussions often dig into weighty ethics questions about privilege and responsibility. VERDICT A fresh thriller that will appeal to fans of E. Lockhart's We Were Liars, Dana Mele's People Like Us, and Alexa Donne's The Ivies.-Dana West?(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.