Truest

Gr 10 Up—A romantic debut exploring the devastating effects of mental illness on all members of the family. When Silas Hart sees Westlin Beck for the first time, it's love at first sight for him. And West? She's got a lot on her mind: her pastor father's near-constant absence from home, her long-time boyfriend, another good friend's blindness. As her friendship with Silas develops, West realizes his sister Laurel's mental illness hangs over the family like a cloud—and when tragedy strikes, leaving both Silas and West racked with guilt, it seems their romance will implode under the strain. Can they figure out a way to remain each other's "truest" love? This is a standard romance that attempts to add emotional weight with the inclusion of an obscure mental illness. However, it takes forever for West to come to the obvious conclusion that she needs to dump boyfriend number one and move on; after she does, this work sags in the middle as it goes in an unexpected direction, away from the core love story. On-page sex and graphic language land this squarely in the older teen category.