Synopsis:
After shedding 30 pounds of baby fat, Sophie Sinora has grown into a pretty, but insecure, teen in bloom. To make her life more complicated, Sophie can sometimes read minds.
Sophie's BFFs, AJ and Krysta, are also 'gifted' with paranormal abilities. Keeping their gifts secret proves difficult, as their powers are strengthening, making them feel more and more like freaks.
When Sophie falls for Jacob, she hopes he'll ask her out to the Freshman Formal. But when she's forced to cheat and lie for him, she wonders how far she'll have to go to make him like her. Add to her growing list of problems - her teacher's suicidal thoughts, a locker bully who wants to kick her butt, the hot school flirt who won't stop teasing her, her pregnant sister who boots Sophie out of her room, and the growing tension between Sophie and her best friends.
Sophie's got issues. Hopefully, she can fix them in time to save her teacher's life and her social life.
(Synopsis from Goodreads).
My Thoughts:
I've had all of Tara West's books on my tbr for quite a long time. I've heard great things about them in different groups on Facebook. Therefore, I had high expectations for her book, Sophie's Secret. Unfortunately, I hated this book. It might be one of the most problematic books I've read, especially for the age group it's intended.
I don't even know where to begin with how problematic Sophie's Secret was. The book had a lot of slut-shaming. It also had discrimination towards LGBTQ+ people, in the form of rudeness and purposeful improper use of a character's pronouns. The main character, Sophie, and her two best friends, Aj, and Krysta are terrible role models for middle grade and young adult readers. They were vain, disrespectful, and constantly made rude comments about those around them, and each other, and stabbed each other in the back for most of the book.
Possibly the most problematic thing in the book is the relationship between Sophie, and her crush, Jacob. He was very mentally and emotionally abusive towards her. He treated her like crap, and used her just to get what he wanted. He had wild mood swings, and was constantly lashing out at her. When he did this, she blamed herself, and thought that she did something wrong. This is a classic symptom of an abusive relationship. The book did absolutely nothing to teach that Jacob's actions were wrong, or a sign of abuse.
Sophie's Secret was one of the most problematic books I've read in recent years. It was almost as bad as The Ruling Class by Francine Pascal, and if you've been following my Goodreads for a while, you know how I felt about that book. I definitely will not be finishing this series. I'm not even sure I want to read Tara West's other books now. There's a chance I might give the first book in her new adult series, Say When, a try just to see if it's problematic too. At this point if it's not already obvious, I don't recommend this book to anyone. In fact, I recommend you steer clear of it.
I give Sophie's Secret: 1/5.
Want to know more about the author?
Website: http://www.tarawest.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tarawestauthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/TaraWestauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/1731936.Tara_West
I received this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. I was in no way compensated for this review.
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