"4 out of 5 stars!! A girl tries to protect herself and her secrets while being thrown into a "wilderness survival camp." This novel is a spin-off/follow-up to Ms. Burstein's "Pretty Amy," and while I never read "Pretty Amy," it gives a good view point of what Cassie went through to get where she is as well as the process she goes through to slowly get better."

Read more of this review and two teasers here: http://frommetoyouvideophoto.blogspot.com/2013/03/feasted-on-dear-cassie-by-lisa...

Giveaway of this novel here: http://frommetoyouvideophoto.blogspot.com/2013/03/blog-tour-dear-cassie-by-lisa-... ( )

NOTE: I received this eARC through Netgalley. Thanks.

The truths that this book addresses are brutal and realistic, and I can't brush the feeling that they were screaming in my face. Weird, I know.

Too many are the girls who fall for the guy who gives them the stars, the who 'understands', only to end up hating themselves after an unexpected 'thing' happens. I don't know why that is, honestly. I mean, teens are quite educated about sex and the consequences (and complications) it may lead to. So why not be smarter about it?

I can't pretend that I know. I don't. Cassie didn't seem to know either. But she did know that the world is ready to screw you over the moment you give it the upper hand. Which is why she had a major attitude. it's why she didn't trust anyone. And it's why (after what happened) she was sent to the camp for straightening out girl delinquents.

If only it were that simple. If only fate didn't meet her up with a girl who had no desire to speak, yet said volumes with gestures. If only there wasn't a camp leader determined to help while provoking Cassie to remember, to think and to analyze.

If only there wasn't a cute boy involved. Ben, who seemed to want to get close to her. Ben, who she went to great lengths to avoid and run away from.

Of course, Ben has his own story, but it's nothing like Cassie's. And while I was able to make a fairly good guess on Cassie's situation, Ben's was a complete mystery. He was really nice, well mannered and carried himself with a certain level of dignity. Not what you'd expect to see from a boy delinquent, is it? He seemed to know what he was doing, no matter what the obstacle was. Even with Cassie... he just seemed to know. I was attracted by his sensitivity toward her, by the challenge in his every word. And by the way he always seemed to be prepared to fire back at her.

With a dark mood and raising a thousand questions, Dear Cassie is definitely a book that every teenage girl should read. Perhaps then there will be less girls left with broken hearts and unfulfilled dreams. ( )

Originally Reviewed At: Mother/Gamer/Writer
Rating: 5 Controllers - Diayll; 4.5 Controllers - Heather
Review Source: NetGalley
Reviewers: Joint Review: Heather and Diayll


Me:

Dear Cassie….you made me cry – uncontrollably. When I first started reading you I fell madly in love with your grace and stubble humor. You stirred emotions in me I didn’t foresee coming and I’m so glad I could share in your heartache, laughter, pain and growth. You’re exceptionally well written and I can’t give you enough praise. Well done Dear Cassie, well done…

Dear Cassie is the heart-wrenching story of Cassie and the repercussions she suffered from one night of tragic mistakes. When we are fist given a glimpse of Cassie we are introduced to her bad a$$ attitude and foul mouth, a girl who likes to smoke and who doesn’t play well with others. Not having read the previous novel in set in the same world, Pretty Amy, as a reader I was still hopelessly drawn to our main character and kept wondering what happened on that catastrophic prom night and what secret Cassie buried inside herself to make her hold such animosity towards other people, especially boys. Burstein dropped little clues through out the story and this kept me reverently turning pages. And the more pages I turned, the more obsessed I became with the characters.

Overall, I can’t say too much about this beautiful novel without spoiling the fun of discovering it for yourselves. If you’re craving a break from the paranormal and want to embrace your emotions, then this is the story you need to grab. I highly recommend it to parents and teens in hopes that you all can laugh and cry together and it opens up the discussion of heavier subjects that most teens find uncomfortable to express to adults. Even though the ending is open and encourages readers to use their imagination, Dear Cassie is a true treasure and should be on every bookshelf.


My Rating
5 out of 5 Controllers



Heather:


Dear Cassie marks and records the struggle of one young girl who ends up in a rehab camp after a few bad decisions. It’s a touching story that shows us the journey of trust and love when you’ve known nothing but lies and deception. Each page unfolds her battle, both internal and external.

Cassie goes to this camp instead of jail. On prom night, she is out joyriding, with her girlfriends. They had primped, dressed, and were all set to have the night of their lives. That was until their dates failed to show up. In a fit of anger and pain, one of the girls breaks into her boyfriend’s house and steals his stash of weed. The rest is pretty much history, and Cassie pays the ultimate price.

In between this night and days before she leaves, naïve Cassie falls for a boy. She lets down her guard and believes his sweet words. Thing lead to other things, and well you’ll get the whole picture eventually, but I’m not giving it away.

Camp becomes repentance for Cassie as she struggles through the rehabilitation program. It’s designed to teach survival skills. The kids, under supervision, learn to follow rules, prepare meals, build fires, and pitch tents. Most times they must work together, and this is something the kids have a tougher time with.

At night they are asked to write in their journals. It’s an exercise that many of us know, but even Cassie fights writing the bitter truth of why she is here. To her it wasn’t about the drugs or even prom. Only her brother knows the absolute truth of what kind of monster she is.

Over all I enjoyed Dear Cassie. I didn’t get a chance to read the previous book in the series, and it isn’t needed to read this one. I might pick it up in the future though because I found the dropped tidbits rather interesting.

This is a YA book, but how young would be up to the parent and child. While it is relatively clean, there is sexual tension and sex related themes that make up the plot. Sadly, it’s a bit of a spoiler to come out and say what it is. I’d say 17 is safe, and probably on par for the author’s audience.

The author did a wonderful job in creating Cassie. I liked her spunk, and I found myself laughing at her words/jokes. She reminds me of myself when I was that age, so I can definitely say totally relatable character to anyone who lived through teenage angst.

The ending surprised me. Diayll and I both read this (obviously), but I found myself wanting more closure. All in all it was the only part of the book that I didn’t love, but in the defense of the author, if there is more planned to further the story, then I get why she chose to end it that way. When I first picked up Dear Cassie, I didn’t realize it was a part of a series. Definitely an author and series to watch out for.


My Rating
4.5 out of 5 Controllers

( )

My Rating – 2 Stars

*I received a digital copy of this novel from Netgalley on behalf of Entangled Publishing*

Cassie is one of the friends that Amy turned in after being arrested on prom night for a very serious amount of pot (If you are confused by that sentence, read my review for Pretty Amy). Her sentence included a 30 day stay at a rehab/wilderness camp....

Read full review HERE ( )

I was given an ARC of this book for my fair and honest review.

4 ½ Stars out of 5

I really enjoyed “Dear Cassie.” I thought Ms. Burstein did a very good job of making her likeable but broken at the same time, a hard feat.
“Dear Cassie” comes after the book “Pretty Amy,” which I didn’t know prior to reading. Had I realized that, I would have read “Pretty Amy” before reading “Dear Cassie.” While it isn’t mandatory to read “Pretty Amy” first, I think it would have given me more insight into Cassie’s character and what exactly happened to her on Prom night which was just skimmed over in “Dear Cassie.”

I think that was the major flaw in the book. The lack of explanation of what exactly happened on the girls’ prom night, because the events are what landed Cassie in the rehabilitation camp and it was also the impetus to the devastating life changing event that nearly consumed her afterward.

The book follows Cassie over the course of her thirty day stay at a rehabilitation camp. We see her progress from a broken, miserable person who tries to hide behind a hard, snotty, foul-mouthed attitude and is absolutely adamant not to face her past—to a person at the end of the thirty days who, while still not perfect, is finally open to learning to face her past and forgive herself and move on.

This brings me to the thing Ms. Burstein did absolutely awesomely. She didn’t end the book with a perfect version of Cassie. She was still a broken individual who had a lot of work to do to heal and forgive herself. It would have ruined the book to have Cassie and her love interest walk into the sunset hand-in-hand both fully recovered, functional people who’d been completely reformed. That didn’t happen and that’s what made this book Superb.

“Dear Cassie” will have you laughing, crying, angry, empathic, and rooting for the characters through the entire book. I highly recommend. I’ll be reading “Pretty Amy” based on my experience with “Dear Cassie.”

Reasons the book lost a half star: Language. I know Cassie was a hard-nosed, crude person trying to hide her fears and true feelings, but I still felt the language was over the top. Secondly, I felt some of the secondary characters were flat. I would have liked to have seen them interact more—have more of a group dynamic, especially Ben. While the glimpse we get of him, he is adorable, but I think we could have learned so much more.

Bottom line: I loved the book and highly recommend it. ( )