Short and Sweet: 
 I'm developing a huge weakness for books told in poetic form, and this one goes right on my list of ones to recommend for that! It's a wonderful and emotional story that reads super quickly. 
 To Elaborate... 
 Samantha, "Sam", Henderson is exhausted with keeping up good girl appearances for her father's politicial campaign. She just wants to relax and be herself, a girl who loves art. When she meets X, she can't stay away from him, an older, college-aged guy who seems to know everyone and has an irresistable bad boy edge...and a drug problem. She will try to change him, but she may just be pulled down with him. 
 More than just her name, I relate to Samantha a lot. Growing up, I was very much seen as the good girl with the unrealistic dream (ok, so I'm still sometimes seen as that haha). It's exhausting having people try to force you onto a pedestal that you have no place being on, nor do you want to be there. Granted, no one in my family was running for office, so there wasn't nearly as much pressure than what Sam faces in this book. I even had a similar-feeling relationship to an "X" that she does, minus the drugs and partying. I think a lot of people have a relationship at some point in their lives with someone who can't/won't/refuses to change or grow when it comes to a serious problem (like drugs or excessive cheating), and you just have to find a way to deal, whether that means cutting ties and moving on or staying with them and hoping for the best. 
 What I really like about the story is that Sam isn't the only one facing an issue of "Dating Down". For me, I don't really consider dating anyone, regardless of status, dating down in terms of the actual person, but I do think we sometimes settle for a relationship that doesn't legitimately meet our needs or isn't truly healthy for us (hence the Perks of Being a Wallflower "You accept the love you think you deserve"). Sam's two close friends are also facing that, and I love how the author parallels them when at first glance, the issues are so different. Her closest girl friend is dating a guy who seems to only want her around when he wants something/treats her like a dog basically, and her closest guy friend is having a series of heartaches over a long distance relationship. All of them are unhappy, but they all deal with it differently. 
 The reason I gave this 4 hearts instead of 5 in the rhyming scheme. I really love how the author mixes it up (and some of it is free verse), and most of it is wonderful, but there are times of just ABAB schemes, and those weirdly and irrationally bother me. It's such a weird and completely me-specific issue to have, so I don't see this bothering most people, but I had to mention it. Overall, I think a lot of people will like this! It's like a wonderful mash up of Meg Cabot's All American Girl and Ellen Hopkin's Crank. 
 Originally posted at I Heart YA Fiction: http://iheartyafiction.blogspot.com/2...