this is a story that details the consequences of lies. when three girls get exposed in a teensy white lie, they decide to tell a much bigger lie because "go big or go home", right?? and "going home" will get them grounded. 
 "going big" will have much more serious consequences, but youth is shortsighted. and dumb. so very dumb. 
 for a while, the lying thing works out quite well - they even end up looking pretty heroic and get sympathy shopping sprees, and boys with curiosities. but then the lie catches fire and destroys everything in its path. oh noes! my new makeup suddenly does not seem worth it! 
 this is a pretty lightweight story - no great shakes, but when you get a free book in the middle of a horrific heat wave, you read what you get. and now i can bring it back to the free shelves at work, and forget it ever happened. hopefully, like this heat. it burrrns. 
 (view spoiler)[ but why do we not find out what happened to anna?? emma stays at her school, despite all the problems she is sure to face, rich kid mariah gets to go to a lush boarding school, but after anna gets expelled, what can she do? her family is close and warm, but by no means wealthy, and her father works for mariah's asshole grudge-bearing stepdad. won't there be repercussions?? i would have liked a little more closure here, as her circumstances were going to be the most problematic in this aftermath (hide spoiler)]