3.5/5

This was cute, but I think I would've liked it more if I hadn't just finished Foolish Hearts by Emma Mills five minutes before starting this one. (I frick-fracking loved that one, so I had high expectations for this one without really knowing it.)

I think one of my main reasons for not giving this a higher rating is that I didn't identify with the country lifestyle. I'm usually don't care about identifying with a character. In fact, I often like not identifying with a character because it's easier to lose myself in the story and forget about my own problems for a bit. The debutantes and the I-have-so-much-money-I-don't-know-what-to-do-with-it lifestyle is one thing (

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especially since Megan does an awesome thing and uses the clothes that are so expensive they could feed an entire city to raise money for an awesome charity

), but the give-a-kid-a-gun-before-they-hit-puberty lifestyle is not something I enjoy reading. I get it; she's from Texas, it's a part of life. I'm from Ontario, and it's not part of my life. I'm against guns and hunting for sport. My grandpa has his hunting license, and he used to go often with a group of friends, and I've always hated it.

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Her dad giving her her first gun at thirteen is just not something I enjoy reading. Yes, the quail that they hunt isn't just for sport, but it's the fact that they make a party out of it. If you're hunting to eat, just get it over with and don't make it a competition.

Another thing that bothered me was how selfish Megan could be at times. If she were a 16-year-old, it would've been more understandable. But she's 20. Get your head out of your ass and try to see things from someone else's perspective. Maybe ask why something is so important to someone and have some compassion for what they're going through. Oh right, her head was so far up her own ass she didn't see what other people were going through.

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While she did finally grow up a little by the end, it took way too long for her to get there.

(edit: I totally forgot to mention this)

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One of my biggest pet peeves about this book was the fact that the stuff in the synopsis seemed like a huge deal. Caught in the middle of a media frenzy? Not really, that was more her sister. Humiliated herself in front of 10-year-olds? For half a second, not even, and then they loved her. Punched in the face by another girl? An accident during a soccer game. The way it's written makes it seem like these are huge deals, lots of drama involved, but they were extremely minor, in my opinion.