Safe Harbor (The Edge of Everything)

For a short coming-of-age story, this was fine. My inner teenager related to some of the characters. Yet, many of the characters were stereotypical and juvenille. I don't think stories about teenagers has to sound juvenille, per se.

Safe Harbor packs a surprising amount into 47 pages. Most of it left me wondering why any of these adults were allowed to make decisions for teenagers. Isabel is angry about her parents’ divorce and expresses some of that anger through her appearance and a small act of rebellion. Her parents respond by sending her to Safe Harbor which is a behavior focused group therapy program for teenagers dealing with divorce. This response felt wildly disproportionate to me. Your teenage daughter dresses in all black and wears makeup you do not like, so you send her away to be reformed? Maybe try being more open minded towards the teenager you are raising. I also struggled with the choice to use a reform style program as the setting. Stories about troubled teen programs carry very different associations now that survivors have spent years speaking publicly about abuse within that industry. Paris Hilton’s advocacy after her experiences at Provo Canyon School immediately came to mind. A story published in 2026 needs more awareness of that cultural context. Instead, Safe Harbor is mostly treated as a convenient place to gather a group of unhappy teenagers together. The adults at Safe Harbor do not improve matters. Isabel’s parents already had me judging their decisions. Then, we meet the group therapist. What does this woman actually do? She is distracted by planning her wedding while the teenagers argue, expose one another’s vulnerabilities, and create drama. She mostly seems to be occupying the same room as a non-player character. Isabel does find some comfort in realizing that the other teenagers are dealing with their own complicated families. That part made sense to me. Divorce can make teenagers feel like pieces being moved around by adults. The conversations between the kids give the story some healing aspects. Then, Isabel develops feelings for Gray. Inside the reform program. Her parents sent her there partly because they disapprove of her choices. Now, she is falling for another teenager they almost certainly would not approve of either. I also could not get excited about a romance built inside such a temporary and controlled environment. What exactly happens when the program ends? The relationship felt more like another idea squeezed into an already crowded short story. The romance was not something I could believe in. Forty-seven pages somehow gave me terrible parents, a questionable reform program, an ineffective therapist, teenage group drama, divorce trauma, personal growth, and a romance. That is a lot of luggage for such a tiny book to carry. I had far more problems with Safe Harbor than enjoyment. Isabel deserved adults who listened to her instead of trying to fix her.