Shine

This book. I don't know how to describe it. I stumbled upon it by chance. I'd heard of Lauren Myracle, but I'd never picked up her books because they looked too much like older teenage versions of "The Clique," a book series and novel type that I despise from the deepest recesses of my soul. So this was a surprise in basically every way.

I picked it up because the plot reminded me of Matthew Shepherd. That story had always gotten to me, and I liked the idea of a friend trying to figure out what happened and getting revenge. Cat was friends with Patrick for years -- best friends -- until one day she stopped. It had nothing to do with him; something had happened to her that caused her to pull away from everyone. Even so, when Patrick is beaten to the point that he falls into a coma, because he is openly gay, Cat decides to try and suss out what happened. What happened goes much deeper than the presumably shallow surface of their tiny town, unseats everything Cat knows and feels, and disturbs every little nook and cranny of all of their lives.

I very much enjoyed this book, to the point that I went right out and checked out another one by the same author that sounded interesting, as well. I can't wait to see what it has to offer.