Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Harmless, by Dana Reinhardt


One night, Emma, Anna, and Mariah sneak out to a party with some older boys. And when their parents find out that they aren't where they are supposed to be, the girls panic and make up a story -- a lie that quickly escalates and grows bigger until it threatens everything around them: friends, family, and even their own sanity and perceptions of self-worth.


This chilling and engrossing second novel is a complete score for Reinhardt. Her first novel (A Brief Chapter in My Impossible Life) was good, but here she improves many times over. I tend to get annoyed by stories based on shifting narrators, but this tired device worked well in this case and gave far more punch than a single voice could have delivered. An excellent sophomore effort and highly recommended!

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