The whirlwind insta-romance of seventeen-year-old Betts and nineteen-year-old Aiden deflates just as quickly as it begins when abusive, obsessive Aiden starts showing his true colors. Fast pacing draws readers into Betts's world and reflects the intense nature of abusive relationships. Rissi sustains reader interest with dynamic secondary characters--such as Betts's best friend, Jo--who wholeheartedly support and protect Betts. Domestic violence resources are included.

In western New York state, high school senior Betts meets a handsome boy at the Sugar Shack where she works and immediately falls for him.On first meeting Aiden, Betts is already thinking, "…but this guy—I felt like whatever he wanted me to be, I'd be it." It's a reaction based solely on physical attraction: Aiden is "perfect and so pretty and ahhhhhhh." Leather jacket-clad Aiden rides a motorcycle which Betts is all too willing to hop on, all doubts swept away by the force of her crush. Betts' first-person narration captures her yearning for a romantic relationship, but fortunately her half Thai, half white and Jewish best friend, Jo, and Jo's twin brother, Eric, ground her when she is swooning off the deep end. They also ultimately save her when Aiden turns out to be clingy, controlling, and both physically and emotionally abusive. Betts' romantic vision of being swept off her feet by a motorcycle-riding Prince Charming becomes a nightmare more than a fairy tale, and it takes family, good friends, and an almost deadly accident to awaken her from his spell. Though clearly intended to teach about domestic violence, Rissi's tale is elegantly written with a keen insight into teen relationships. Aiden and Betts are white, and there is ethnic diversity in the school community.An absorbing tale of a fatal attraction and its consequences. (domestic violence resources) (Fiction. 13-18)

In western New York, high school senior Betts is tired of her parents- micromanaging and of always playing it safe. At the candy store where Betts works, she meets Aiden, a boy with a difficult past and endearing qualities (a motorcycle named after Ralph S. Mouse, for example), and an earth-shaking attraction strikes: -I felt like whatever he wanted me to be, I-d be it.- When Aiden-s affection turns toxic, Betts gives him the benefit of the doubt, trying to demonstrate selfless love as his behavior becomes jealous and controlling, reveals an undercurrent of simmering anger, and becomes physically abusive. Betts-s best friend, Jo, and her twin, Eric, show kindness and concern, playing an effective foil to obsessive love-even as an explosive public incident shows everyone, including Betts, the truth. This emotionally resonant YA debut by Rissi (The Teacher-s Pet) meaningfully highlights known patterns of intimate-partner abuse and speaks to the joy and importance of enduring friendship. Further elevating the story are romance rendered alongside a Bechdel-Wallace Test reference, female sexuality written without shame, and a group of funny, authentically written teens. Ages 13-up. Agent: Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, DeFiore & Company. (June)