Synopsis:
This story revolves around two high school girls named Dani and Claire. Despite coming from completely different upbringings, the two strike up an unlikely friendship and help each other navigate through difficult circumstances. Do you know what a parachute is? Is it a device that is used to slow down an object in mid-air? Nope, not in this case! “They’re called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the US while their wealthy parents remain in Asia.”
At first Dani and Claire hate each other, because Claire is an entitled, spoiled and stuck-up girl, and Dani can’t stand that. Dani starts hating her even more when Claire steals her potential boyfriend, and complains about her new life in America. Meanwhile, Dani is dealing with her own problems in life, while preparing for an upcoming debate competition that could transform her whole life.
My thoughts: This book should come with a trigger warning, since it actually gets quite dark, especially towards the end. There is rape, sexual harassment, and multiple 18+ scenes in this book. In my opinion, the author did a very good job of portraying power imbalances and how wealth and status may affect those who are less privileged. It also portrayed how two people from very different upbringings may view situations differently. Overall, I really enjoyed this book, as the writing style was very engaging and the plot was so unpredictable that it kept me on the edge of my seat. However, one of the parts that I didn’t really like was how fast-paced everything was. The characters barely knew each other and had minimal interactions before getting into relationships and starting drama with each other.
Rating: 8/10