Books and Prejudice: Review: One Small Thing

Title: One Small Thing
Author: Erin Watt
Publisher: Harlequin Teen
Release Date: June 26, 2018

Beth’s life hasn’t been the same since her sister died. Her parents try to lock her down, believing they can keep her safe by monitoring her every move. When Beth sneaks out to a party one night and meets the new guy in town, Chase, she’s thrilled to make a secret friend. It seems a small thing, just for her.

Only Beth doesn’t know how big her secret really is…

Fresh out of juvie and determined to start his life over, Chase has demons to face and much to atone for, including his part in the night Beth’s sister died. Beth, who has more reason than anyone to despise him, is willing to give him a second chance. A forbidden romance is the last thing either of them planned for senior year, but the more time they spend together, the deeper their feelings get.

Now Beth has a choice to make—follow the rules, or risk tearing everything apart…again.

Who would think a book about a car accident could be a romance? Well, here you go right here. At first, we see Beth, who is being smothered by her parents. She has been the good girl all her life, but since her sister's death, her parents have slowly begun to suffocate her with more and more rules. All she wants is freedom, and she begins to act out.

So I want to say, first, that I knew someone like this in high school. I knew a girl that was so constricted with what she could do, when she finally got freedom after graduation, she went absolutely wild and uncontrolled. Without getting into specifics, she made a lot of poor decisions, and she will probably pay for them the rest of her life.

That said, I get it. I've seen it happen, and I really understand. When you're so suffocated by parents' rules that freedom is like a dream and you would do anything to achieve it. So yes. I completely get why Beth acts the way she does. I also understand (to a degree) why her parents have so many rules. But sometimes their reactions are a little ridiculous. They can't see how much they're hurting their daughter and that in doing so, they are causing her to act out. Instead, the leash gets even tighter. Even when Beth tries to be an "adult" and not react to how her parents treat her, one small misstep makes everything worse.

That said, this book isn't just about Beth and her parents. It's about Chase, who Beth meets when she sneaks out to go to a party just before school begins. They talk some, and they both like each other. This, leads to them hooking up. And it isn't until the first day of school when Chase is there that Beth learns who he really is: the guy that killed her sister in a car accident.

She's obviously upset and sick at herself. But the more she gets to know Chase, the more she realizes he's punishing himself for his actions even more than anyone else could. The entire school hates him, but Beth just can't.

Honestly, I loved the way Chase and Beth interacted. I found the characters completely realistic and believable. And while the book was mostly focused on their relationship, it also centered on finding out the truth of what exactly happened to Beth's sister. It was centered on family and learning to accept you parents or your children as they are. There were a lot of things I liked about this book,

Overall

I read this in one sitting, and I absolutely loved it. I can't wait to read more from Erin Watt.