Even though he interned at his father's office, Rob swears he had no knowledge of the illegal activities. I kept thinking to myself how would I have treated someone like Rob if all I knew were rumours? I'd like to think I wouldn't have jumped to conclusions or have been as horrible as some of the people at Rob's school. It’s one of those stories where the person who is in pain gets up, brushes themselves off and realizes their worth”

Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer follows Rob and Maegan as they try to navigate their families, school and trying to find if you have to do something wrong to make things right. After Rob’s dad is caught embezzling money from half their down, Rob has to deal with the fallout that follows. After the pressure got to Maegan last year, she feels that everything around her is falling apart, and then her sister comes home pregnant. Now paired together for a project, Maegan and Rob try hard to keep their walls up, but that doesn’t seem to work. But when Rob attempts to fix his father’s wrongdoings that might be the end of them. Over on Rob's side we have his ex-best friend bullying him and trying to humiliate him in front of the school, even though Rob is innocent. While trying to keep his head down Rob makes an unlikely friend, Owen, who comes from a struggling family...all thanks to Rob's father. Rob and Owen then begin a rather dangerous game of playing "robin hood" by trying to help out those who have less but taking from the well off families who won't miss whatever is taken from them. This puts Rob in a position of finding out that maybe there is more to what happened with his father than Rob originally knew. Did you think I was kidding when I said a Lifetime movie on steroids? The characters are well developed and ... anticipation and curiosity build throughout - School Library Connection Brigid Kemmerer’s books always look so cute on the outside but always manage to pull my heart out! 💖 Rob and Maegan both have a whole lot on their plates. Rob’s rich dad attempted suicide after he was caught embezzling their community and he’s now severely disabled, unable to speak or do anything for himself. Until eight months ago, “Everyone wanted to be me,” but now Rob’s an outcast, tainted by his father’s fraud, which is something Maegan also knows a thing or two about. Previously an academic overachiever, pressures led her to cheat in last year’s exams, which in turn led to hundreds of her peers’ marks being invalidated.Another thing I liked seeing was the sisterly bond between Meagan and Samantha. Samantha’s arc was a lot to take in, especially because of what she ends up doing, but the best part about it was how protective Meagan was with her and viceversa.

Two ostracized teens forge a relationship in this dual narrative that delves deeply into family dynamics. the other day, i took a break from reading this to go run some errands. and as i was in the produce section, looking at the bananas, all i could think was 'maegan and rob better live happily ever after or, so help me, someone will hear about it.' if a book that prompts that kind of angst doesnt deserve five stars, then i dont know what does.

Brigid Kemmerer Press Reviews

Because Maegan and Rod are so beautiful even they have some many flaws, even they have done big mistakes, even they’re drowning with problems, they always find a way to keep their heads above the water and finally hold each other to push themselves out of the water and embrace their new lives with better choices. I feel like most of the time, a lot of "romance" books are light and happy. I love how Alissa brings light to a lot of what other people experience. Throughout CIWYW, Sloane and Ethan have this off-and-on-again relationship and she for some reason cannot seem to let him go- no matter how he treats her. CIWYW shows the reality of an unexplainable love for someone that you know you shouldn't love. I feel that this is something a lot of people experience, but is rarely a "trope" (if you can even call it that?) in books.