Title: Arden Grey
Author: Ray Stoeve
Publisher: ABRAMS Kids
Publication date: April 26, 2022
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Summary
Ever since her mother left, Arden Grey has been struggling. Especially since her father and brother won’t acknowledge it. To top it off, she’s also being harassed at school about her sexuality, which most people don’t know about. In fact, Arden doesn’t even know what labels fit her.
The only thing that’s helped is her best friend, Jamie. But when Jamie starts dating someone new, their friendship starts to unravel. And Arden tries to figure out if it’s something wrong with her or their relationship. But it also leads to Arden thinking about her own relationship with her mother. And whether it was the relationship she remembers.
Review: Arden Grey
Thanks to ABRAMS Kids and NetGalley for an advanced copy of Arden Grey to review! Stoeve’s debut, Between Perfect and Real, was one of my favorite reads of 2021, so I was excited to get to this one! I’m happy to say it lived up to my expectations.
Where Stoeve really excels is at writing their characters. Not only is Arden a fully fleshed out character, but the secondary characters are as well. Especially as Arden explores her sexuality and tries to branch out from her friendship with Jamie. The shifting friendships and relationships are extremely relatable for high school, and Stoeve just nails teenage-hood overall. Almost everything about this book felt like an authentic teenage experience.
The examination of toxic relationships also feels authentic, and it’s such an important topic to include in teen books. Even if their friendship was a little on the rocks, Arden was still willing to be there for Jamie. And his relationship allowed Arden to see some of the darker sides of her relationship with her mother. These are such important issues to explore in teen books, and Stoeve did it with grace.
My only complaint is that the pacing could have allowed the story a little room to breath. Slowing down some of the moments would have allowed even more space for the important issues that Stoeve touches on.
All in all, this is a lovely book that looks at identity, relationships, and high school. Definitely pick it up when it comes out later this month!
4/5 stars