Miranda, or more recently, Rand, has a secret. She has suffered the loss of her sister and blames her parents for driving her away. She tries to cling to Xanda's memory, tries to be like her. In the end, she pushes away her oldest friend and loses her new ones. Now, she has no one, except a tiny secret in her belly...
This was my first ever Audiobook, and for good reason! I never have time to listen! My daily drive in 1.5 minutes long, and only on weekends do I spend any time in the car. I got Tell Me a Secret because the podcast is free on iTunes, and I thought it would be good to pass the time on longer drives into town. It definitely did pass the time, and I'm glad I stuck with it, thought I considered giving up...
It wasn't boring; it was angering. The narrator, Rand, was horrendous! She was a jerk and a pushover at once. The poor thing is bullied by everyone and barely has enough room left for a personality of her own. When something goes wrong, she might try once to fix it, but chickens out when it doesn't go perfectly. I was so annoyed by her weakness, I almost couldn't connect with her.
When she meets Kamran, I was excited for her! I thought maybe something happy would happen to little Rand and she would get over herself...but instead, two lines on a pregnancy test add another problem. Here, I started to feel for her, but she totally didn't handle it the right way.
She never sticks up for herself, so when her new "friend" Delaney starts telling lies about her, steals her boyfriend, and leaves Miranda completely alone, she doesn't plead her case. After that, it became much harder to be on her side. Miranda's home life is horrible. They never talk about Xanda, and rarely talk at all. Her naggy mother tries to persuade her to give the baby away, but Rand knows she can't. She sees the baby as a way to escape, and it's no wonder why. All she needs is someone to love her for once, and maybe learn not to push them away.
Gradually, Rand learns. She starts to see things in a new way, and gains some perspective. Things start looking up, and by the end, she's a real girl. It was interesting to watch it all come together. This story was heart-wrenching and emotional, for me anyway. Rand doesn't have many emotions. The topic of teen pregnancy is hard-hitting and relevant now, and this was a very different approach. It was well-written, with a few too many metaphors for my taste, but neatly put together.
The reader Jenna Lamia was awesome! She did voices and accents that I thought were funny but believable. She sounds like Miranda. It was a very good experience as my very first audiobook!
Anyway, to wrap it up, it was a good book and good reader. Cupala is a good writer, but Miranda frustrated me so much it detracted from the overall experience.
3.3/5
--Shay-la
--Shay-la
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