Is there a person alive who was bullied in high school and who didn’t fantasize about getting revenge? This is the premise of Love Heather by Laurie Petrou. If you’re after something darker to read over the holidays, then this may well be the book for you, although it comes with some hefty trigger warnings including sexual assault, transphobia, eating disorders, and many types of high school bullying.

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Stevie and Lottie have been best friends forever, but when they become part of the popular crowd, that quickly begins to change. The distance between the pair widens as Lottie deals with changes at home, and overnight without any warning, Stevie becomes a pariah at her school. Her phone is soon overflowing with vicious comments posted all over her social media accounts including her YouTube channel where she talks at length about classic cinema. With her mom entranced by a new boyfriend, estranged dad focused on his new business the next town over, BFF turned against her, and the only other adult she trusted recently out and focused on transitioning, Stevie feels she has no one to turn to.

Finding herself entirely ostracized, Stevie befriends Dee, a new girl at school who encourages Stevie to change her attitude and take back control. Together they begin targeting the bullies with pranks that have the whole school talking, pranks they sign “Love, Heather” in homage to their favorite ’80s movie. Soon, however, the pranks escalate beyond control and no one is safe, with the adults entirely unable to control what is happening—if they’re even aware of the secrets lurking online. Finally, an event so awful occurs that it sends Stevie and Dee spiraling toward a horrific final plan for revenge.

This was an incredibly difficult book to read, but I couldn’t put it down. Stevie is an amazing character who countless teens will relate to, and her journey shows just how easy it is for hate to take hold in someone who is endlessly tormented and unable to escape—even online. Stevie’s march toward darker and darker acts is one we hope our own children will never follow, but it is terrifyingly understandable and believable too. With so much pressure heaped upon teens and horrific acts of violence against women in the news every day, Stevie’s is a story that could appear in the papers any day. The book ties Stevie and Dee’s actions to the repercussions of #MeToo and the Weinstein case, with the girls angry at how men get away with so much and determined to take matters into their own hands.

Love Heather is set in a modern-day setting with all the teens at Stevie’s small-town Canadian high school connected via dozens of ever-changing group chats and social media channels, as well as their physical location. The book shows how impossible it is not only for bullied teens to get away from their tormenters but for the adults in their lives to get a handle on what’s happening to their kids. As Stevie puts it,

“[Mom is] just like all the parents who think they’re keeping an eye on what we’re doing by being on Facebook or reading articles, but we’re slippery and fast. We’re so far ahead that they couldn’t catch up if they tried.”

While our generation got to walk away from our bullies at the end of the school day, the ubiquity of social media means that today’s high school students are in touch with their classmates 24/7, and in cases like Stevie’s, that endless connectivity has dire consequences.

Whilst the very opposite of a lighthearted read for the holiday season, Love, Heather is an important book—especially for parents of teens. Social media is here to stay, as is the technology used to access it, and the sooner we accept that bullying is no longer confined to high school corridors the better.

GeekMom received a copy of this book for review purposes.

A timely, unputdownable YA read (with crossover appeal, I think), Laurie Petrou is a lovely writer, and she has crafted a plot about bullying and mean girls that builds something entirely new and distinct, yet rooted in the tradition of Heathers. This is ultra-smart, a must-read for a teen/YA audience and educators/parents.

Eye-opening, timely, emotional, with jaw-dropping twists!

When fourteen year old Stevie is ostracised and bullied by the popular crowd, her best friend since childhood, Lottie, turns her back on her and sides with them. Unhappy and alone, Stevie is taken under her wing by fierce, fearless, loner Dee, and the two hatch a plan to strike back – give the bullies a taste of their own medicine. But when other students decide to exact their own revenge, things soon escalate into violence and vigilantism. Stevie is helpless to stop it, and does she really want to?

Love Heather accurately portrayed a wide range of serious relevant social issues that teenagers will unfortunately likely encounter more than one of in their high school setting, and/or home environment. Covers everything from vicious physical, verbal, and cyber bullying, targeted exclusion from a clique and the sudden cessation of a long term friendship, hate crimes and harmful pranks, sexual harassment and assault, transitioning and gender identity, divorce and adjusting to a parent's new partner, mental illness, attempted suicide, unhealthy coping mechanisms, and feelings of isolation and abandonment. Whew! This may sound like a lot to process, but the author handled, and weaved together, all the topics seamlessly.

The biggest twist, and the ending, threw me for six. My immediate reaction was dissatisfaction that some elements weren't fully realised/explained, but I've since done some research, and concluded that A: I'm wrong, and B: am far too influenced by dramatic portrayals in pop culture.

Laurie Petrou did a masterful job of not only showing the effects of Stevie mourning a breakup with a friend she considered a sister, but also the loss of closeness and family unity she shared with Lottie's parents. The Sherman's was a second home for Stevie, a sanctity she often escaped to when her own parents were in the midst of divorce.

I had no trouble identifying with the subject matter. When I was twelve I was ditched by my best friend of two years, and I think most of us have experienced this, and the feelings of loneliness, shame, anger and embarrassment associated with being betrayed by someone you care about. I am also a teenager of divorce, so can completely relate to what Stevie was going through having to deal with her parents new relationships. Stevie had my upmost sympathy from the beginning, and I was fully invested in her well being, and happiness. On a lighter note, we both shared an interest in teen movies from the 80’s and 90’s. The title ‘Love Heather' pays tribute to the cult 1988 movie ‘Heathers', a teen staple during my high school years.

I felt the adults in Stevie's life were an accurate portrayal. Yes they made mistakes, and failed to see the warning signs, but just like teenagers, adults have numerous worries, responsibilities, and issues, and furthermore, they aren’t perfect. This novel would be an excellent opportunity for adults and teens to read this together, open up discussion, and compare notes of instances Stevie and the adults surrounding her could've breached the gap, and reached out to one another. And also suggest things they could've done differently along the way.

Content wise, there's strong language, name calling and slurs of a sexual nature, as well as all the trigger warnings laid out in paragraph two. It's written, and marketed for a YA audience, Stevie was only fourteen, and above are things teenagers are exposed to on a daily basis (I don't like it any more than you do, but that's the reality), so 12 plus.

I'd like to thank Netgally, Crooked Lane Books, and Laurie Petrou for the e-ARC.

Love Heather is available now!

This story was not what I was expecting but was an interesting read. As a parent of two teenagers, I found some parts of this story heartbreaking and scary to read. I generally don't gravitate towards YA titles because the high school angst is just not my cup of tea so I didn't "enjoy" it but I did appreciate it. Overall, this was a solid story about issues affecting teenagers today.

I loved Petrou's previous novel, Sister of Mine and was so excited to read this, her new offering. It's definitely much more of a Young Adult book, and very different to Sister of Mine. What SoM does in a slow burn kinda way, this new book does with a more 'quick punch in the face' method. So yeah, it's less subtle than SoM, but no less impactful.

What Petrou is great at, and I was relieved to see, still maintains in Love, Heather - is how realistically she depicts relationships. Much like the sibling relationship in SoM, in Love, Heather the friendships are so cleverly depicted. It made me anxious to remember similar friendships from my teenage years. How everything could hinge on a look, a misplaced text, a subtle shift in dynamics. How you could just turn around and find yourself ostracized by people you called friends only days before. She is just brilliant at capturing the transient nature of teenage friendships.

I really enjoyed this book and think Petrou is incredibly talented. My one criticism is that the climactic ending comes very quickly, and is over all of a sudden. For a book with so much build up, it just felt like the ending was a tad rushed. There didn't feel like there was time to reflect on how hideously events unfold, as everything is then wrapped up so quickly.

There is something about this book though that is really clever, and when it happens you are left scratching your head - worth it just for that moment alone!

Holy moly. I was expecting your standard YA book about bullying & high school students, and I was NOT expecting the twist at the end. This book is a great social commentary and a smart, quick (and at times upsetting) read. I didn’t love the book personally, but I respected and enjoyed the storytelling.

I enjoyed this book so much. I loved all the movie references. Heathers is a favorite 80's movie of mine. I can't wait to read Laure Petrou's next book!

Received an ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a honest review. I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own

It’s a fast read. It’s a book about severe bullying and drama in a high school. This worked in the 80s when Heathers came out (the movie the book is referring to), but this can be a serious for teens who are struggling mentally. I wouldn’t necessarily recommend this to teens even though it’s a YA.

Actual rating: 2.5
TW/CW: extreme bullying, assault/violence, sexual assault, transphobia, gun safety, toxic relationships

I want to be clear that I went into this book expecting something much different to what I read. And honestly, if I had actually read the synopsis I would likely not have requested an ARC.

Love, Heather is a story about when bullies fight back. Stevie is a film-enthusiast who, as many teens in school, ends up falling out with her best friend and experiencing bullying as a result. When new-girl, Dee, starts at the school, however, she pushes Stevie and others who experience bullying, to push back.

The story itself was engaging and well written. But I honestly felt a little uncomfortable about certain story inclusions being a little bit too "shock-factor" for my liking. I won't elaborate too much, as it will result in spoilers for the book.

In addition, the "twist" at the end has been done before. In a big way. Granted, I didn't see it coming. But I couldn't help but roll my eyes at the reveal.

I do want to give a shout-out to how well the book dealt with the soul-crushing way bullying can impact on a teenager at school. The topics of isolation and the insane need for connection and friendship within this story is well and truly ingrained in the story. But overall, this book just didn't work for me.

Love, Heather is one of the most disturbing YA novels related to bullying I have read! 

Please be aware that this book has bullying and assault triggers. 

Stevie and Lottie have been friends since they've known about each other. And when Lottie starts to hang out with the popular kids, Stevie wants to fit in too. One thing leads to another, and Stevie gets bullied by them, which quickly leads to the whole school avoiding her.

Then Stevie becomes friends with Dee, and they start plotting a revenge on the popular kids, which very quickly gets out of hand. The " Love, Heather " pranks are now spreading without anyone being able to stop them.

Stevie's family is a bit of a troubled one. Her mum and dad are divorced, and her dad doesn't have the interest to see her often, being busy with his new missus. Her mum is starting to date other men too, often not spending time with Stevie. Lacking her family love, Stevie sees Lottie's family as hers. Very understandably, given the fact she has spent countless days and nights there. Lottie's family is not perfect either though. They have their own problems, and the most recent one is Lottie's mum transitioning into a man.

Stevie as a character

Stevie is a person that makes you want to feel for you, but you can't. She is supposed to be sympathetic and she is supposed to be a victim. However, most of the time I found her quite annoying and attention seeking. It is also important to mention that she is not alone and could reach for help, but she didn't, despite people often asking her whether she is feeling okay and if there is anything they can do to help.

The world was always revolving about Stevie, and she couldn't understand how other may feel as well. A scene where she tells Lottie how to accept her mum's transition comes to mind. We all know that Stevie cares about Lottie and her mum, but Lottie is way closer and more affected in this situation. There are times where it's not our place to say things, and leave people to cope in their own way, and Stevie was not able to achieve this state of mind.

Powerful!

While I couldn't connect to Stevie on many levels, I absolutely cherish this book because it brings up bullying in a very powerful way. It is very emotional and very intense, every bit of reality hits hard and makes me angry for all the children out there that are getting bullied every day. I was once that kid. I was a Stevie too! And it sucks to see it happen again and again, and realise how cruel life and people can be sometimes, when no one gets punished for what they have done.

I loved how this book showed how small things done in consecutive way can have enormous effect to a person, or a group. How the small things we say today can hurt us badly. And I hope people will read this book with the hope of spreading the knowledge and standing up to bullies, before things go out of hand.

Thank you to the team at Netgalley and the publishers at Crooked Lane Books, for sending me an e-copy of Love, Heather in exchange for an honest review.

Laurie Petrou writes a hugely engrossing and hard-hitting novel that deals with some very serious issues in this gripping YA tale of bullying and evil.

Protagonist and young teen Stevie is, at the outset of this novel, secure in her life and beliefs. She has her childhood best friend, Lottie, along with Lottie's parents who are like her second family. Stevie is doing well at school but then things go downhill for her and she finds herself ostracised and targeted by bullies every day.

I felt so much empathy for her especially regarding her home life and her self-centred mum who was totally oblivious to the pain Stevie was experiencing. While I definitely don’t support Stevie's actions in the later part of the novel and at the end, it’s clear to see that a culmination of events resulted in such an awful final act.

Laurie Petrou delivers an unrestrained and exuberant story of teenage life with a toxic concoction ranging from bullying, depression, eating disorders, trolling on social media to sexual harassment and assault. Everything eventually crash-lands around Stevie in this powerful portrayal of high school experiences.

Love, Heather is a cracking story and a book that I revelled in all the way through. It brought no disappointments and everything was effectively wrapped up in the fulfilling finale. A riveting, though heartbreaking tale of teenage angst, harassment and acts of vengeance, I'm very happy to recommend this book which is still lingering in my mind even though I finished reading it.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley at my own request. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Have you ever been asked "Was It really that bad?" How did that make you feel?

Everyone is on their own journeys and we should never feel the need to justify how "bad" things are.

Love, Heather by Laurie Petrou was one emotional read. This was an amazing story about the trials and tribulations in teens in today's society. Petrou dives into bullying, rape culture, the pain and suffering youth endure from both. The book goes on to show the effects these things have on young impressionable teens. We even see the harsh effects that the main character turned to from feeling alone, misunderstood and isolated. Such a profound powerful read.

Love, Heather follows Stevie in her first year of highschool, discovering herself and the world around her. Early on she starts having trouble with her best friend. This seems to be the starting point to the troubling journey Stevie has. Many things are changing, her best friend is hanging out with other people, her mother has a new boyfriend, her friends mother who Stevie's always been close with is transitioning to a man. Stevie at the most vulnerable time of her life feels very alone. She is able to make a friend in Dee, together they decide to turn the bullying around. It seems to be working until one night at a party. The party would shape the rest of Stevies life. She knows what must be done, with the coaching of Dee it could be the most disastrous decision of her life.

Before I get in to reviewing this book I must stress that it should come with trigger warnings because this book tackles many serious issues. The trigger warning is for issues such as, bullying, sexual harassment, violence, mental health issues and transphobia. That being said even though this book can be triggering it can also be educational to parents living in a technological age in addition to teenagers and the damage they can cause to each other.
With that bit out the way I really enjoyed this book I stayed up all night to finish I was gripped from the beginning. It had a major twist that I didn’t see coming and is very difficult to review without spoiling. The main character of this book is Stevie who is bullied mercilessly and decides to fight back. But, the question is how far is too far?

This one had my attention from the start. I'm so very glad I wasn't a teen in the digital age. I felt the mental health aspect could have been handled better, especially after the event.

*Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book, all opinions and thoughts expressed are strictly my own!*
4 stars!

This hit deep y'all. Revenge and thrilling read that was perfect for October!

Our main character, Stevie is growing up in the 80s and 90s when technology is really affecting somethings in high schools, like cyber-bullying for instance. This book highlights perfectly the spiral teens go through and the hardships of navigating it. A great read for not just YAs, but also adult readers for sure!

Laurie Petrou did amazing weaving everything (especially the plot twists!!) and Stevie's character was out of this world! She was so concrete and perfect for the role she played.
The plot is initially what drew me in, but then Stevie hit the nail on the head with a hammer and I was stuck.
*shrugs* I really didn't mind either, this is a quick and riveting read that ends with you still wanting more.

One of the best books I've read in 2019. And I'm just REALLY glad I didn't know any of these people in high school. Shocking, crazy and heart-tugging, Love, Heather is a really expose of what I'm glad grade school wasn't.

This is a real hard look at the high school experience. The situations that everyone goes through, Sometimes it makes the reading rough but that's just because it hits home. 

The book starts off really slow, and that made it hard to stay interested in it or to just keep my focus on it. I don't know whether to recommend you give this a shot. It's so so for me.

I received a digital copy of this book from Netgalley for an honest review.

This was very good and very relatable. It was so relatable in fact, that it made me uncomfortable. You can see how Stevie gets to where she is at the end and why. Did I agree with it? No. Did I understand it? Yes. Books like this are hard to review because while they are really well written and make you think...it is hard to figure out how you feel about them. However, it is a very accurate story about bullying and I enjoyed how all the movie references fit nicely into the story.

As a lover of teen movies, I was excited to read Laurie Petrou's Love, Heather, about a teenage film buff who makes YouTube videos analyzing classics such as Heathers. I was expecting something perhaps a little snarky, but lighthearted, and this book was certainly much darker and much more than that.

Stevie's stable world begins slowly slipping away when her best friend abandons her for "the popular girls," and Stevie envisions herself as a warrior for the underdog, coming up with pranks to expose the ugliness of the people on top of the social hierarchy. But can justice be done, or is Stevie perpetuating the very cycle of vicious bullying that she's been trying to fight against?
While the pranks began to feel repetitive and I felt a bit duped by a certain element, this was a thought-provoking look at bullying.

Love, Heather by Laurie Petrou is a book about bullying that has an interesting concept. There are some entertaining aspects to this story, and the problems that arise for the main character are terrifying. However, the novel tries to tackle too many teen issues all at once, and there are numerous plot holes that affected my enjoyment of it.

At first glance, the book seems to be a spinoff of the 80s teen movie, Heathers. There are some ties to the movie, as it is directly referenced a few times, and it has a theme of retribution. Although, Love, Heather is very far from the original dark comedy film. The bullying that takes place in this book is very serious and reflective of the impact social media has on our society today.

❀ TRIES TO ADDRESS TOO MANY TEEN ISSUES

The first half of the story is quite entertaining and I really loved getting to know Stevie and reading about her relationship with her best friend and her family. It is the second half of the book that really takes a turn, and the reader is hit with all sorts of issues. Discussing each one will give away too much of the story, however there are a multitude of issues in this book. Teen sex, underage drinking, drug use, bullying, sexual violence, gender identity, eating disorders, social media, and the list goes on.

❀ VERY UNLIKELY SERIES OF EVENTS

A few of the events in the story seem very unlikely in my opinion. Having a personal understanding of the high school setting and the region the story takes place in, some things just don’t add up. There are cameras located in various locations in our Ontario high schools and access to the schools by students outside of school hours is very controlled. Some of the events in the story would not be missed by school staff, and a student would certainly not be able to enter a school independently after hours. Also, the twist at the end of the story is not original and is poorly executed.

While there are some entertaining aspects to this book that tackles the issues of bullying, it tries to take on too much, and parts of the story seem very unrealistic. Social media has certainly added to the problem of bullying, and it is something that is increasingly important to address. In my opinion, it would have been more effective to have seen some positive ways to deal with bullying in this novel.