I read most of this book with a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. It is that disturbing. Evelyn has a caring, supportive mother who is in a stable, committed relationship. But Evelyn’s father was a mass murderer, who is on death row. The nature vs nurture debate forms the basis of the story. [spoiler alert] The book seems to come down on the side of nature, in a very depressing way. [end spoiler alert] Do not expect to finish this book feeling good. But that is not necessarily a reason not to read it.

Evelyn has grown up under the shadow of her father’s unforgivable crimes. He opened fire on a shopping mall in St. Augustine, Florida, killing eleven people. With her father on death row, Evelyn has never understood why he did the unthinkable. Now, she intends to find out why. She becomes involved with a support group for kids whose parents are in jail and becomes close friends with another girl there. As time progresses, Evelyn must decide whether she will let her father and what he did define her, or if she can create her own future. Dietrich’s book looks into the old nature vs. nature argument and whether our destiny is actually written before we are even born