But things do go wrong, horrifically wrong. After a tragic accident, Jeff and Kim's flawless life in a wealthy San Francisco suburb begins to unravel. The injured girl's mother, Lisa, files a lawsuit that turns friends into enemies, reveals dark secrets in the Sanders' marriage, and exposes the truth about their perfect daughter, Hannah. Lisa's determination to make the Sanders pay stems from a fierce love for her only child and Lisa's own dark and damaged past.
Hannah is turning sixteen and she's having a party with four of her friends ... two are good friends and two (Lauren and Ronni) head up the in-crowd that Hannah wants to be part of. Hannah's strict mother lays out the rules for the party ... no booze, no drugs, no boys and no porn. Hannah wants to appear cool so steals some vodka from her parents and the others sneak in booze and drugs. Plus her dad gives her a celebratory bottle of bubbly. In the middle of the night, Hannah wakes her parents up because there has been a horrific accident with Ronni that is life changing.
The police investigate and clear Jeff and Kim, Hannah's well-to-do parents, of any responsibility, which is all they seem to care about. Lisa, Ronni's mother, feels differently and sues them for $3 million because it happened in their house under their watch. What follows is the breakdown of friendships ... between Hannah and Ronni and Kim and Lisa ... and things get really ugly.
When I finished this book, I wasn't sure if I liked it or not as it was negativity from start to finish. It's not a happy story with sooooo much going on (many side stories could have been excluded) and there was really no one to cheer for. Kim was never a likeable character, even before the accident, and got worse to be point of being unrealistic as time went on. Jeff was pretty bland and it seemed like all he had in his life was exercise. He made a mistake last year (it was an odd thing he did) and Kim hadn't let him forget it. Lisa started out as a chill bohemian mom and her transformation after the accident felt unbelievable. Yes, she was upset and wanted to do what was right for her daughter but Ronni's goal at the party was to get wasted (which she obviously achieved) and should have had some blame. The "cool" teenagers were extreme and I can't believe that Lauren had that much power in the high school to affect students' popularity and status. I wasn't buying the ending after all that had happened.
This story is written in third person perspective in Kim, Jeff and Hannah's voices. As a head's up, there is swearing, adult activity and violence.
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