Calli by Jessica Lee Anderson

Calli by Jessica Lee Anderson
"Fifteen-year-old Calli has just about everything she could want in life—two loving moms, a good-looking boyfriend, and a best friend who has always been there for support. An only child, Calli is excited when her parents announce that they want to be foster parents. Unfortunately, being a foster sister to Cherish is not at all what Calli expected. First Cherish steals Calli’s boyfriend, then begins to pit Calli’s moms against one another, and she even steals Calli’s iPod. Tired of being pushed around and determined to get even, Calli steals one of Cherish’s necklaces. But this plan for revenge goes horribly awry, and Cherish ends up in juvenile detention.

Isolating herself from her moms, her boyfriend, and even her best friend, Calli wrestles with her guilt and tries to figure out a way to undo the damage she’s caused. When her moms are asked to take on another foster child, Calli sees an opportunity to make amends for her past mistakes."- summary from Amazon

I do own another Anderson book (signed!) but this is my first one, mainly because of the expiration date on e-galleys. I wanted to make sure I got this one read before it expired. It's a short book, but Anderson packs in a lot without it feeling too overwhelming. I loved Calli as a main character because she's so realistic and flawed. Watching her grow over the course of the novel was very gratifying and I really enjoyed spending time in this story.

I loved Calli's parents and the fact that they were lesbians because it's always good to have representation. Not only that, but they're a big part of the novel, which is hard to find in most YA books. There was a real love and connection between them and Calli and the two foster kids that were in the book. It felt like a real family.

The ending, though, was very abrupt and I was left wondering if maybe there were some missing pages but I don't think there were. I wanted to know so many things but that's where the story ended, so I just had to move on. It bothers me though and while I think the author may have been going for an extremely realistic ending where not everything is tied up in a bow, I would've appreciated just a few more pages. Maybe the character's story was done, with her having patched things up with everyone and working her way to be a better person, but I wasn't ready to let go!

FTC: Received e-galley from NetGalley. Link above is an Amazon Associate link; any profit goes toward funding contests.