Emma tells the story of the terrible behavior of her step-sister Quinn. They are teens in the same year of high school, and they are forced to live together when their mothers decide to move in to the same house. Emma is a funny and acerbic narrator, but she is a geek who likes reading books like The Hunger Games. She works hard and has a small group of friends. Quinn is obsessed by her appearance and is expert at being popular. When she does not get her way, Quinn gets her revenge, and puts a lot of energy into humiliating others. She has a string of boyfriends and girlfriends, and she has a lot of casual sex. Once she is done with someone, she just drops them without a second thought. Not only does she not care for anyone else, but enjoys their suffering. So Quinn is a horrible person.

Of course, after people come to know Quinn better, they don’t want to be her friend, and often only tolerate her because they are afraid of her. So she has no genuine friends. She seems unhappy in herself, especially when authority figures try to place limits on her behavior. Even her own parents can’t stand being around her.

The main virtue of Eva Darrows’ YA novel is that it is funny, but it also thoughtful about what it might men to be a mean girl to the extent one is self-defeating and miserable. In rare moments, she does reveal her own needs and vulnerability. It becomes clear that Quinn’s anger comes from the fact that even though she has been spoiled in material ways, she has received little emotional support from her family. By the end of the story, Emma comes to see that there were sides to Quinn’s personality that she had not understood. We also see the difficulties of parenting a young woman who so often breaks social rules and challenges any boundaries that are set.

The reading of the unabridged audiobook by Reba Buhr brings out the humor well and highlights the differences between the characters, so it’s not confusing to listen to.

© 2017 Christian Perring

Christian Perring regularly teaches Ethics.