Call It What You Want by Brigid Kemmerer

Call It What You Want
by Brigid Kemmerer
Expected Publication Date: June 25, 2019
Check it Out: Goodreads

When his dad is caught embezzling funds from half the town, Rob goes from popular lacrosse player to social pariah. Even worse, his father’s failed suicide attempt leaves Rob and his mother responsible for his care.

Everyone thinks of Maegan as a typical overachiever, but she has a secret of her own after the pressure got to her last year. And when her sister comes home from college pregnant, keeping it from her parents might be more than she can handle.

When Rob and Maegan are paired together for a calculus project, they’re both reluctant to let anyone through the walls they’ve built. But when Maegan learns of Rob’s plan to fix the damage caused by his father, it could ruin more than their fragile new friendship…

This captivating, heartfelt novel asks the question: Is it okay to do something wrong for the right reasons?

This is was my first contemporary by Brigid Kemmerer. I had high expectations because her other book Letters to the Lost gets a lot of praise. I can see why it does because I really enjoyed her writing in Call it What You Want!

“One choice doesn’t determine your whole future.”

This book makes you think about that line between right and wrong. It gives you scenarios that make you see that the world isn’t just black and white. It shows that there is always a good reason for doing a bad thing and also a bad reason for doing a good thing. The biggest question this book asks is “Who gets to say if it’s bad?”.

Our two main characters are Maegan and Rob. They both aren’t popular at school for different things that they have done. Rob because of his father and Maegan because an action she did last year. These two outcasts are thrown together for a school project and they start to see each other in a different light. They also see that maybe two hurt people can build each other up.

I enjoyed the way the author shed light on all of the characters. Nobody was perfect and I love that! Everyone had their own issues and was trying to figure out their own path in life.

I have to say that this book was A LOT darker than I thought it would be. I haven’t seen any trigger warnings in other reviews, so I’ll list some. Trigger warnings for suicide, talks of suicide, talk of abortion, and underage drinking. This book talks about some heavy topics and it’s not shy about them. Please make sure that you are in the right headspace before reading this one.

All in all, it was a hard hitting contemporary and I really enjoyed it. I can’t wait to see what else she writes!