Modern Monsters by Kelley York

Publication June 2nd 2015 by Entangled Teen

Young-Adult, Contemporary

eARC provided by Netgalley

My Rating 4 Stars

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Vic Howard never wanted to go to the party. He’s the Invisible Guy at school, a special kind of hell for quiet, nice guys. But because his best friend is as popular as Vic is ignored, he went…

And wished he hadn’t.

Because something happened to a girl that night. Something terrible, unimaginable, and Callie Wheeler’s life will never be the same. Plus, now Callie has told the police that Vic is responsible. Suddenly, Invisible Vic is painfully visible, on trial both literally, with the police, and figuratively, with the angry kids at school. As the whispers and violence escalate, he becomes determined to clear his name, even if it means an uneasy alliance with Callie’s best friend, the beautiful but aloof Autumn Dixon.

But as Autumn and Vic slowly peel back the layers of what happened at the party, they realize that while the truth can set Vic free, it can also shatter everything he thought he knew about his life…

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*Actual rating 3.5 stars*

REVIEW  While this book held my attention, it pissed me off most of the time that I was reading. I really hate that stuff like this happens. This may be fiction, but the reality is far worse. I actually know a person who was falsely accused of rape, so this one hit close to home. People will do anything to get out of the situations that they put themselves in. Even if it means destroying someone else in the process. If you can’t do the time, don’t do the crime. It’s just that simple.

To start, I love Vic. He is someone that I can easily be friends with. He’s quiet, a bit of an outcast to his peers, and is just an all around nice guy. I can see his side of this messed up situation and root for him to come out on top. The supporting characters? Just stuck up and so self absorbed that they made me not love this book like I was expecting to. Being invited to a party because you just happen to be best friends with the most popular guy in school, surely doesn’t make you feel all that great. But trying to do the right thing, by helping a piss drunk girl at said party – only to turn around and have it backfire, has to be humiliating. I just knew when he took Callie up stairs to sleep off all of the alcohol she ingested, that his life would change real quick. The next thing he knows, the cops have come a knocking and so begins the mystery.

I kept reading to see it through. I wanted to know who the scumbag was that raped that poor girl. The friendships in this book are few and far between. You know what they say; you can count on one hand how many loyal friends you have. Someone who will be there through thick and thin, to see you come out okay. There’s romance in this story but it doesn’t overshadow what Vic has to deal with. I wasn’t too fond of how Vic’s mother took to the accusations. At first, she seemed to just believe that he did it. No matter if he was guilty or not, she’s his mother! Don’t just give up on your son because someone says he did a bad thing. Get to the truth before you just cast him aside. Overall, I liked this book. It just goes to show the power that teenagers think they have when it comes to getting away with things. Recommended!