As a child, Angelina spent years in counseling learning that Josie, her imaginary friend, wasn't real, but it turns out her childhood friend wasn't imaginary after all.Now Angelina has to accept she's either (A) crazy or (B) able to see ghosts. Wanting to believe in her sanity, she chooses (B) and welcomes Josie back into her life. But even Josie can't help her deal with Shelly, the spirit of a confused teenager, and things go very, very wrong.When Angelina finds herself in a psychiatric hospital, she faces a choice: she can spend the rest of her life pretending to be someone she isn't, or she can embrace who she is and take a chance that she may never get to go home.I was super excited to read this book because I love a good ghost story. I was less excited over the course of reading this one though. I have a very anti-cheerleader stance so the main character as a cheerleader put a bad taste in my mouth. (personal preference! nothing wrong with the book- just wrong with me.) Angelina was honestly not someone that I could identify at the beginning of her story. She was super sweet, got along with her mom, she was a cheerleader. When I was in high school, I was none of those things. I really feel that there are two types of girls in this world when it comes to teens- there are the girls who are super tight with their moms and those (like me) who want nothing to do with them and in fact want them to go away. I could not stand my mom as a teen girl and I think it was because we were not close when I was small. She did not make herself available to me as someone I could trust. So when things were wrong as a teen, mom would drive off the deep end imagining the worst and coming down on me like a judgmental pile of bricks. So not fun. After I married and had my eldest son, a lot of the drama between us dialed down. I could understand SOME of her freak outs and what not. But I don't want a relationship like that with my daughter. I also don't want to be like Angelina's mom- who made me remember my own mother and the helplessness of being a teen girl being treated for mental illness. My shrinks relayed everything I said to my mother. There was no trust. They would tell her things about me and how my treatments were going that were just ridiculous. (Much like Angelina faced.) It nearly made me give up on the book to read about similar issues with Angelina, but I toughed it out. It just made me SO mad. Your parents should always have your back. And something like seeing ghosts is nothing to call someone crazy for. If it was, then I'm sure there'd be fewer shows with mediums talking to ghosts. Over all, I liked this book but it was not my favorite ever. I think the issues that I had with it were personal so you may not share that opinion. I was honestly pretty triggered by the talk of mental health issues and treatment. It brought me right back to one of the darkest times in my life. If I had known about the content, I probably would not have read the book. But that doesn't mean that you shouldn't.
You can click here to add Angelina's Secret to your Goodreads. You can find Lisa Rogers on her author website. I give Angelina's Secret 3 fairies for a good book that may have been a bit too much for me.
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