Harsh Pink: Color Me Burned (TrueColors Series #12)

This story tells the tale of what many a high school girl faces: popularity.Frightening things can face the youth of today, and Melody Carlson does a magnificent job at warning the audience of the pitfalls of striving to be in the "in" crowd. As always, she includes a religious undertone, though its not in your face.A good story with a good ending. But I may be biased because she is my favorite author.

I have read 'Damaged: A Violated Trust', and for those of you who are under fifteen, it's about rape. Rape is sexual abuse, or when someone forces someone else to have sex. I liked this book, but I would NOT recommend it for people under fifteen.-Sierra, 'HttydFan95'Find me on Twitter, YouTube, FanFiction, Google, Pinterest, and Tumblr.

I confess, I expected this to be one of those "homework" books (one I only read to round out my reading experience). It's inspirational, so I was expecting nobody to fall in love, and even worse, it's an "issue" book. But Carlson's characters are solid and her tale is well-told.Harsh Pink is #12 (the last) of Carlson's True Colors series. Each book deals with a different "teen issue," and in this case, it was mean girls.The book opens with main character Reagan moving to a new school and inadvertently bouncing the most popular girl there from the varsity cheerleader squad. Sort of.Apparently, Miss Popular blew off practicing for tryouts, and there's also a sophomore, the former JV cheer captain, who made the squad.So Reagan's one of two new cheerleaders Miss Popular, as first alternate, takes aim at getting off the squad. Ultimately, Reagan gets pulled into Miss Popular's circle and former JV captain becomes the target of MP's stunts.What I liked about Harsh Pink is the way Carlson demonstrates both the power of one popular person over the actions of many (weaker) others, and the pressure to conform when that popular person chooses to take you under her wing.It's a very real experience most kids and adults can relate to, and Carlson captures the dynamics of school politics beautifully. Reagan's a sympathetic character. She's not the one pulling the pranks or leaving people out, but she often stands by and watches the events unfold--it's not her deal, right? The book isn't preachy. It's well-done.At times, I found the writing a bit repetitive and there wasn't a lot going on outside the mean girl dynamic, but at 210 pages, that's OK. And knowing there's a tragedy by book's end keeps the tension high.Shew! The teenage years are tough. I applaud Carlson for tackling this thorny subject.I encourage my teen followers to give it a read--especially if you're in the position of victim or the one feeling pressured to conform. It's got some good insights. Heck, even if you're not a teen it has some good insights.

OK maybe this was a little my fault for not being familiar with the author (who is apparently a big religious advocate for teens). I downloaded this as it was free and I expected it to be a typical teen book about dealing with catty girls in high school. To a certain extent I was right. It was pretty OK, not that engaging but not really off putting. I found the main character to be a bit annoying and incredibly self centered, but that is pretty typical for a teenager.I did NOT except the heavy religious overtones in the last third of the book. Basically (spoiler I guess?) everyone accepts Jesus into their hearts and is better because of it blah blah blah. It kind of blindsided me and I didn't like the way the author presented the point that you can't change without God in your life.If you're religious, or don't mind it, and are looking for a moderately decent teen book, then this is good for you. It, however, was NOT good for me.

I would recommend this to all teenage girls whether you are a cheerleader or not this goes on in every school. All teenagers could learn a thing or two: I'm a fan have read several of her books.

This book has changed my life. I will never forget it. I recommend this book to ANYONE that's willing to listen. It's a life changer :)