Goodbye, Rebel Blue

Goodbye, Rebel Blue

by Shelley Coriell

Rebel Blue is aptly named.  She's never been one to follow rules.  As a child, she and her mother traveled the world, went barefoot, and went wherever they wanted to go.  Her life was rebellious from birth.

When her mother died in a tragic car accident, Rebel was forced to move into her uncle's home, where she was regularly told that she must conform to the rules.  She needed to participate in activities.  She needed to meet people.  She needed to wear shoes.

And while wearing shoes and playing soccer may not seem like a big deal, to Rebel they were confusing and frightening.

So Rebel shut everyone out.  She became the person she thought everyone expected her to be.  She says what she wants to say when she wants to say it.  She goes where she wants to go.  And she takes off her shoes whenever she can.  She only has one friend, and even that girl only came into her life after they shared so many detentions together.

But when Rebel Blue meets Kennedy Green in detention, she begins a journey to find out who she really is and she's not anyone she ever thought she'd be.

Final thoughts:  Nice little read.  It's a little formulaic at points and I kept feeling like Kennedy's "speech" in the first chapter was just a collection of lines that the author would use later on in the story.  It was forced and somewhat unrealistic.  Rebel's evolution is genuinely written, though, and comes with a few surprises.  There is one major moment of conflict that happens so fast, it's almost missed and then it's never really mentioned again; that disappointed me.  I really think there should have been something done with that scene to continue that point.  Overall, it's a decent bit of realistic fiction.

Rating: 3/5