Everything I Knew to be True
by
Rayna York
Genre: YA Contemporary Fiction
Release Date: May 12th 2019
Summary:
It was never easy for Cassie and her mother, struggling to make ends meet in their tiny apartment in The Bronx, but they had each other and that was enough. When her mother dies suddenly from an aggressive form of cancer, Cassie is forced to finish high school in California while living with the wealthy family of her mother's closest friend—a women she never knew existed.
Living with the Stantons is the complete opposite of what she's used to—the massive house, a father figure, and Cody, the spoiled, insanely good-looking son with the bedroom across the hall.
Broken with grief and struggling to fit in, Cassie meets Mila, a female powerhouse that helps her cope with a hidden past, the overwhelming present, and a shared experience no one should have to endure—a nightmare they both thought was over.
Warning: Although this book is classified as Young Adult, I recommended it for mature readers due to explicit language.
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Excerpt:
“Cassie?”
Cody rubs my back softly.
“Whaaa?” My
room is dark. “What time is it?” I open and close my eyes a couple of times,
trying to get them to work. “I must have fallen asleep.” I turn over and sit up.
“It’s around
six. Mom was wondering if you want to help with the lobsters. It’s a New Year’s
Eve tradition.”
“Uhhh, yeah,
sure. I just need to wake up a bit.”
He leans in
and places a warm, seductive kiss on my lips.
“Okay.
That’ll do it,” I laugh.
“Come on,”
he says pulling on my hand, half dragging me out of bed.
“Okay, okay.
I’m coming.”
“I’ve got
her!” he yells down the hall.
“Oh, good,”
Jeff says, clapping his hands together as we near the kitchen. “You’re in for a
treat.”
“Cody said
something about helping with lobsters?”
Roxanne
holds up a live lobster. “That’s right!” She wiggles it side to side, making it
dance.
I chuckle
nervously. “Okaaay?”
“Come around
here.” Jeff motions for us to join him. He hands Cody a lobster, then extends
one out to me.
I look at
him like, are you serious?
“Oh, don’t
be such a girl,” Cody teases.
I take the
writhing creature, its leg flexing like a giant spider. “This is so
disgusting,” I squeal. “Take it, take it.” I try to hand it off to Jeff, then
Cody. They both extend their lobster toward me, indicating their hands are
full.
“It’s okay,”
Jeff says. “You’ll get rid of it soon enough. Okay, everybody ready?”
“For what?”
I dare to ask.
“For
hypnotizing them,” Jeff says, like this is the most normal thing ever.
“Ex-cuuuze
me?”
“You can’t
just throw them into a boiling pot of boiling water—they’ll scream,” Roxanne
explains.
“Oh my god!
Who are you people?”
They all
laugh at me.
“Just put
the lobster on its head like this.” Roxanne flips hers upside down on the
newspaper, standing it up on its head, then proceeds to rub its tail from body
to tip.
“You have
got to be kidding me.”
“Stop being
such a wuss,” Cody says. “Just do it!”
I glare at
him as I flip my lobster on its head, its rubber band clasped claws lay splayed
out on the newspaper, like, help me—its little legs flailing in midair. “This
is disgusting.” My face scrunches up as I shudder, completely repulsed. With
one finger, I rub its tail as shown, while keeping my distance. The lobster calms
down.
“Time to put
them in,” Jeff says, walking over to the stove. He lifts the lid off of a large
pot of boiling water and gently sets his in.
“What? No!
This is horrible! It’s totally inhumane! I can’t kill the thing after I’ve
bonded with it!”
Cody gives
me a sideways glance and smirks as he dumps his in, followed by Roxanne.
“It’s going
to die anyway,” Jeff says sympathetically. “It’s been out of water, and it’s
not like you can go throw it back in the ocean.”
“You’ve
eaten lobster before,” Cody says. “How do you think it ends up hot on your
table?”
“This is
rich people food. I’ve never had it before.”
Jeff and
Roxanne exchange a look like, we’re a bunch of insensitive shmucks.
“Sorry,” I
say. “I didn’t mean to be a jerk. I’m sure it will be good.”
“Do you want
me to put it in the pot for you?” Jeff asks.
“Yeah, I
don’t think I can do it.”
I hand Ed
over to him. Yes . . . I’ve already named him.
He places
him in, putting the lid on the big pot, sealing Ed’s fate.
I look at
the pot sadly. Cody puts an arm around my shoulder, squeezing me to him. “Come
on, killer. Let’s go set the table.”
I look at
him, horrified. He laughs his head off, then dodges the punch I throw before
running out of the kitchen.
“Not funny,”
I yell.
About
the Author:
Rayna York
grew up with hippie parents that liked to adventure, so being the new kid was
always a challenge. Where change was the norm, books were her constant--a way
to escape. As an adult, many careers came and went, but writing has always been
her passion. Everything I knew to be true is her first published novel.
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A wonderful synopsis and excerpt. This sounds like a good read for my grand-daughter and I.
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