DNA - Nothing Would Ever Be the Same by Ey Wade

Truculent and defiant teenagers are not unusual, but ones that have to face one tragedy after another and deal with the consequences of their reaction to them are not.  In this story, Ey Wade expertly portrays a young girl, Debney, whose mother fails desperately in the parental love department.  When tragedy strikes, she makes one wrong turn that changes her life dramatically.  An 18-year-old could go down one of two paths in these circumstances – the road to self-destruction or the road to self-fulfilment.  Debney has to find an inner strength to choose the right one.

This was thoughtfully written by Ey, mostly in flashbacks.  Debney is a well-conceived character with spunk and intelligence, and despite the disinterest and lack of love from her mother, or maybe because of it, she is a warm and selfless character.  Her closest friends, although diverse in character are likeable and their mixed ethnicity bonds them tightly.  All the characters in this book were well-drawn, the story is nicely paced and the result is a delightful YA novel.