Spoilers Ahead: 

I was really really excited for this book, but honestly, I was left a little disappointed. 

We follow Darcy on her journey through school. She has a business called Locker 84, in which she gives out advice to people for a small fee. When Alex, one of her peers, spots her collecting the letters, he blackmails her, and enlists for her help. 

Meanwhile, Darcy has a crush on her best friend Brooke, who is becoming more attached to someone else, and it makes Darcy so mad! 

Darcy and Alex get closer, until they’re hanging out as just friends. Alex wanted help with getting his ex back, but Darcy knew they weren’t right of reach other. And then she finds out that Alex never meant to blackmail her, he just wanted help! They started to develop feelings for each other, but Darcy got scared, and ran away. 

One of the girls Brooke was interested in sent a letter in to Darcy, and She betrayed the girl’s trust. By this time, Brooke and Darcy are dating, but Darcy is still trying to get over her, and tells Brooke, who then tells the whole school. He’s annoyed, because Darcy has messed up two relationships of hers. Darcy gets suspended, for running an illegal business, and when she returns, people ask for their money back. She manages to right it with Brooke, and her and Ray become a trio (?) and her and Alex, who’s the only one who has been there for her, end up becoming a thing, and she makes her own business giving advice - legally, this time. 

The plot itself was decent. I really enjoyed dreading the advice of Darcy’s, I genuinely thought it was very interesting to read, and even a little helpful! I think the introduction of a trans character, Ainsley, is also really important, and I love the representation. I also loved how the queer characters weren’t penalised for their sexualities, and that wasn’t a main focus for them. I loved the identity issues! That’s so prevalent in books for children, so I really liked the representation, especially as a bi girl dating a man - I feel like that is an issue that is overlooked, even today. 

One thing I couldn’t stand was the amount of mistakes in the book. It felt like the publishing was very rushed, it almost felt like a first draft, to be honest. There was gaps between punctuation, dialogue not punctuated properly, and as a reader, this really takes away from the story itself. Even some of the sentences didn’t make sense, and I had to go back and read it a few times, and then the flow was interrupted, and it kind of ruined the story a little for me. 

I can’t stand Brooke. I know what Darcy did is so wrong, I’m not disputing that, but Brooke wasn’t a good friend to her anyway. She completely forgot her when Brooke started dating! And to be that rude… oh my god, I felt so frustrated. And the ending felt too neat, too perfect. There were some points that made this book okay, and others that brought it down, unfortunately. With a little more editing, this book could have been a real favourite of mine.