Book Review- Invisible Girl

Late last night I finished reading Invisible Girl by Mary Hanlon Stone.

From Goodreads:

When poor Boston girl Stephanie is abandoned by her abusive mother and taken in by Annie's

Beverly Hills family, she feels anything but home. Her dark complexion and accent stick out like a sore thumb in the golden-hued world of blondes and extravagance. These are girls who seem to live life in fastforward, while Stephanie is stuck on pause. Yet when a new rival moves to town, threatening Annie's queen-bee status, Stephanie finds herself taking sides in a battle she never even knew existed, and that feeling invisible is a wound that can only be healed by standing up for who she is. Brilliant newcomer Mary Hanlon Stone delivers a compulsively readable insider's view of growing up in a world where money and privilege don't always glitter.

When I first started reading this book, I felt bad for Stephanie. But as the story went on, I became less and less sympathetic.  She started off hiding in a closet and so scared of her mother that she had an accident.  She hides in the library during lunch.  I felt bad for this version of the girl.  Then she moves to California and wants to fit in so badly with Annie that she suddenly comes up with all these lies about her life back home and is pretty bold.  And when a new girl tries to join the group, she becomes mean like the girls she's with.  I didn't like this version of Stephanie. She lost all sympathy votes.

And lets talk about this group.  A group of young teens who smoke, drink, and mess around.  I'm sure that does happen, but the author makes it seem like the norm.  Disturbing.  Just not the book for me.

I gave this book a rating of 2.5/5.

This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2013 150+ Reading Challenge: 21
2013 ARC Reading Challenge: 14
2013 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 17
2013 Embarrassment of Riches TBR Reading Challenge: 2
2013 Quick Fix Challenge: 7

*FTC Disclosure: I was given a copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review.