ARC Review: Tiffany Sly Live Here Now by Dana L. Davis // This conjured a surprising reaction out of me

I’ve got seven days to come clean to my new dad. Seven days to tell the truth…

For sixteen-year-old Tiffany Sly, life hasn’t been safe or normal for a while. Losing her mom to cancer has her a little bit traumatized and now she has to leave her hometown of Chicago to live with the biological dad she’s never known.

Anthony Stone is a rich man with four other daughters—and rules for every second of the day. Tiffany tries to make the best of things, but she doesn’t fit into her new luxurious, but super-strict, home—or get along with her standoffish sister London. The only thing that makes her new life even remotely bearable is the strange boy across the street. Marcus McKinney has had his own experiences with death, and the unexpected friendship that blossoms between them is the only thing that makes her feel grounded.

But Tiffany has a secret. Another man claims he’s Tiffany’s real dad—and she only has seven days before he shows up to demand a paternity test and the truth comes out. With her life about to fall apart all over again, Tiffany finds herself discovering unexpected truths about her father, her mother and herself, and realizing that maybe family is in the bonds you make—and that life means sometimes taking risks.

Author: Dana L. Davis

Publisher: Harlequin Teen

Publication Date: May 1st 2018

*I’m a Book Depository Affiliate 🙂

Unchallenged Ableist Language, Queerphobia, Death, Grief, Racism, Autistic Abuse, Unchallenged Transphobia, Unchallenged Biracial Erasure

Look who’s the odd one out? Who here is surprised? Yet for some reason, I feel weird about not liking this one.

After Tiffany’s mom dies, she moves in with her father who she’s never met and a family she’s never heard about. Except before she moves, another man is claiming to be her father. So now she has seven days before she finds out who her dad is.

Would you believe me if I said I tried? That the premise of this book sounded amazing to me? That the Jehovah Witness aspect was something I was really looking forward to reading about? Despite my lack of being religious (it’s complicated) I was open to delving into it and educating myself a bit.

I’m going to say it now, Tiffany was cool. I liked her, she was relatable in her anxiety and she was a definite plus to the story.

However, by chapter two, I was not feeling her new family. Again, it’s my first time reading about Jehovah Witness’ and though I didn’t agree with their rules, that’s not the reason I didn’t really like them. None of them feel genuine. The way the father dismissed her disease (Alopecia) with a take some vitamins (despite the fact that he’s a DOCTOR) and London who clearly had an issue and the mom. I feel like if I finished the book, she would’ve been really complex and had great character development. I’ll never know, though.

The main, number one reason I didn’t finish was a scene in chapter five that… I couldn’t handle. The fact that because the father’s 3 year old autistic daughter threw a tantrum he didn’t let her eat is fucking mind boggling. Five chapters in and I’m stunned, tears everywhere. I had to put the book down and take a break. You know that’s a form of abuse right? Aren’t you a doctor? A RICH one at that? Indicating that you somewhat know what the hell you’re doing to be earning enough to be living in a MANSION?! Is this how he’s supposed to be portrayed? Am I not supposed to like him? Am I supposed to be rooting for dad #2? Despite not really meeting him yet?

This might not be a credible source, but I googled if Jehovah Witness believe in medicinal practices and apparently they do other than blood transfusions? (If I’m wrong, please correct me). Ive also asked a family friend who follows the religion so, the negativity against using medication for mental illness is…confusing.

I don’t know if I’m making a huge deal out if this, but I DNFed this. Maybe I’m not mentally here for this or something, but that scene I explained above was disturbing. And I really wanted to like this one, too. I’m not saying don’t read it, since ~~again~~ I didn’t finish it and have no idea if the issues I had were addressed or… something, but this was not what I was expecting. I was expecting a girl who figures out her religion and finding a new family and something philosophical.

Hell, maybe it is, I wouldn’t know.