More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer - OPTIONAL

Kemmerer, Brigid More Than We Can Tell (Letters to the Lost,#2), 416 pages. Bloomsbury, 2018. $18. Content: Language: PG-13 (40 swears); Mature Content: PG-13; Violence: PG-13.   

Emma has created a video game, but there is a troll who keep harassing her online.  The harassment upsets her but her parents are always fighting, so she feels like she can’t turn to them for help.  One night to take a break from gaming, Emma takes her dog for a walk and meets a boy named Rev.  Rev has his own problems.  Now that he has turned eighteen, his biological father who severely abused him as a child, has started to contact him through email.  Rev is paralyzed by his fears and doesn’t know where to turn.  Rev and Emma find comfort in talking to each other, but they are so broken in their own ways they don’t always know how to help each other.  

 I enjoyed this book, Kemmerer knows how to write compelling and flawed characters.  Although this is a companion novel to Letters to the Lost, either book can be read on its own.  My biggest gripe with this book is the first two cringe-worthy pages because they are crass and disgusting.  The troll who is harassing Emma makes awful sexual comments throughout.  The content is heavy as it includes abuse, online bullying, and online safety.  If it wasn’t for content I would have this be advisable, but the crass sexual comments are a red flag.   

MS, HS – OPTIONAL.  Reviewer, C. Peterson.