A Goodreads Choice Awards Nominee
A Junior Library Guild Selection
From Jas Hammonds, the award-winning author of We Deserve Monuments, comes an electric, heart-wrenching novel about a teen whose desperation to fit in leads to a dizzying relationship with alcoholand a poignant journey of self-discovery.
"Sensitively wrought and gorgeously written." Courtney Summers, New York Times bestselling author of Sadie and Im the Girl
Its the summer before college and Blake Brenner and her girlfriend, Ella, have one goal: join the mysterious and exclusive Serena Society. The sorority promises status and lifelong connections to a network of powerful, trailblazing women of color. Ellas acceptance is a sure thingshes the daughter of a Serena alum. Blake, however, has a lot more to prove.
As a former loner from a working-class background, Blake lacks Ellas pedigree and confidence. Luckily, she finds courage at the bottom of a liquor bottle. When she drinks, shes bold, funny, and unstoppableand the Serenas love it. But as pledging intensifies, so does Blakes drinking, until its seeping into every corner of her life. Ella assures Blake that shes fine; partying hard is what it takes to make the cut . . .
But success has never felt so much like drowning. With her future hanging in the balance and her past dragging her down, Blake must decide how far shes willing to go to achieve her glittering dreams of successand how much of herself shes willing to lose in the process.
A powerful exploration of the lengths we go to feel seen, and the devastating consequences of an unquenchable thirst.
