Imagine what it must be like to have every Friday evening end with your father smacking your mother around. Sometimes the only way he would stop was when your mom called the police. Thankfully, you could grab your younger sister and flee upstairs with her to the safety of a good friends home. What does this mean for your future?

That is exactly what it was like for Zsa-Zsa and her sister Hadiah. But that was then and this is now. Zsa-Zsa is now 17 years old. Since the time when she was 12, her dad has died of cancer, and her widowed mother has moved them all to a nice home in another part of the city. While this would seem like a big improvement, the family has had little time to heal. Zsa-Zsa's mom works many hours as a prison guard and spends a lot of her time off away from home.

To help with the girls, Zsa-Zsa's mom talks Cousin Shake and his wife Ms. Minnie to come and help out. While they are quirky (and quite funny), they really do step into help out the family in all sorts of ways. The least of the problems is the divisions between Zsa-Zsa and her mom.

While Zsa-Zsa has a great support system in her two best friends Asha and the humorously flamboyant Courtney (a guy), but even their love is not enough to talk her into taking a better look at her boyfriend Ameen. There is no question that she loves Ameen, but everyone seems to doubt whether the same can be said for him. He is constantly seeing girls on the side, and he definitely has anger control issues. This all starts to come to a head when he hits her in a night club one evening. While she hit back, does that mean she is falling into the same trap as her mother? Asha and Courtney sure do think so!

Things become even more complicated when childhood friend Malachi returns to the city after having moved away. Malachi was the friend whose home was the haven for Zsa-Zsa and her sister during those Friday nights years before. She felt totally betrayed when he left. Not only is he their and willing to be friends, but he has grown up in to quite the hottie, and he is interested in getting serious with Zsa-Zsa. Could true love fall upon these childhood friends?

Zsa-Zsa lives in the cycle of violence that can easily occur for those living in homes where domestic abuse is present. Even though she knows how wrong it is, she falls into the same pattern of falling in love and making excuses for the man who hurts her. Even the strong support system around her in her friends and family, her pride and fear of appearing weak makes it difficult for her to fully walk away from Ameen, leaving the reader to wonder what it will take for her to finally get it.

Simone has done a wonderful job of creating a realistic cast of characters to tell this story. At times, Zsa-Zsa is frustrating as she risks her relationship with Malachi, her reforming bond with her mother, and her safety sa she continually falls victim to her feelings for Ameen. With that said, this gives a realistic presentation of the situation for those of us who have never lived under those conditions.

Similarly, Zsa-Zsa and her friends are all realistic in their teen voices. Even as they are faced with the challenges of a harsh urban life, they find pleasure in all of the every day things that all of today's kids like. The result is a page turner that leaves you cheering on Zsa-Zsa in the hopes of her finding true happiness.