Review: Sophie & Carter by Chelsea Fine

Sophie and Carter by Chelsea Fine
Paperback 117 pages
Published June 20, 2011 by Acacia Publishing

While other high school seniors are dreaming about their futures, Sophie and Carter are just trying to make it through each day. Carter is overwhelmed by issues at home as he struggles to support his mother. Meanwhile, next door neighbor Sophie is left to care for her three younger siblings in place of their absent and troubled mother. All that holds these two best friends together is each other, and knowing that each night they'll sit together on Sophie's front porch swing and escape from reality, if just for awhile. But as their relationship reaches a turning point and high school graduation nears, will their friendship become something more?

I hadn’t realized Sophie & Carter would be so short. I would think it’s technically a novella, but the author managed to pack a powerful little story into just over one hundred pages.

I do wish the story had been longer. While I am impressed with Fine’s ability to make me care about the story and the characters in so few words, I think it would have benefited from more. There was a lot of potential to build more history for these two, and part of me wishes that had been there. Nevertheless, we definitely get a sense of who these characters are, and of their family lives.

Another thing I wasn’t expecting was their struggles. I had assumed (by the cover, I admit), that this story would be all fluff. I love that their relationship is solid. There is nothing threatening to destroy their friendship or their brewing romantic relationship. The things they endure are forces that lie outside the two of them, threatening to destroy them individually.  It was a nice change.

Cute story with relatable characters.  I’d recommend it for a short escape.

4/5 Stars