I received this book for free from Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

They’re called parachutes: teenagers dropped off to live in private homes and study in the United States while their wealthy parents remain in Asia. Claire Wang never thought she’d be one of them, until her parents pluck her from her privileged life in Shanghai and enroll her at a high school in California.

Suddenly she finds herself living in a stranger’s house, with no one to tell her what to do for the first time in her life. She soon embraces her newfound freedom, especially when the hottest and most eligible parachute, Jay, asks her out.

Dani De La Cruz, Claire’s new host sister, couldn’t be less thrilled that her mom rented out a room to Claire. An academic and debate team star, Dani is determined to earn her way into Yale, even if it means competing with privileged kids who are buying their way to the top. But Dani’s game plan veers unexpectedly off course when her debate coach starts working with her privately.

As they steer their own distinct paths, Dani and Claire keep crashing into one another, setting a course that will change their lives forever.

Short and Sweet

Parachutes are what teenagers are called when they come to the United States to go to school while their wealthy parents remain in Asia. Claire never thought she’d be one but her parents decide to send her to a school in California, now she has a host family and a lot of freedom. Dani lives in California and she is not happy that her mom rented out a room for to Claire. But Dani has bigger things to worry about she’s an all star debater an her only goal is to earn her way into Yale but she has to compete with the privileged kids at school. Claire and Dani have a lot more in common than they think but while they’re navigating their struggles alone they eventually are brought together.

Characters

Claire: Claire seems like she would be like the other parachutes rich and superficial, but she was smart and thoughtful. Claire has just wants to succeed and have fun, for the first time in her life her parents aren’t controlling her every move. I didn’t agree with everything that she did but coming to America and having the feeling of being free she kind of went crazy.

Dani: Dani is smart and she’s on scholarship and her goal is to make it to Yale one day. Dani is on the debate team, she’s honestly a great debater and puts her heart and soul into it. Dani just wants things to work out but in the end things go off course.

Romance

Claire and Jay: This relationship was so superficial. Jay is also a parachute and his family is really rich. Jay would buy Claire gifts and it would seem nice and he would talk about wanting to be with her, but the way he treated her was awful. He couldn’t be trusted he was a cheater and he seemed very needy, but when the tables were turned he would get so upset. The way Jay treat Claire was awful and what he did was unacceptable.

Claire and Zach: Claire and Zach meet while swimming and it seems that Zach has a genuine interest in Claire. I liked these two but it was rushed and that was one thing I didn’t like.

Quotes

~ “Show ’em you don’t need a parachute to soar!”

My Thoughts

~ *Content Warning* This book mentions: Rape, Sexual Harassment, and Racism.

~ Dani is great at debating but she wants to feel like she’s on the same level as her classmates who have private coaches so her coach Mr. Connelly decides to coach her in private. I was so upset with this because he was inappropriate and when she wouldn’t accept his advances she would get punished in some sort of way, he would tell her that her speeches were awful and he didn’t pick her to go on a debate trip. I felt so bad for Dani because she’s worked so hard but it felt like no one at the school would take action.

~ Claire on the other hand had to deal with Jay and he was crazy. Jay ended up raping Claire. The way some people overlooked what happened to her was disgusting.

~ Claire and Dani may have been living under the same roof but they didn’t have a lot of interactions. Towards the end of the book I was happy when they came together but I wish there was more, they could have helped each other.

~ Claire’s friends were awful I couldn’t stand them especially Jess. I don’t know how Claire was friends with Jess I just thought she was a trash friend.

~ It was interesting to see how different Claire and Dani lived their lives. Claire still lived a lavish lifestyle while in California but Dani and her mother weren’t well off.

~ It was interesting to learn about parachutes even after reading this book I did some more research.

Overall

This book was hard to put down, I just wanted to know what would happen next. Both of these girls had to deal with so much I felt for both of them. I had a range of emotions while reading this book, I was happy, I was sad, I was angry, and outraged at the injustice. I felt like I was with the characters and the writing was amazing. I’m so happy I read this book I’m still thinking about it. I would definitely recommend it, its beautiful and heartbreaking at the same time but I loved seeing how Dani and Claire ended up supporting each other!