Rating: 4 stars

Like many teen girls, Caitlyn is having a tough time. She feels ignored by her mother and step-father who are obsessed with having a baby, her best friend is always blowing her off for a boyfriend, and she’s struggling in art, her favorite subject. Caitlyn is completely depressed, when Tyler enters her life, and seems to make her problems disappear. Older, gorgeous, and totally into Caitlyn, he makes Caitlyn feel important, needed, and special. But just as things get serious, Caitlyn discovers Tyler’s jealous side. Once she realizes her “perfect” boyfriend is as controlling as he is caring, she is faced with a choice: she can either let this relationship define her, or find the courage to break away. This emotionally-charged story about teen dating and abusive relationships touches upon first love, sexual peer pressure, family dysfunction, and the need for young women to empower themselves.

Painting Caitlyn was an intriguing read about a topic that is very serious. It was a page turner – each aspect of Caitlyn and Tyler’s doomed relationship got more and more interesting and abusive as the book went on.

Peters did a magnificent job on the characters. Tyler was so easy to hate, yet at times you really felt for him. This is so similar to how Caitlyn sees him from time to time. His character really drew you into the story and didn’t let you go. Caitlyn was a character that while she wasn’t the smartest tool in the shed, you really liked her. You saw everything she was going through in her life and some of the emotions she was experiencing, and there is such a vast variety of them, meaning it was very easy to connect with her. Connor was the only sturdy thing in her life, and he was so sweet and nice. I absolutely loved him.