Synopses & Reviews
One Girl
Two stories
Meet Fiona Doyle. The thick ridges of scar tissue on her face are from an accident twelve years ago. Fiona has notebooks with lyrics about her frustrations, her dreams, and her crush on uber-jock Trent McKinnon. But if she can't even find the courage to look Trent straight in his blue eyes, she sure isn't brave enough to sing her songs at open mic night. Yet something's changing in Fiona. She can't be defined by her scars anymore.
And what if there hadn't been an accident?
Meet Fi Doyle. Fi is the top-rated high school lacrosse player in the state, heading to Northwestern on a full ride. She's got more important things to deal with than her best friend, Trent McKinnon, who wants more ever since the kiss. But when an unlucky move on the field screws everything up, she loses the thing she's best at. Can Fi fight back?
Hasn't everyone wondered what if?
Everything That Makes You follows the same girl in two stories. Moving between them feels like a game, or a great song—exciting, unpredictable, and so compelling. In her daring debut novel, Moriah McStay gives us the opportunity to see what might have happened if things were different. Luck may determine our paths, but maybe it's who we are that determines our luck.
Review
Everything That Makes You is an inspiring exploration of destiny, strength, and the power of human connection. I loved Moriah McStays spot-on dialogue and strong characters. A striking debut! Susane Colasanti, bestselling author of Something Like Fate
Review
The amazing dual stories of Fi and Fiona dare us to consider what it means to be driven by our passions, and how a twist of fate can alter our lives forever. A winning debut. Leslie Connor, award-winning author of Waiting for Normal and The Things You Kiss Goodbye
Review
McStays debut explores the theme of choices and how those choices become the framework for the person who makes them. School Library Journal
Review
Entertaining and intellectually stimulating, the novel invites discussion about how much of a persons life is determined by events and whether some tendencies are inborn. Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
Ever wonder "What if?"
Everything That Makes You is a romantic, epic story about one girl—and her two possible lives after an accident changes her fate.
Fiona Doyle's face was horribly scarred as a child. She writes about her frustrations and dreams in notebooks, penning song lyrics. But she'd never be brave enough to sing those songs in public. Fi Doyle never had an accident. She's the best lacrosse player in the state and can't be distracted by her friend who wants to be more than that. But then her luck on the field goes south.
Alternating chapters between Fiona and Fi tell two stories about the same girl—hopes and dreams and crushes, fears and failures and loss. This beautifully written realistic contemporary novel with a twist is perfect for fans of If I Stay by Gayle Forman and Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver.
About the Author
Moriah McStay attended Northwestern University and the University of Chicago. Two graduate degrees and seven jobs later, shes finally figured out what she wants to be when she grows up. Now she lives in Memphis, Tennessee, with her husband and three daughters. Shes happy with all the choices and chances that brought her there.
Everything That Makes You is her first novel for teens, and shes probably at home right now working on another one.