A Second Chance follows Mikaila, a teen in 2003 who juggles school, a fragile home, and a growing Christian faith, along with her best friend Chara and an older boy named Asa. Mikaila lives with her grandparents while her mother cycles through untreated mental illness, and Chara recovers from a horrific SUV crash that injures her and leaves her dad in the hospital. As Chara heals, Mikaila begins to have vivid dreams that seem to show the future and even Chara’s funeral, so she believes God has given her a limited window to help her friend turn toward Him. Asa first appears as a nerdy chess champ online, then starts a secret, sexualized chat relationship with Chara and later betrays her by leaking doctored conversations to the whole school, triggering brutal shame and gossip. Through all of this, Mikaila deals with a violent crisis at home when her mother holds a knife to her sister, a deepening faith, and a controlling boyfriend who does not share that direction.

I connected most with the writing when it stayed close to concrete, everyday detail. The short, dated chapters feel like diary entries and move between points of view, so the story hops from bus rides and Golden Girls reruns to hospital rooms and church services without losing the thread. I liked the way early 2000s touches sit in the background. Moments like the knife scene in Kait’s room feel incredibly sharp and cinematic. The prose leaned on repeating certain emotions and openly providing the moral takeaways in dialogue, especially in some of the more spiritual conversations and the sermon at Mikaila’s funeral. It works for the intended readership, and it still registered for me as an honest teen voice.

Asa’s arc stood out to me because it starts with such believable, flirty banter on IM and webcam, then slides into sexual comments, secrecy, and “our little secret” language that made my skin crawl. When the mass email of doctored chats goes out, and Chara gets humiliated and catcalled at school, I felt sick for her, and I appreciated how the book shows not only the initial thrill of attention but also the long fallout and the gaslighting that follows when Asa denies his role. Pairing that plot with the resource list on grooming at the back makes the story feel like both a narrative and a warning label. On the spiritual side, the book leans fully into God speaking through dreams, salvation language, and an explicit view of heaven, yet it is grounded in messy reality, including mental illness, divorce, and flawed Christians. I found that mix surprisingly tender. The focus on a God who sees, and on a faith that has to survive trauma, felt sincere. By the time I reached the last stretch, I was more emotional than I expected. The way things are handled keeps the focus on grief and on the ongoing story of the living, which I liked, and the funeral scene where Chara raises her hand to recommit her faith felt earned after everything she had endured.

I would recommend A Second Chance to older teens and adults who are open to Christian themes and who can handle heavy content around grooming, mental illness, and domestic violence. It feels especially suited to readers in youth groups, Christian schools, or families who want a story that can open up hard conversations about online boundaries, consent, and what healthy love looks like, with a strong emphasis on faith and hope. For the right reader, this book offers a heartfelt, sometimes painful, but ultimately hopeful look at how one girl’s love and faith echo far beyond her short life.

Pages: 345 | ASIN: B0GDG6WZF9