Review Detail

Quinn Calvet lives in Canadaigua, New York with her older sister Ava and her parents, who run a gift shop that is barely surviving. They all live in the walk out basement of the shop along the main street, and this sometimes causes problems for Quinn, who is in a wheelchair due to the effects of her rheumatoid arthritis, that makes walking painful and tiring. She has had an Instagram account known as The Whine for some years, and she uses it to draw attention to her town and funny things that happen at her school. It's an open secret that she runs it. She has a bad history with Cade Bird, so when he starts a group called Defend Kids to help with the disappearance of area teens, including a brother and sister in Rochester that makes the news, she is surprised. When Ava, who is intent on getting into college and constantly doing new activities to pad her resume, starts to help, Quinn posts a few things on the account. These get a lot of likes, and she sees her followers rise. Since she has some paid partnerships, she hopes that this success will help, especially when she finds out how much the gift shop is struggling and worries that her parents might not be able to help with college. When Asher, a boy at her school, offers to help design a logo to help with his application to the Rhose Island School of Design, she agrees. Asher is the son of the owners of an important local business, but he's cute, attentive, and treats the fact that Quinn is in a wheelchair in a way that pleases her. He follows the news of Defend Kids, and the Defenders who claim that hundreds of kids get kidnapped every year, along with Quinn. When classmates Phoenix and Lily go missing, there is even more concern. Even with all the trouble swirling around, Quinn and Asher (who is a cross country runner, albeit not the best on the team) spend lots of time together and decide to date. They combine business with pleasure when they schedule going to a Defenders meeting right before the school dance they are attending together. Unfortunately, the have a falling out at the dance over what they've seen, and when Asher goes on vacation with his family, they don't talk a lot. Things become more and more serious with the Defend Kids group; Quinn finds a reputable article that states that the children in Rochester were fabricated, and finds that her Instagram account is viewed by these extremists as a place to get coded messages. When she takes down these posts, and later deletes the account, things get really bad. Cade doxes her, and she fears for her safety. Will she be able to convince Ava that Defend Kids is a bad idea, clear up her misunderstandig with Asher, and survive high school long enough to get to college?