I picked this up expecting a standard YA friendship drama and ended up reading it in one sitting. That’s not nothing.
A Second Chance is about best friends Mikaila and Chara and what happens when someone methodical and calculated enters their world and starts quietly working on Mikaila. Asa isn’t an obvious threat — that’s what makes him effective, and that’s what makes Frend’s storytelling effective. You feel the wrongness before Mikaila can name it. “I realized he didn’t like me. He liked the control he had over me.” When that line arrives, it hits exactly as hard as it should.
The book is set in Maryland and Connecticut beach towns — gorgeous, summery, slightly melancholy in the way the best beach reads actually are. The dated chapter structure keeps you moving forward even when you want to pause. Multiple perspectives give the story room to breathe, and Mikaila’s narrating voice — spirited and competitive — makes her an active protagonist rather than someone things just happen to.
There’s a faith thread here that I appreciated. It’s quiet. It doesn’t announce itself. It just shapes how the characters respond when things get hard.
This is clean YA fiction — no content warnings needed — and it’s been recognized with the Literary Titan Silver Award, the Christian Books Excellence Award, the Christ Lit Award, and an Eric Hoffer Montaigne Medal finalist spot. That’s a real list.
Your friend who reads YA seriously, your teen who likes books with actual stakes, the person in your book club who keeps saying they want something that deals with emotional manipulation without being dark for its own sake — this is for all of them.
The US Review of Books recommends it. I’d hand it to any of the above without hesitation.
Get your copy: A Second Chance on Amazon
What reviewers are saying:
“I realized he didn’t like me. He liked the control he had over me.” — US Review of Books
About Asher Frend
ASHER FREND writes clean young adult fiction with a thread of faith, a sharp edge of suspense, and characters who are trying to do the right thing when it would be easier to walk away. Their stories blend coming-of-age pressure with real emotional stakes, then build toward hope without pretending life is simple. When Asher is not writing, they are usually spending time with their spouse and son and getting out for long walks to clear their head and untangle the next plot problem.
About The Author
