Chain Reaction tells of the experiences of bully Stephanie Adolphus, the beautiful Krystle Thomas whose home life holds a shameful secret in her mother's addictive behaviour, Lisakhanya, a girl from the township attending the school on a scholarship, Krystle's sister who is trying to make any sense of her life and the changes her sister is going through, Dillan, Stephanie's bullied little brother, and Ben who lives with his overbearing abusive stepfather and terrified mother. Each chapter is told from a different character's point of view. In the end, one character's decision to do something differently, impacts on all the character's lives. Essentially it's a book that deals with the issues of bullying, the notion that true beauty is a blessing not a curse, the complexities of young love, and fear of abuse.