Summary: In the tradition of Speak, this extraordinary debut novel shares the unforgettable story of a young woman as she struggles to find strength in the aftermath of an assault.
Eden was always good at being good. Starting high school didn’t change who she was. But the night her brother’s best friend rapes her, Eden’s world capsizes.
What was once simple, is now complex. What Eden once loved—who she once loved—she now hates. What she thought she knew to be true, is now lies. Nothing makes sense anymore, and she knows she’s supposed to tell someone what happened but she can’t. So she buries it instead. And she buries the way she used to be.
Told in four parts—freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior year—this provocative debut reveals the deep cuts of trauma. But it also demonstrates one young woman’s strength as she navigates the disappointment and unbearable pains of adolescence, of first love and first heartbreak, of friendships broken and rebuilt, and while learning to embrace a power of survival she never knew she had hidden within her heart.
My rating: 2 stars
"All those maybes swimming around my head make me think that "maybe" could just be another word for hope.”
I have a lot to say about this because I liked some parts, as in the start and end but the middle was a whole other story. I'm really disappointed that I didn't love this book because it seems like so many people did, but that's just how I feel. So now onto the review!
It started off good, with a great main character and powerful writing but unfortunately, it went downhill after, for me. So much of the middle of the book was just Eden being self-destructive on repeat and it was honestly annoying and frustrating to read about her being so stupid. She did so many dangerous and impulsive things and I couldn't understand why in the world she would do those things, though that's definitely my fault and not the authors. When I was reading and now as I write this review, I have to acknowledge that my opinion is probably irrelevant since I'm not her and maybe is just how some people react to tragic events.
I liked how it was split up into Freshman Year, Sophomore Year, Juinor Year, and Senior Year because I thought it would allow really clear and gradual character development, but that's not at all how it felt. Like I said before, it felt like a repetitive mush of the same things, maybe getting worse, but never in any way better. I wonder if this was maybe the author's intention?
So after that difficult middle section, it got to the end which I thought was done really well, It wasn't exactly satisfying or powerful, but it was definitely right for the book and for the characters.
What this book talks about is so important but I've definitely read books that deal with the same issue and handled it a lot better. For example, The Nowhere Girls, it was intense but powerful, probably powerful partly because it was intense. It showed how the characters were affected with depth and emotion and meaning, while I felt this one didn't do that for me.
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So that was my review for today! If anyone decides to pick this up, I hope you enjoy this more than I did!
