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3.38 AVERAGE
3.38 AVERAGE
Okay, I've taken a few days, I think I'm finally ready to have some comments on this.
I dislike this book. I dislike this book so so so much. I would have made a new shelf just for the dislike of this book, but I did respect and appreciate that the author had information at the end of the book on where to seek help and services (I think any YA book talking about tough itssues like this should end with the info. Kudos to the author for doing it.)
I think my issue mainly with this book is because this book made me dislike Ani. It made me feel disgusted with her and disappointed.
And a book about a horrible HORRIBLE gang rape of a teenage girl should NEVER make me feel disgusted and disappointed with the girl who was raped. It should never shame the girl raped and make you feel like her struggle is the wrong way to handle it.
Never. I should be shocked at what happened and heartbroken and saddened but understand where it brings her. I should hate that she was attacked and hate that she is forced to try to survive it. But I should hope for her breakthrough and I should see the possibility for her new life as a survivor.
It's YA, I'd like a book like this to show other teenage kids (male or female) see that there is hope.
*sigh* Or maybe any story about rape is just too personal for me to see it clearly.
I dislike this book. I dislike this book so so so much. I would have made a new shelf just for the dislike of this book, but I did respect and appreciate that the author had information at the end of the book on where to seek help and services (I think any YA book talking about tough itssues like this should end with the info. Kudos to the author for doing it.)
I think my issue mainly with this book is because this book made me dislike Ani. It made me feel disgusted with her and disappointed.
And a book about a horrible HORRIBLE gang rape of a teenage girl should NEVER make me feel disgusted and disappointed with the girl who was raped. It should never shame the girl raped and make you feel like her struggle is the wrong way to handle it.
Never. I should be shocked at what happened and heartbroken and saddened but understand where it brings her. I should hate that she was attacked and hate that she is forced to try to survive it. But I should hope for her breakthrough and I should see the possibility for her new life as a survivor.
It's YA, I'd like a book like this to show other teenage kids (male or female) see that there is hope.
*sigh* Or maybe any story about rape is just too personal for me to see it clearly.
I suppose I shouldn’t start off a review by saying I don’t know what to say about a book, but really, after reading this one I’m mostly speechless. I didn’t love this book, I don’t even know if I enjoyed reading it, but everything in this book felt so real and so painful that it was just compelling. From the first, incredibly disturbing, scene I was completely sucked in.
I’m selective about my male narrators and I started off a little skeptical of Ben. Once the story really starts the first time we meet Ben is when he’s hanging out with his friends. I don’t think there’s any 17-year-old guy who comes away looking like a good guy while hanging out with his friends. But very quickly I came to really like Ben. I liked how passionate he was about swimming. I liked how he liked Ani for her hot body, but also really liked her quirky personality and humor. I liked how he cared so much about his younger brother. There were a few moments where I wondered if what Ben was thinking would really be what a teenage boy was thinking, but those times were few and far between.
Ben and Ani’s relationship was a little bit too insta-love for me, but really I thought it was appropriate for teenagers and I did think they were a really great match. I also really liked the supporting characters like Ben’s friend Kevin (the story about Kevin and the pliers had me laughing out loud) and Ani’s friend Kate, who annoyed me at first, but really proved to be a great friend.
From the description I knew something terrible was coming, but I was still utterly shocked by it. I’m sure I’ve heard worse things in my life, but oh my god, this was pretty bad. I actually had to get up out of bed, where I was reading, and go for a walk around the house before I could continue. And I honestly thought of not continuing because I didn’t know if I could handle it.
I am so glad I continued though. Not because the book got any less disturbing, it didn’t, but because Desir handled this disturbing situation so beautifully. Ben and Ani’s stages of grief and reactions just rang so true to me and while a lot of it was painful for me to read, it was worth it. I can’t and don’t want to imagine myself in Ani’s position and I certainly don’t blame her for any of her actions, everything that happened to her and that she did made me so sad, but like Ben, I still just wanted to shake her and make her get help. And Ben, poor Ben, I liked how 90% of the time he was the noble good guy, but I loved the other 10% when he let his hurt/anger/sadness really come out.
My one big issue with the book was the length. It’s a pretty short book at 240 pages (I read it in about two hours) and at times I felt like things were rushed. This is one of those books that has very quick transitions and things kind of rapidly move along and skip from day to day or place to place. That’s not a style I really like, but I did think it decreased as the story went on. I wouldn’t necessarily add anything to the book (although selfishly I’d love to know more about what happened after the book ended), I just would have liked to see certain things fleshed out more.
Finally, the cover. I thought it was eye-catching before, but after reading the book I think it’s just so disturbing. I almost can’t even look at it without wanting to throw up. Anyone who’s been reading my reviews for a while knows that I feel really strongly about covers and that I hate when you have to read a book to get a cover, but in this situation I’m making an exception. As disturbing as it is, I think it really works.
Bottom Line: Fault Line is not an easy book to read, it’s dark, disturbing, and incredibly sad; but Christa Desir does a wonderful, delicate job of handing a tough topic. Pretty much everything in the story rang true and I ached for both Ben and Ani and I just wanted them to be ok. I highly recommend this one.
I received an electronic review copy of this book from the publisher (thank you!). All opinions are my own.
I’m selective about my male narrators and I started off a little skeptical of Ben. Once the story really starts the first time we meet Ben is when he’s hanging out with his friends. I don’t think there’s any 17-year-old guy who comes away looking like a good guy while hanging out with his friends. But very quickly I came to really like Ben. I liked how passionate he was about swimming. I liked how he liked Ani for her hot body, but also really liked her quirky personality and humor. I liked how he cared so much about his younger brother. There were a few moments where I wondered if what Ben was thinking would really be what a teenage boy was thinking, but those times were few and far between.
Ben and Ani’s relationship was a little bit too insta-love for me, but really I thought it was appropriate for teenagers and I did think they were a really great match. I also really liked the supporting characters like Ben’s friend Kevin (the story about Kevin and the pliers had me laughing out loud) and Ani’s friend Kate, who annoyed me at first, but really proved to be a great friend.
From the description I knew something terrible was coming, but I was still utterly shocked by it. I’m sure I’ve heard worse things in my life, but oh my god, this was pretty bad. I actually had to get up out of bed, where I was reading, and go for a walk around the house before I could continue. And I honestly thought of not continuing because I didn’t know if I could handle it.
I am so glad I continued though. Not because the book got any less disturbing, it didn’t, but because Desir handled this disturbing situation so beautifully. Ben and Ani’s stages of grief and reactions just rang so true to me and while a lot of it was painful for me to read, it was worth it. I can’t and don’t want to imagine myself in Ani’s position and I certainly don’t blame her for any of her actions, everything that happened to her and that she did made me so sad, but like Ben, I still just wanted to shake her and make her get help. And Ben, poor Ben, I liked how 90% of the time he was the noble good guy, but I loved the other 10% when he let his hurt/anger/sadness really come out.
My one big issue with the book was the length. It’s a pretty short book at 240 pages (I read it in about two hours) and at times I felt like things were rushed. This is one of those books that has very quick transitions and things kind of rapidly move along and skip from day to day or place to place. That’s not a style I really like, but I did think it decreased as the story went on. I wouldn’t necessarily add anything to the book (although selfishly I’d love to know more about what happened after the book ended), I just would have liked to see certain things fleshed out more.
Finally, the cover. I thought it was eye-catching before, but after reading the book I think it’s just so disturbing. I almost can’t even look at it without wanting to throw up. Anyone who’s been reading my reviews for a while knows that I feel really strongly about covers and that I hate when you have to read a book to get a cover, but in this situation I’m making an exception. As disturbing as it is, I think it really works.
Bottom Line: Fault Line is not an easy book to read, it’s dark, disturbing, and incredibly sad; but Christa Desir does a wonderful, delicate job of handing a tough topic. Pretty much everything in the story rang true and I ached for both Ben and Ani and I just wanted them to be ok. I highly recommend this one.
I received an electronic review copy of this book from the publisher (thank you!). All opinions are my own.
Very quick read - reminds me of Ellen Hopkins, if you took out the best parts. Interesting themes, kind of strange sometimes. Ani and Ben/Beez were sex crazy to the point of it sounding very fake.
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
I'd like to think that, if the story continued, Ani and Ben would eventually be able to move on with their lives. Not together of course, but that Ben would learn to trust his family for support, and that Ani would be able to understand that though the rape changed her life, it shouldn't define who she is. It was well written, but because there was no definite conclusion, I can't say that that it's worth the four or five stars this story could have gotten. It feels like it finished half way through a complete novel.
ARC review. 1.5 stars.
Oh boy, this one's a mess.
It wasn't spectacular, but it was tolerable. I felt like it was more of a caricature of teen life than an honest portrayal. The kids in the book engage in all the obligatory teen activities: parties, alcohol, drug use, but it all felt like someone reporting on it from the outside in, making it larger than life. But even those problems I could have overlooked. The target audience is teens, so it's acceptable to have the writing feel juvenile at times.
The part that really didn't work for me was the post-rape story which we hit at about the halfway point. Or as it should be known: the downward spiral of Ani into into a great and fiery demise of her own making.
What confused me was that the book has a lot of propaganda regarding activism for rape-victims all over it. The cover states some of the profits for sales of the book will in part being going to fund a rape-awareness support group. The dedication implies that the author has personal experience with the subject. So I went into the book thinking that I was going to read something that would support this mission and would be honest and real. I excepted something gritty. But gritty doesn't mean a lack of respect. I wanted a book that treated this subject with dignity. I'm not sure how this story does that. I
I can't imagine actual victims reading this and feeling well-- I don't know-- anything helpful. It doesn't offer outstanding moral advice, or way through through to the other side. In fact the book "ends" without any resolution at all.
And here is really the crux of the problem. I could probably have allowed for Ani to spiral out of control, devolving into a shell of her form self and coping by sleeping with anything that moves, but then the book ends. And now the real SPOILER: it ends with Ani having spurned all help, refusing to deal with anything that has happened to her and there is nothing more Ben can do. I was left thinking, okay? And now?
I'm not suggesting that all books have to have a moral, or a resolution that teaches us something-- in this case how to cope when your girlfriend gets raped-- but come on! I read plenty of dark fiction about tough stuff-- most of which doesn't have a happy ending-- I just don't see the point in a book that provides neither support nor advocacy for such a dicey issue. Don't misunderstand, there didn't have to be a happy ending, but having Ani just turn to empty sex and completely loose her way, while Ben looks on, desperate but unable to help her, there was no reason for that.
I felt cheated by this book. Had the ending been dark but with something profound, something that resonated, then perhaps I could have accepted it, but for it just to end-- that didn't work.
I'm going to go and read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson now, and maybe the author should too.
Oh boy, this one's a mess.
Spoiler
This is a story about rape and its' aftermath. And as others have noted the author choose an interesting angle, telling the story from the perspective of the boyfriend of the victim, as opposed to the victim herself. That part worked out for me. The romance between the two leads at the start, though brief, even worked.It wasn't spectacular, but it was tolerable. I felt like it was more of a caricature of teen life than an honest portrayal. The kids in the book engage in all the obligatory teen activities: parties, alcohol, drug use, but it all felt like someone reporting on it from the outside in, making it larger than life. But even those problems I could have overlooked. The target audience is teens, so it's acceptable to have the writing feel juvenile at times.
The part that really didn't work for me was the post-rape story which we hit at about the halfway point. Or as it should be known: the downward spiral of Ani into into a great and fiery demise of her own making.
What confused me was that the book has a lot of propaganda regarding activism for rape-victims all over it. The cover states some of the profits for sales of the book will in part being going to fund a rape-awareness support group. The dedication implies that the author has personal experience with the subject. So I went into the book thinking that I was going to read something that would support this mission and would be honest and real. I excepted something gritty. But gritty doesn't mean a lack of respect. I wanted a book that treated this subject with dignity. I'm not sure how this story does that. I
I can't imagine actual victims reading this and feeling well-- I don't know-- anything helpful. It doesn't offer outstanding moral advice, or way through through to the other side. In fact the book "ends" without any resolution at all.
And here is really the crux of the problem. I could probably have allowed for Ani to spiral out of control, devolving into a shell of her form self and coping by sleeping with anything that moves, but then the book ends. And now the real SPOILER: it ends with Ani having spurned all help, refusing to deal with anything that has happened to her and there is nothing more Ben can do. I was left thinking, okay? And now?
I'm not suggesting that all books have to have a moral, or a resolution that teaches us something-- in this case how to cope when your girlfriend gets raped-- but come on! I read plenty of dark fiction about tough stuff-- most of which doesn't have a happy ending-- I just don't see the point in a book that provides neither support nor advocacy for such a dicey issue. Don't misunderstand, there didn't have to be a happy ending, but having Ani just turn to empty sex and completely loose her way, while Ben looks on, desperate but unable to help her, there was no reason for that.
I felt cheated by this book. Had the ending been dark but with something profound, something that resonated, then perhaps I could have accepted it, but for it just to end-- that didn't work.
I'm going to go and read Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson now, and maybe the author should too.
Don't know what to think...I loathed Annika in the first half...especially that comment about swimming (obviously that doesn't mean that I didn't empathize with her in the latter half). The writing style was weak. But it told a story that needed to be told! It had a mixed race main character!!