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mollye123's review against another edition
4.0
Wow! Stories like these especially non fiction are so important and hard hitting. The reveal was a little bit anticlimactic and I don’t know how I felt about the main character but this story hit me hard….
hibashakes's review against another edition
5.0
"You're not better off dead"
Mesmerizing, spellbounding, powerful.
One of the best books I've ever read. Absolutely phenominal. The wait was worth it.
A true triumph of a girl against all odds. The message is powerful: you're never alone and no matter what someone tells you, your life is important.
The journey of Romy Grey was a rocky and tumultuous journey. I cried A LOT. Never give up on life, because it gets better.
Thank you, Courtney Summers, for writing this wonderful story.
If you haven't read this book yet, I highly recommend picking it up and reading this!!
Mesmerizing, spellbounding, powerful.
One of the best books I've ever read. Absolutely phenominal. The wait was worth it.
A true triumph of a girl against all odds. The message is powerful: you're never alone and no matter what someone tells you, your life is important.
The journey of Romy Grey was a rocky and tumultuous journey. I cried A LOT. Never give up on life, because it gets better.
Thank you, Courtney Summers, for writing this wonderful story.
If you haven't read this book yet, I highly recommend picking it up and reading this!!
halynah's review against another edition
3.0
What kind of ending is that?????? I even contemplated to rate the book 2 stars only, because you just don't torture readers with confusing, hard to read plot and don't even resolve everything in the end. I wouldn't recommend this book, I feel cheated after reading it.
babs_reviews's review against another edition
5.0
Read the synopsis FIRST...it describes exactly what this book is about. There are no illusions or misleading. It is what it is.
Raw. Rough. Real.
This is a gripping read that will fill you with All the Rage and a wide range of emotions as you struggle to find your breath.
This story is about a girl. A girl who was raped. A girl who was lost. A girl who struggles. A girl who fights. A girl who survives.
It's hard to put into words the amount of things you will feel throughout Romy's journey, but what makes it extra scary is how real the story is. How you know it's happening in the world today and being inside the journey of someone experiencing it was pretty...gut wrenching.
Ever heard the saying "The truth shall set you free." In Romy's world the truth did the exact opposite. It caged her, weighed her down and broke her. It takes bravery to stand up and tell the truth and for no one to believe it...well that can damage your soul.
As a result Romy paints on her armor one nail or one lip at a time. She creates a barrier.
The damage was deep and the backlash of the truth was brutal. As if it isn't bad enough for the other teenagers to bully but the whole friggin town does! Including the POLICE. I can't even imagine living through what Romy did.
It doesn't stop though, she meets Leon and tries, oh how she tries to keep her world apart from him. I could feel my heart racing with the fear she felt at the thought of Leon knowing the truth. She wanted to keep him and so far the truth had done nothing but push people away from her. How sad is that? Incredibly.
Romy's journey's shows the struggle of trying to survive after what happened and how she fights to do the right thing when everything in her screams to do anything but that.
Summers' writing pulls you screaming through a maze of a story that will undoubtedly hurt you. Will it pierce your heart and make you grit your teeth just to make it to the ending? YES. Will it be worth it? ABSOLUTELY
Raw. Rough. Real.
This is a gripping read that will fill you with All the Rage and a wide range of emotions as you struggle to find your breath.
he covers her mouth.
That’s how you get a girl to stop crying; you cover her mouth until the sound dies against your palm.
This story is about a girl. A girl who was raped. A girl who was lost. A girl who struggles. A girl who fights. A girl who survives.
It's hard to put into words the amount of things you will feel throughout Romy's journey, but what makes it extra scary is how real the story is. How you know it's happening in the world today and being inside the journey of someone experiencing it was pretty...gut wrenching.
Ever heard the saying "The truth shall set you free." In Romy's world the truth did the exact opposite. It caged her, weighed her down and broke her. It takes bravery to stand up and tell the truth and for no one to believe it...well that can damage your soul.
As a result Romy paints on her armor one nail or one lip at a time. She creates a barrier.
The damage was deep and the backlash of the truth was brutal. As if it isn't bad enough for the other teenagers to bully but the whole friggin town does! Including the POLICE. I can't even imagine living through what Romy did.
It doesn't stop though, she meets Leon and tries, oh how she tries to keep her world apart from him. I could feel my heart racing with the fear she felt at the thought of Leon knowing the truth. She wanted to keep him and so far the truth had done nothing but push people away from her. How sad is that? Incredibly.
Romy's journey's shows the struggle of trying to survive after what happened and how she fights to do the right thing when everything in her screams to do anything but that.
Summers' writing pulls you screaming through a maze of a story that will undoubtedly hurt you. Will it pierce your heart and make you grit your teeth just to make it to the ending? YES. Will it be worth it? ABSOLUTELY
melissaverasreads's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars.
It's been A WHILE since I read a book in one sitting, so kudos to this book for managing that.
It's been A WHILE since I read a book in one sitting, so kudos to this book for managing that.
parpacifica's review against another edition
4.0
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
I swear a lot. I know. But holy fucking shit, this book. It's midnight and I feel my chest burning with so much rage.
"I notice a word cut through the dirt coating my door. Slit. Because 'slut' was just too humanizing, I guess. A slit's not even a person. Just an opening."
I have read so many books about rape and they seem to hit upon the same loneliness and body shaming, that the others do. Some books even romanticize rape, or use a failed rape as a push point for the plot, just to make a male lead more heroic for saving the hapless female heroine.
But, this novel... this novel didn't focus on the loneliness, but instead the rage. This book is fucking raw. It is the definition of unaltered and raw.
Romy Grey is a red-lipstick wearing rape victim that her town refuses to acknowledge. Then, when she is found on the street, unconscious, with the words 'rape me' written on her stomach, everyone thinks it's her usual self trying to get attention. And she's angry.
"I lower my hand and Tina is across the room from me..... there's a scratch on her shoulder....I did that. But...I stare at my hands again....This can't be over. I haven't written on her yet."
I will never forget the time I went to visit a family friend. I was 11, racing out of the car, excited to stay over at their house. God, I will never fucking forget his face, walking into the room. He got really close physically, and casually sat me on his laps. And his hands started creeping under my shirt, grabbing at my developing chest, while he whispered, "We don't tell your mom or dad, okay?"
I was not raped. But I can't imagine how painful it is for someone who has been. No one understand how hard it is to fucking accept your body after someone has violated you.
"I wish I never had a body."
How hard it is to understand that you never bought anything upon yourself. That your body didn't deserve it.
How hard it is seeing the person who made you bitter. I see that man every holiday. Romy's rapists' legacy lives in her town. She is constantly reminded of him.
The worst are the after-effects. Romi can't maintain a relationship with Leon because her past scars mark every one of their moments. She can't forget.
She can't. I can't imagine how hard it much be to go through that, and then having to constantly live with the trauma of it, and pretend everything is okay. The fact is that this happens, to thousands of people around the world.
I hate Romy sometimes. She's a bitch sometimes. But life was never good to her, and is allowed to bitch.
This book really got to me. It portrayed rape in such a raw and unaltered light. It showed hurt and rage and sadness. It was fucking beautiful. It would have been a five star novel had it continued longer. I felt like it cut off very abruptly.
This will be the first four star novel to go on my Favourites shelf.
I swear a lot. I know. But holy fucking shit, this book. It's midnight and I feel my chest burning with so much rage.
"I notice a word cut through the dirt coating my door. Slit. Because 'slut' was just too humanizing, I guess. A slit's not even a person. Just an opening."
I have read so many books about rape and they seem to hit upon the same loneliness and body shaming, that the others do. Some books even romanticize rape, or use a failed rape as a push point for the plot, just to make a male lead more heroic for saving the hapless female heroine.
But, this novel... this novel didn't focus on the loneliness, but instead the rage. This book is fucking raw. It is the definition of unaltered and raw.
Romy Grey is a red-lipstick wearing rape victim that her town refuses to acknowledge. Then, when she is found on the street, unconscious, with the words 'rape me' written on her stomach, everyone thinks it's her usual self trying to get attention. And she's angry.
"I lower my hand and Tina is across the room from me..... there's a scratch on her shoulder....I did that. But...I stare at my hands again....This can't be over. I haven't written on her yet."
I will never forget the time I went to visit a family friend. I was 11, racing out of the car, excited to stay over at their house. God, I will never fucking forget his face, walking into the room. He got really close physically, and casually sat me on his laps. And his hands started creeping under my shirt, grabbing at my developing chest, while he whispered, "We don't tell your mom or dad, okay?"
I was not raped. But I can't imagine how painful it is for someone who has been. No one understand how hard it is to fucking accept your body after someone has violated you.
"I wish I never had a body."
How hard it is to understand that you never bought anything upon yourself. That your body didn't deserve it.
How hard it is seeing the person who made you bitter. I see that man every holiday. Romy's rapists' legacy lives in her town. She is constantly reminded of him.
The worst are the after-effects. Romi can't maintain a relationship with Leon because her past scars mark every one of their moments. She can't forget.
She can't. I can't imagine how hard it much be to go through that, and then having to constantly live with the trauma of it, and pretend everything is okay. The fact is that this happens, to thousands of people around the world.
I hate Romy sometimes. She's a bitch sometimes. But life was never good to her, and is allowed to bitch.
This book really got to me. It portrayed rape in such a raw and unaltered light. It showed hurt and rage and sadness. It was fucking beautiful. It would have been a five star novel had it continued longer. I felt like it cut off very abruptly.
This will be the first four star novel to go on my Favourites shelf.
apleiades17's review against another edition
4.0
"My heart is heavy with the weight of my body and my body is so heavy with the weight of my heart."
starrysea98's review against another edition
DNF. Very very unpopular opinion: i just couldn’t connect with Romy and I know, I know, this girl has been traumatised, she’s still very deeply affected by herself being raped and no one believing her when she told the truth, not to mention the bullying she faces every day. But she has no personality at all. I got tired just reading about her. I couldn’t bring myself to care about her which sickens me because in a book with this kind of story, you want to be indignant on the girl’s behalf, you want her to get the justice she was deprived of.
Leon also appears to be a random character introduced??? Why the heck does a love interest need to be in the story? Idk but again, it was also deadly dull.
I do think the author did a good job in bringing this issue to light; we need stories like this to make us take a step back and wonder if we are getting better as a society.
Leon also appears to be a random character introduced??? Why the heck does a love interest need to be in the story? Idk but again, it was also deadly dull.
I do think the author did a good job in bringing this issue to light; we need stories like this to make us take a step back and wonder if we are getting better as a society.
laurenkara's review against another edition
5.0
Trigger warnings: rape, sexual assault, non-consensual actions, drug and alcohol use
Holy shit. This book. I don't even know what to say. It is so brutal, but so important. The fact that it focused on the aftermath of rape and what a victim goes through rather than giving page time to the actual rapist was a much needed change of pace. I cried. I was so so so angry. It's absolute bullshit that people have to go through this. I wish this book didn't have to exist, but I'm glad it does because I feel like it's probably helped and will continue to help so many people. If you can handle the subject matter then please give this a read.
Holy shit. This book. I don't even know what to say. It is so brutal, but so important. The fact that it focused on the aftermath of rape and what a victim goes through rather than giving page time to the actual rapist was a much needed change of pace. I cried. I was so so so angry. It's absolute bullshit that people have to go through this. I wish this book didn't have to exist, but I'm glad it does because I feel like it's probably helped and will continue to help so many people. If you can handle the subject matter then please give this a read.
savschi's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25