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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is an amazing book. I was just as captivated by Melinda's slow, inevitable breakdown as I was by the tentative unfurling of her strength towards the end. An excellent read that should be required reading in schools, not banned.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
great book, havent read so fast in a while. Loved the writing style
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
This is such an important book. Really powerful and written really well for the younger audience it is aimed at. Even though I'm much older than the first time I read it I still got a lot from it. The audiobook is also really well done
I believe I first read this in high school, shortly after it came out. In 1999, I was entering my freshman year of high school. I imagine that this book blew me away because in 1999, there wasn't a lot of talk about rape/sexual assault. My parents certainly never brought it up. My friends didn't talk about it. The teachers definitely didn't say anything. The internet was just getting geared up and the information available was quite limited.
I like to think some progress has been made since 1999. There are more books (fiction and non-fiction) that speak about sexual assault, search engines that contain more than a handful of results, and parents like me that do not hesitate to talk to their children about sexual assault. Get over your discomfort, parents, and SPEAK to your daughters and sons about this.
I think because of all that has been released in the years since that I've read, this book has lost a bit of its sparkle for me. It's still a great book and an important one. I still think its impact on readers was/is phenomenal. This spoke to a lot of people who were feeling very lost because of what they themselves had experienced.
I liked the voice of Melinda and that her experience was not quickly fixed up with a band-aid. It took a full school year for her to even start to come to terms with what happened and to "speak." Her feelings - confusion, shame, self-doubt - were not easily sorted through. The isolation felt real.
I just want to sleep. A coma would be nice. Or amnesia. Anything, just to get rid of this, these thoughts, whispers in my mind. Did he rape my head, too?
4 Stars
Side note: If you haven't read these yet, [b:Know My Name|50196744|Know My Name|Chanel Miller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567612158l/50196744._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73239835] and [b:Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture|35068524|Not That Bad Dispatches from Rape Culture|Roxane Gay|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1509771460l/35068524._SY75_.jpg|56363981] are two excellent non-fiction books about sexual assault. Not for the faint of heart but really, really important to read.
I like to think some progress has been made since 1999. There are more books (fiction and non-fiction) that speak about sexual assault, search engines that contain more than a handful of results, and parents like me that do not hesitate to talk to their children about sexual assault. Get over your discomfort, parents, and SPEAK to your daughters and sons about this.
I think because of all that has been released in the years since that I've read, this book has lost a bit of its sparkle for me. It's still a great book and an important one. I still think its impact on readers was/is phenomenal. This spoke to a lot of people who were feeling very lost because of what they themselves had experienced.
I liked the voice of Melinda and that her experience was not quickly fixed up with a band-aid. It took a full school year for her to even start to come to terms with what happened and to "speak." Her feelings - confusion, shame, self-doubt - were not easily sorted through. The isolation felt real.
I just want to sleep. A coma would be nice. Or amnesia. Anything, just to get rid of this, these thoughts, whispers in my mind. Did he rape my head, too?
4 Stars
Side note: If you haven't read these yet, [b:Know My Name|50196744|Know My Name|Chanel Miller|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567612158l/50196744._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73239835] and [b:Not That Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture|35068524|Not That Bad Dispatches from Rape Culture|Roxane Gay|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1509771460l/35068524._SY75_.jpg|56363981] are two excellent non-fiction books about sexual assault. Not for the faint of heart but really, really important to read.
I enjoyed this one so much that I decided to teach it in my English 1 class! Melinda is such a multi-dimensional character that has been so fun to study with my students.