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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
What a gut punch. This story was painful but so important, and the information shared after the story at the end of the book is very impactful. 5 stars for the afterword. So glad Melinda found her voice and spoke up for herself.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Toxic friendship, Alcohol
I'm glad I finally had the nerve to read it and I wish I had read it YEARS ago. My "Mom" heart hurts a lot.
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
speak is one of many books that i have wanted to read for many years and yet i haven’t… right up till now and wow. it is as powerful and as significant as everybody claims it to be indeed. i read pretty much all of it including the foreword and the afterword which is something that i don’t often do because c’mon let’s be honest, sometimes we just completely ignore what they had to say and just get right into the contents.
i finished the entirety of this book in one sitting. as simplistic as anderson’s writing was, there were hard-hitting underlying meanings behind it all more so if you’re going in already knowing the gist of the backstory beforehand; melinda was sexually assaulted during a party to which she called the cops and her then-“friends” claimed that she ruined the party for them causing her to re-enter school with no friends.
though i had a sufficiently good group of friends in high school, i related to melinda when it comes to being an “outcast”. the way that both of us thought we could handle everything alone and yet either way, we need help. it’s just that we’re both too afraid to speak up at times. melinda portrayed what it feels like to be a struggling 9th grader that it made me reminisce my own struggles back then. and yet our struggles are not the same. she had it harder than i do and i can’t even begin to imagine how she feels being in the position that she’s in. the fear. the terror. the agony. having to face someone who traumatised you for life. who forever changed you beyond your own will.
the poem at the beginning of the book really struck me the most too. it’s something that is still echoing in my head and perhaps will forever be like so for a long period of time.
i also love that apart from just telling a story of a sexual assault survivor, anderson dived into the repercussions that comes with it. one of it being the depression. it was vague but it was there. the more you get into the book, the more you realised the simplest of sentence holds the most power.
definitely watching the movie adaptation soon when i can. i have put it off for so long because of how much i desire to experience the book beforehand.
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i finished the entirety of this book in one sitting. as simplistic as anderson’s writing was, there were hard-hitting underlying meanings behind it all more so if you’re going in already knowing the gist of the backstory beforehand; melinda was sexually assaulted during a party to which she called the cops and her then-“friends” claimed that she ruined the party for them causing her to re-enter school with no friends.
though i had a sufficiently good group of friends in high school, i related to melinda when it comes to being an “outcast”. the way that both of us thought we could handle everything alone and yet either way, we need help. it’s just that we’re both too afraid to speak up at times. melinda portrayed what it feels like to be a struggling 9th grader that it made me reminisce my own struggles back then. and yet our struggles are not the same. she had it harder than i do and i can’t even begin to imagine how she feels being in the position that she’s in. the fear. the terror. the agony. having to face someone who traumatised you for life. who forever changed you beyond your own will.
the poem at the beginning of the book really struck me the most too. it’s something that is still echoing in my head and perhaps will forever be like so for a long period of time.
i also love that apart from just telling a story of a sexual assault survivor, anderson dived into the repercussions that comes with it. one of it being the depression. it was vague but it was there. the more you get into the book, the more you realised the simplest of sentence holds the most power.
definitely watching the movie adaptation soon when i can. i have put it off for so long because of how much i desire to experience the book beforehand.
twitter ☆ instagram ☆ booktube
TW for this book (rape and depression)
an easy to read book about coping with trauma and finding a way to deal with negative feelings. about self-expression and development in the teenage years. written in a nice, non know-it-all way (neither problem-oriented nor problem-solving). the focus is totally off the event that caused the trauma, but after a while you understand what happened between the lines.
an easy to read book about coping with trauma and finding a way to deal with negative feelings. about self-expression and development in the teenage years. written in a nice, non know-it-all way (neither problem-oriented nor problem-solving). the focus is totally off the event that caused the trauma, but after a while you understand what happened between the lines.
I read this totally at random. A teacher randomly recommended it to me.
It is fabulous!! One of the hardest to read (emotionally), yet so amazing YA books I have ever read!
Even though it concerns a very serious subject, the sarcastic and bitter voice makes it funny and in some ways light.
It is fabulous!! One of the hardest to read (emotionally), yet so amazing YA books I have ever read!
Even though it concerns a very serious subject, the sarcastic and bitter voice makes it funny and in some ways light.
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The teenage voice was written really well. Malinda is a very believable teenager. I picked this book up as it was listed on a banned book list, and I had never heard of it. 2007, I was in college and so missed this being part of a school curriculum and was out of the contemporary MG/YA loop at that time. I'm glad it came across my path, though. I think it's an especially good book for young people to read. Whether they see themselves in Malinda, see a friend, or see the hurt their actions can cause, it's important. It's no wonder this book is on banned lists, too many parents want to keep their heads in the sand and never think about their teens having or talking about sex. Meanwhile, they forget what they were doing and had no one to talk to about it. Why perpetuate the issue? Kids understand and talk about more than you believe. Do you want the kid on the school bus teaching them about sex, or would you like to have an open conversation? Maybe because my boys are both currently teenagers, this hit close to home. "Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance". Don't be scared, don't continue the ignorance.