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A review by thepetitepunk
You Know I'm No Good by Jessie Ann Foley
4.0
Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.
4.5 stars
Mia is what you would call a Troubled Teen. She drinks, does drugs, has sex, doesn't care about school, and most recently, she punched her stepmother. With her family--if you could even call them that--no longer able to deal with Mia's behavior, Mia is forcibly transported to Red Oak Academy, a therapeutic girls' boarding school that will hopefully change her ways. Although Mia is resistant to the school's seemingly controlling nature, from confiscated items, to strip searches, to 9pm bed times, it is through this school that Mia finally has a chance to be vulnerable and reflect on and process her relationships and experiences.
You Know I'm No Good had me hooked from the very first sentence all the way to the last. Through Mia's down-to-earth narration, the reader gets a nitty-gritty front row seat to the catastrophic events in her life. This is a story about what it means to be a "bad" girl--a slut, a whore, a junkie, a lost cause--and why this perception is deeply problematic and destructive. Intertwining themes of double standards, feminism, sexuality and sexual assault, mental health, family and friendships, just to name a few, Jessie Ann Foley's writing is deeply poignant and honest. Whether you have ever been in Mia's place, or perhaps have made some assumptions about someone in Mia's place, Foley encourages the audience to look beyond the surface and truly understand the burdens that "troubled teens" often carry.
I thought Mia's character, despite her decisions, was wonderfully written. She was angry and messy, but her voice was genuine. Of course, the idea misunderstood teens is far from new, but Foley offers a refreshing perspective on how harmful it is to demonize girls that may have "strayed from the path," as they might not even understand themselves or the events they have been through.
For readers of more mature, heavy YA, I would recommend this in a heartbeat. Powerful, heartbreaking, and realistically messy, this is the kind of story that will stay with you long after finishing it.
Content warnings: rape, underage sex, underage drinking, drug use, manipulation, mentioning of self harm
4.5 stars
Mia is what you would call a Troubled Teen. She drinks, does drugs, has sex, doesn't care about school, and most recently, she punched her stepmother. With her family--if you could even call them that--no longer able to deal with Mia's behavior, Mia is forcibly transported to Red Oak Academy, a therapeutic girls' boarding school that will hopefully change her ways. Although Mia is resistant to the school's seemingly controlling nature, from confiscated items, to strip searches, to 9pm bed times, it is through this school that Mia finally has a chance to be vulnerable and reflect on and process her relationships and experiences.
You Know I'm No Good had me hooked from the very first sentence all the way to the last. Through Mia's down-to-earth narration, the reader gets a nitty-gritty front row seat to the catastrophic events in her life. This is a story about what it means to be a "bad" girl--a slut, a whore, a junkie, a lost cause--and why this perception is deeply problematic and destructive. Intertwining themes of double standards, feminism, sexuality and sexual assault, mental health, family and friendships, just to name a few, Jessie Ann Foley's writing is deeply poignant and honest. Whether you have ever been in Mia's place, or perhaps have made some assumptions about someone in Mia's place, Foley encourages the audience to look beyond the surface and truly understand the burdens that "troubled teens" often carry.
I thought Mia's character, despite her decisions, was wonderfully written. She was angry and messy, but her voice was genuine. Of course, the idea misunderstood teens is far from new, but Foley offers a refreshing perspective on how harmful it is to demonize girls that may have "strayed from the path," as they might not even understand themselves or the events they have been through.
For readers of more mature, heavy YA, I would recommend this in a heartbeat. Powerful, heartbreaking, and realistically messy, this is the kind of story that will stay with you long after finishing it.
Content warnings: rape, underage sex, underage drinking, drug use, manipulation, mentioning of self harm