Some girls want to rally for his expulsion—and some want to rally around Mike. The only thing that the entire student body can agree on? Someone is lying. And the truth has to come out. (Pub Date: Feb 4, 2020)
Such a hard book to summarize! In short, Maya has suffered violence from her boyfriend for a few months now and she decides it's enough. Unsure of how to proceed, she seeks help from the school, but they don't know what to do either and said boyfriend is the school's sweetheart.
3.5, rounded up to 4 because of the importance of the theme and how well-rounded its use was.
Trigger warning here. I don't like giving out spoilers but beware of problematic themes like self-cutting, bulimia, drug use and suicide. Really, if this is a trigger to you, stay away.
It took me a few chapters to understand what I was reading, actually. I'd say the writer was going for a concept I was not too fond of but I'm glad it all becomes clearer still in the first quarter. The idea is pretty much psychological, Maya our main character doesn't know who she is and what she did to become the girlfriend who was beaten and even the girls at their school are a little lost about how to support Maya. Should he be expelled when it wasn't even on campus?
To be honest, even I was wondering if what the boyfriend did deserved being expelled. The writer knew how to expose a more mild case of violence; Maya didn't even want to press charges, she just wanted it to stop. I loved how this read was food for thought, and not only in cases of domestic violence. We meet a few other cases, which were well mixed in a way it didn't feel too much drama, and we get to discuss friendship and the role parents have.
But as I mentioned, this made the book a heavy read. I mean, I basically ate this and it could have been done in one reading—I almost did it. But the subject is heavy, much different from the lighthearted summary that would only cover "the activist" part (to use the book's lingo). So really, even if you're not triggered, be prepared.
So my negatives... I confess the cutting theme was very heavy considering it wasn't really the main plot. I did like that the author worried about giving the readers tools to dealing with it but I'd have preferred not reading so many details. The first quarter, as I've also mentioned, was confusing on purpose but also very easy to guess so when we have the big reveal it's not a big punch in the gut to compensate the many chapters that went by. Lastly, the writing. I'm aware people like digressions, stream of conscience and such, but I think it all made the book too unnecessarily long. If you prefer more direct wording, this will probably get to you, as it did to me. At the same time, keep in mind that it was still a relatively quick read, so it didn't really hurt, just made think constantly of how I'd edit half of the book out.
This is the read for those who love contemporary YA's and are seeking for books that don't focus on romance. We barely have any love relationships here, let alone romancing. It's also a great read for a book club, I can only imagine the long discussions it will raise with each revelation about the main characters, going beyond the main question of whether the boyfriend deserves being expelled. It's well written and far from forgettable.
Honest review based on an ARC provided by Edelweiss. Many thanks to the publisher for this opportunity.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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