My Rating: ★★★★★
Genre(s): Young Adult
Plot: After calling the cops at an end-of-the-year party, Melinda instantly becomes an outcast. She starts her freshman year with no friends, and it only goes downhill from there. Melinda has her reasons for what she did, but she isn’t talking– to anyone. When the truth finally comes out, Melinda is finally understood.
Pros:
- It was an easy read
- It was about rape, and that’s one of the topics I consider “super important”
- The entire book is inside Melinda’s head, and not just because she’s the narrator
- In the end, the victim isn’t shamed
- The trees thing was cool
- I also want a little hideout like hers, but not from high school– just from life
Cons:
- The book isn’t required reading and it really fricking should be
Favorite Quotes:
- “I wonder how long it would take for anyone to notice if I just stopped talking.” [I have thought this exact thing so many times]
- “All that crap you hear on TV about communication and expressing feelings is a lie. Nobody really wants to hear what you have to say.”
- “Censorship is the child of fear and the father of ignorance.”
- “The one good thing about being kind of shy is that nobody bugs you when you want to be left alone.”
My Thoughts: It was so great. Where was this book when I was in high school? I really needed this book back then. I was so glad that the truth finally came out in the end, even if it was sort of forced out. And I am so, so glad that she wasn’t shamed for what happened and that she was able to open up about it. Melinda’s thoughts and actions were very similar to mine in high school, and I could relate so much to her character that sometimes I felt like I was reading my own journal. This book is so important and I think that it really needs to be read.
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