e-Audio, 06:49:46
Narrated by: Olivia A. Cole
Release Date: March 14, 2023
Published by: Books on Tape
Read from: March 10-12, 2023
Stand-alone
Source: PRH App (I received a copy of this audiobook from the Publisher in exchange for a just and honest review. This did nothing to influence my review.)
TW: Pedophilia, Body Shaming, Sexism, Biphobia, Pedophilia,
For Readers Interested In: Novel in Verse, Coming of Age, Realistic Fiction, YAThis searing and intimate novel in verse follows a sixteen-year-old girl coping with sexual abuse as she grapples with how to reclaim her story, her anger, and her body in a world that seems determined to punish her for the sin of surviving.
Sixteen-year-old Alicia Rivers has a reputation that precedes her. But there’s more to her story than the whispers that follow her throughout the hallways at school–whispers that splinter into a million different insults that really mean: a girl who has had sex. But what her classmates don’t know is that Alicia was sexually abused by a popular teacher, and that trauma has rewritten every cell in her body into someone she doesn’t recognize. To the world around her, she’s been cast, like the mythical Medusa, as not the victim but the monster of her own story: the slut who asked for it.
Alicia was abandoned by her best friend, quit the track team, and now spends her days in detention feeling isolated and invisible. When mysterious letters left in her locker hint at another victim, Alicia struggles to keep up the walls she’s built around her trauma. At the same time, her growing attraction to a new girl in school makes her question what those walls are really keeping out.
*MY THOUGHTS*
I went back and forth about reading this for a long time. But I finally decided since its about Greek mythology. I really need to start reading the synopsis lol Because this was nothing like what I was expecting it to be.
Ok so first things first. When I saw this title I knew I needed to read it. I’m a huge fan of all things mythology. So when I saw this one, the need for it was immediate. But unfortunately, in this way, it didn’t actually deliver… I mean it did in the way that Medusa was assaulted, but Idk, I wanted more than that. But it wasn’t mentioned at all in the story but a couple of times. Idk, since it had that much of an impact (since it’s the actual title) I just thought it would have more of a presence in the story.
The writing style was what hooked me. I’m very open about the fact that I dont’ really like novels in verse lol But this one wasn’t bad. This was really moving and I was hooked from the beginning. I did have to slow down the narration, but it was because speeding it up shook the cadence up and it sounded weird. But the way it was written reduced me to tears, made my so angry I could have slapped someone, and even more emotions. I felt some of everything in this book. And that’s how I know I liked it.
I also didn’t like the ending. It was left too open. (This is also why I don’t like novels in verse. We can assume what happens, but novels n verse don’t always tell you all the details. And I’m just not one who likes to make decisions on books I’m reading. I like to be given all the facts and just sit and enjoy. I don’t wnat to have to work for it if that makes sense.
The narrator was the author. And that’s another win for me. The way the author just knows where they want to breathe, or stop, etc. It just makes sense to narrate your own work because you know how you want it to sound. And this one was no different. It was beautiful and haunting, and sad.
This book was not at all what I was expecting, but it was so good. Even to someone like me who isn’t even a real fan. This book was so important and very needed. I really hope students can find something in this book to help them should they need it.
Overall, I give this
