6th March 2014, Piatkus Books, 400 pages, Paperback/ebook, ARC ebook
Content: frequent graphic adult relations
and strong language, revenge p*rn, drug use, alcohol abuse,
Summary from Piatkus Books
In this New Adult debut by
Robin York, a college student is attacked online and must restore her
name - and stay clear of a man who's wrong for her, but feels so right.
When Caroline Piasecki's ex-boyfriend posts
their sex pictures on the Internet, it destroys her reputation as a nice
college girl. Suddenly her once-promising future doesn't look so
bright. Caroline tries to make the pictures disappear; hoping time will
bury her shame. Then a guy she barely knows rises to her defence and
punches her ex to the ground.
West Leavitt is the last
person Caroline needs in her life. Everyone knows he's shady. Still,
Caroline is drawn to his confidence and swagger - even after promising
her dad she'll keep her distance. On late, sleepless nights, Caroline
starts wandering into the bakery where West works.
They
hang out, they talk, they listen. Though Caroline and West tell each
other they're 'just friends,' their feelings intensify until it becomes
impossible to pretend. The more complicated her relationship with West
gets, the harder Caroline has to struggle to discover what she wants for
herself - and the easier it becomes to find the courage she needs to
fight back against the people who would judge her.
When all seems lost, sometimes the only place to go is deeper.
Nayuleska's thoughts
I was super eager to read this book because
I thought it would be unofficial revenge like the kind in Mockingbird (see
suggested read) where a girl is raped but the school students sort it out. I
expected some adult relations, just not quite as graphic (Most New Adult's that I've read have tended to be graphic in some places) The story ended up not panning out as I'd hoped.
The characters are strong willed, which was sometimes positive as it got them through tough times, but this also meant Caroline & West both didn't ask for help when they needed it. I adored West's little sister Frankie, she was quite mischievous and there were touching scenes when she was in trouble and Frankie could only be on the phone instead of being there in person.
I hate having
to give a low grade for a blog tour book, but I didn't like a lot of it. I was shocked by the explicit nature
of the adult relation scenes. I lost count of how many there were which lasted
several pages. I didn't read them as they were too graphic and I skip blushables.
I'd
wanted to see the support Caroline receives, and was sad to find what I
expected to happen in regards to the legal and family side of things only at
the very end. I'm baffled how her father didn't find out sooner because it was out there, just not really noticed by others. I'm equally
struggling to understand why Caroline was stupid enough to take drugs., why she
agreed to insane parties where she behaved in ways that could ruin her
reputation more, but I did like the fact that she grew stronger as a person
over the debacle and admitted she had made mistakes.
I did like the side story of West's family
life, the way he will do anything to protect his baby sister, but everything
else was definitely too much info and extremely colourful for me. I will be
wary of New Adult titles now, although in theory not all should be this
explicit. I admire Robin for creating characters I feel strongly about, even if
not in the way I expected to. She has written a powerful book about an important topic which sadly happens in our technological age. Personally people shouldn't put themselves in that position, but if they do then they at least ought to have support from those they love.
Find out more on Robin's website.
Suggested read
Check out a story of rape revenge told in
The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney (Young Adult, 10E/10E)
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