By Patty Blount
Rating: 4.9
'The cops wanted to know if I was Zac's girlfriend, if I was drinking, doing drugs, if I ever worked as a stripper, if I ever kissed Zac before that night.
What the hell does any of that have to do with what happened?
Do the laws against sexual assault not apply to strippers? To girlfriends? I don't get that. (...) He thinks because I went to the woods, drank alcohol, and dressed the way I dress, I should have expected this to happen. That I actually wanted this to happen.
(...) What the hell, just what the hell was wrong with how I looked...why does he care if I wear eye-black like the football team? It's my face. It's my body. I can dress it up or down however I want. Why is that such a hard concept for guys to accept? All that crap Jax said about dressing to be noticed - being noticed is fine. But being noticed isn't the same as being ridiculed, insulted, ostracised, shamed.
Being noticed isn't an open invitation to guys to do whatever they want to me.'
This book carries an important message. This book made me cry.
I know rape is a complex issue to discuss. I also know that although this book concentrates on a female victim, that there are also male victims of rape out there.
But what really got me was the shaming. And not the shaming from the guys - I understood the whole 'buddy' system, with the rapist's friends sticking up for him and shunning the girl who dared to speak up. But the shaming by the girls was the most painful to read about.
We girls, as a species, can be cruel.
Gossip is like a type of currency. Some girls can be more two-faced than Professor Quirrell from Harry Potter!
But we should never, ever, ostracise another person purely based on idle gossip. And especially when they may have suffered major trauma. You never know what trials a person faces in their daily lives, hidden behind the smiling mask they wear day to day. Don't judge by appearances. Stick up for one another.
The right way isn't always the easy way.
This was another valuable lesson from this book. Peer pressure VS human decency. Speaking up VS importance of friendships.
But although all these things came into conflict with one another, it was not being able to face one's self that finally brought Ian to the 'good' side. Not that Ian had actuallydone the deed. But he kept choosing to remain ignorant, despite knowing deep down that what was happening was wrong.
True, he ends up growing a spine for Grace. And to fix all the wrongs. But he mainly does it because he cannot stand the person he sees himself becoming. He knows he can't live with himself if he stands back and allows things to continue as they are.
So here's a challenge for us all.
Let's take a good look at ourselves. Maybe glance in the mirror, or sit alone in quiet contemplation.
And let's think: do I like the person I am? Do I like the way things are?
More importantly, it's not a matter of whether you like this or that - but do you knowthe person you are? Do you truly know the way things are, or are you blinded by false loyalties and excuses?
Let's open our eyes and our mouths.
Let's see what's really there - past the lies, rumours and labels. Let's speak the truth.
Let's make this world a safer, better place :)
What is right sometimes isn't easy. But it's worth it.
