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crousecm's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed the format of this book, made it an intriguing listen.
gwimo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
reading_ot's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
ashley_books_cats_judo's review against another edition
4.0
I really enjoyed the format of this book and with listening as an audiobook the podcast sections felt like listening to a real podcast. I would suggest looking up trigger warnings for this before you listen/read though.
I’m excited to start book 2 in the series!
I’m excited to start book 2 in the series!
fernweh85's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
alyssone's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
tinaha083's review against another edition
1.0
There are going to be a lot of people who love this book. They will read it, and they will talk about how timely it is, how evocative, how unflinching it is. How it looks at the “rape culture” so pervasive in America, and how it paints a true picture of what it’s like to be a victim and how messed up the justice system is, because it falls on the victim to have to prove their case, and how easy it is for men to get off. They will talk about how untrustworthy, and evil, and wicked men are, and how women should be free to do what they want, go where they want, and that if anyone questions their actions they’re victim blaming.
So let’s get this out of the way. Rape is wrong. Rape. Is. Wrong. Sexual assault is wrong. Any type of sexual violence is wrong. The fact that rapists exist, be they male or female (and yes women can be rapists too) is disgusting.
Now that that’s out of the way, we can talk about this book.
This book was infuriating. It’s being marketed as a thriller with a cold case angle. Rachel runs a podcast that, in its first two seasons, dealt with cold cases. Now, to beat out the competition and stay ahead of the copycat podcasts that have sprung up in the wake of her success, she decided to cover a real-life, current trial. A young man has been accused of raping a girl. He’s the town darling, with money and a promising career in swimming (seriously), and of course people are divided. Some think he’s a monster, others think she’s a tramp. But she’s also been sent a letter. 25 years ago, a girl drowned in this town. It was all covered up. Her sister, Hannah has come back seeking justice for the murder. This all sounds like a great story.
It’s not. What follows is over 300 pages of social justice commentary. It could almost read as a sermon about how bad men are. Because make no mistake, this book wants you to understand that ALL MEN ARE BAD. Most of them are rapists and the ones that aren’t are pathetic, spineless cretins who wont lift a finger in the name of justice. There isn’t one decent male in this book. They all have something to hide and it all has to do with either rape, sex, neglect, or all three. Both of the girls at the heart of the story, 25 years ago and present day were apparently surrounded by nothing by dirt bags. And the accused 19 year old (he was eighteen at the time) is almost a caricature of “what a rapist is.” He fits every trope, every stereotype, and checks every box. He does everything short of twirling his mustache. And the reason? Because he could.
I’m so sick of this rhetoric. Why does every heterosexual male all of a sudden have a label on him? Why is being male synonymous with being a douchebag? Why, in this 352 page book, was there not one male that ever did the right thing at the right time? This is not a realistic portrayal of society. There are far more men who aren’t rapists than men who are. You’re probably related to lots of men who’ve never harmed, or even considered harming a woman.
Then this book (which also contains graphic descriptions of rape) purports to examine women’s so-called lack of agency. This immediately becomes problematic for the present day storyline because: agency refers to the abstract principle that autonomous beings or agents, are capable of acting by themselves to make plans, carry out actions or make an informed and voluntary decision based on their knowledge and intentions. The girl in question had a great deal of agency. She made several decisions. They just happened to be all bad. And they ended in the worst possible way. Lack of agency applies much better to the cold case storyline, because the girl in that instance wasn’t making bad decisions, but was a victim in the truest sense of the word. Agency implies acceptance of the fact that there are consequences to any decision, and that they can be good or bad. Somewhere in the mix, we started wanting to convince women that they aren’t in any way responsible for their actions. But guess what? If you’re telling me that I can’t look at my actions and take responsibility for my choices, you’re removing my autonomy. You’re silencing me, ignoring the parts of my pain that you’d rather not see, because it’s easier to believe that we as women are in constant danger from external, out-of-our-control circumstances, than to examine the fact that the exercise of choice can have bad consequences. It’s easier to say men are out to abuse women than it is to say “maybe I was wrong to accept a drink from a stranger in a bar,” or “maybe I shouldn’t have gone to this place at this time.”
They call that victim blaming. But victim blaming is when you tell the person that the assault AS AN ACT is their fault. That the actual instance of rape, or groping, or any other act of violence is their fault. And that is never true. The act is NEVER the fault of the person it happened to. That is ALWAYS the fault of the perpetrator. The person who performs the act is the one at fault, and you are never responsible for the physical/mental actions of another person. You can only be responsible for your own actions and your own choices. As a victim myself, it was very helpful to learn that while I was in no way responsible for the actions of my perpetrator, I had the agency to make better decisions so as to protect myself, to the best of my ability, from it happening to me again. I could make better choices for myself that would make it harder for someone else to choose to hurt me.
This book could have explored that, and really done something to uplift and educate readers about the ways our choices affect our lives, both from the perspective of victims and criminals, past and present. But it takes the hackneyed, copy-selling approach of everything men do is bad, and everything women do is right, because patriarchy. There are a number of plot contrivances designed purely to increase the drama, but that are in no way realistic (a major point hinges on a teenager walking off and leaving their cellphone). Motivations are murky at best, and nonexistent at worst. It had the potential to awaken conversations about actual autonomy and the strength that comes from knowing that you can effect change just from how you approach your past, present, and future. It could have been really good. As it was, it was forced and used more as a vehicle to push politics than to really delve into the possibilities of the stories.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for my open and honest review. This one was not for me.
So let’s get this out of the way. Rape is wrong. Rape. Is. Wrong. Sexual assault is wrong. Any type of sexual violence is wrong. The fact that rapists exist, be they male or female (and yes women can be rapists too) is disgusting.
Now that that’s out of the way, we can talk about this book.
This book was infuriating. It’s being marketed as a thriller with a cold case angle. Rachel runs a podcast that, in its first two seasons, dealt with cold cases. Now, to beat out the competition and stay ahead of the copycat podcasts that have sprung up in the wake of her success, she decided to cover a real-life, current trial. A young man has been accused of raping a girl. He’s the town darling, with money and a promising career in swimming (seriously), and of course people are divided. Some think he’s a monster, others think she’s a tramp. But she’s also been sent a letter. 25 years ago, a girl drowned in this town. It was all covered up. Her sister, Hannah has come back seeking justice for the murder. This all sounds like a great story.
It’s not. What follows is over 300 pages of social justice commentary. It could almost read as a sermon about how bad men are. Because make no mistake, this book wants you to understand that ALL MEN ARE BAD. Most of them are rapists and the ones that aren’t are pathetic, spineless cretins who wont lift a finger in the name of justice. There isn’t one decent male in this book. They all have something to hide and it all has to do with either rape, sex, neglect, or all three. Both of the girls at the heart of the story, 25 years ago and present day were apparently surrounded by nothing by dirt bags. And the accused 19 year old (he was eighteen at the time) is almost a caricature of “what a rapist is.” He fits every trope, every stereotype, and checks every box. He does everything short of twirling his mustache. And the reason? Because he could.
I’m so sick of this rhetoric. Why does every heterosexual male all of a sudden have a label on him? Why is being male synonymous with being a douchebag? Why, in this 352 page book, was there not one male that ever did the right thing at the right time? This is not a realistic portrayal of society. There are far more men who aren’t rapists than men who are. You’re probably related to lots of men who’ve never harmed, or even considered harming a woman.
Then this book (which also contains graphic descriptions of rape) purports to examine women’s so-called lack of agency. This immediately becomes problematic for the present day storyline because: agency refers to the abstract principle that autonomous beings or agents, are capable of acting by themselves to make plans, carry out actions or make an informed and voluntary decision based on their knowledge and intentions. The girl in question had a great deal of agency. She made several decisions. They just happened to be all bad. And they ended in the worst possible way. Lack of agency applies much better to the cold case storyline, because the girl in that instance wasn’t making bad decisions, but was a victim in the truest sense of the word. Agency implies acceptance of the fact that there are consequences to any decision, and that they can be good or bad. Somewhere in the mix, we started wanting to convince women that they aren’t in any way responsible for their actions. But guess what? If you’re telling me that I can’t look at my actions and take responsibility for my choices, you’re removing my autonomy. You’re silencing me, ignoring the parts of my pain that you’d rather not see, because it’s easier to believe that we as women are in constant danger from external, out-of-our-control circumstances, than to examine the fact that the exercise of choice can have bad consequences. It’s easier to say men are out to abuse women than it is to say “maybe I was wrong to accept a drink from a stranger in a bar,” or “maybe I shouldn’t have gone to this place at this time.”
They call that victim blaming. But victim blaming is when you tell the person that the assault AS AN ACT is their fault. That the actual instance of rape, or groping, or any other act of violence is their fault. And that is never true. The act is NEVER the fault of the person it happened to. That is ALWAYS the fault of the perpetrator. The person who performs the act is the one at fault, and you are never responsible for the physical/mental actions of another person. You can only be responsible for your own actions and your own choices. As a victim myself, it was very helpful to learn that while I was in no way responsible for the actions of my perpetrator, I had the agency to make better decisions so as to protect myself, to the best of my ability, from it happening to me again. I could make better choices for myself that would make it harder for someone else to choose to hurt me.
This book could have explored that, and really done something to uplift and educate readers about the ways our choices affect our lives, both from the perspective of victims and criminals, past and present. But it takes the hackneyed, copy-selling approach of everything men do is bad, and everything women do is right, because patriarchy. There are a number of plot contrivances designed purely to increase the drama, but that are in no way realistic (a major point hinges on a teenager walking off and leaving their cellphone). Motivations are murky at best, and nonexistent at worst. It had the potential to awaken conversations about actual autonomy and the strength that comes from knowing that you can effect change just from how you approach your past, present, and future. It could have been really good. As it was, it was forced and used more as a vehicle to push politics than to really delve into the possibilities of the stories.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for my open and honest review. This one was not for me.
unicarrot's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ophilia_rose's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5