Review: Malice by Pintip Dunn

Malice by Pintip Dunn

Expected Publication: February 4th 2020 by Entangled: Teen

Number of Pages: 400 Pages (Hardcover)

Series: No

   What I know: a boy in my school will one day wipe out two-thirds of the population with a virus.
   What I don’t know: who he is.
   In a race against the clock, I not only have to figure out his identity, but I’ll have to outwit a voice from the future telling me to kill him. Because I’m starting to realize no one is telling the truth. But how can I play chess with someone who already knows the outcome of my every move? Someone so filled with malice they’ve lost all hope in humanity? Well, I’ll just have to find a way—because now they’ve drawn a target on the only boy I’ve ever loved...  (Goodreads.com)

* Thank you to Entangled TEEN for providing me with

an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion *

   You know me, I see Pintip's name on a book, I have to read it. Easy as that. And once more I wasn't disappointed! Perhaps this wasn't my fave--admittedly it's very hard to beat her Forget Tomorrow Trilogy--but it was still really, really good.

   Pintip Dunn has a knack for dystopian worlds, as well as a way with words that simply grabs and pulls you in and won't let you go until the end. Alice was an interesting main character (we also happen to share a name which made it extra funny at times) and I really enjoyed reading her thoughts and seeing her emotions evolve and change, the way she handled certain situations and events.

   The basic idea of a deadly virus threatening to eradicate most of the population isn't anything new, and yet Pintip found a way to make it different and fresh in her own style. This idea of basically having to make certain choices and sacrifices which ideally you wouldn't want to make yet it's either that or the end of the world, it was very interesting and makes you wonder what you'd do in her place. The suspense and mystery were really well done overall and there was only a bit of romance.

   Overall I would certainly recommend Malice if you're looking for a suspenseful and thrilling read with a great main character and premise. And also if you're looking for this type of read that's a standalone instead of part of a trilogy or series.

I give Malice by Pintip Dunn 4 out of 5 stars.

Blog Tour: Interview with Lucia DiStefano

Borrowed by Lucia DiStefano

Expected Publication: November 1st 2018 by Elephant Rock Productions, Inc.

Number of Pages: 264 Pages (Paperback)

Series: No

  Love, mystery, and danger collide in this new literary thriller with the dark heart of a Gillian Flynn novel and the lyrical prose of Jandy Nelson's I'll Give You the Sun.

   An triumph of authenticity, grace, and nail-biting suspense, Lucia DiStefano's ingenious debut is an unflinching, genre-bending page-turner.

   As seventeen-year-old Linnea celebrates the first anniversary of her heart transplant, she can't escape the feeling that the wires have been crossed. After a series of unsettling dreams, inked messages mysteriously appear on her body, and she starts to wonder if this new heart belongs to her at all.

   In another Austin neighborhood, Maxine braces for a heartbreaking anniversary: her sister Harper's death. Between raising her brothers and parenting her grief-stricken mother, Max is unable to ignore her guilty crush on Harper's old flame or shake her lingering suspicion that her sister's drowning wasn't really an accident. With Harper as the sole connection, Linnea and Maxine are soon brought together in fantastic and terrifying ways as the shocking truth behind Harper's death comes to light. (goodreads.com)

   Today I'm really excited to bring you an interview I did with Lucia about Borrowed. Honestly, I loved this book (find my review here) and was really excited when I got to exchange a few emails with her and also do this interview. I'm always curious to find out more about the authors behind the books I enjoy, so I hope you'll enjoy this one as much as I did. Thank you also to Elephant Book for this opportunity and to Lucia for taking the time to answer my questions!

Interview with Lucia DiStefano

   1 – Describe Borrowed with a haiku (or twitter pitch).
   The heart she carries
   --not the heart she was born with--
   will carry her home

   2 – What sparked the idea for Borrowed?

   I've always been fascinated by the topic of personal identity and how malleable it may or may not be. When I heard about the phenomenon of cellular memory in heart transplant patients (how aspects of the donor's personality might make it into the recipient's psyche), I knew I wanted to work it into a story somehow.

   3 – What was the most challenging about writing this story and which scene was the most fun to write?

   The most fun was definitely the scene between Linnea and Daniel in the bakery. I loved how Linnea was both nervous and bold, and I loved how sweet Daniel was toward her (pun intended...there were cupcakes involved, after all). The most challenging was the cabin scene in the third act. I realize there are technically several scenes that take place in a cabin, but the one that was the hardest to write will always be "the" cabin scene to me.

   4 – What do you like most and least about your main characters, Linnea and Maxine?

   Linnea: I like her perseverance most, and how she doesn't let her medical history define her future. I think at times she can be self-absorbed, though (I can say the same about myself!), so I think that's what I like least.

   Maxine: What jumps out at me most about Max, and what I like best, is how fiercely she loves her family, and how responsibly she cares for her little brothers. What I like least is that she has a tendency to be less than forthcoming, and one of the secrets she kept before her sister's death comes back to haunt her afterwards.

   5 – In retrospective, is there anything that you’d change about the story or are you happy with the way it turned out in the end?

   As happy as I was to type "the end," I tend to be one of those perpetual revisers. I would love nothing more than an opportunity to revise annually (ha...I know publishing doesn't work that way). With that said, though, I am happy with the final product. I worked hard, and Jotham, my amazing editor, worked hard, and he prepared me for the time when we'd have to stop massaging the manuscript. So if I did have the chance to keep reworking, I think it would be small stuff. Sometimes a phrase or a detail will pop into my head and I'll think, "Dang, I wish I had included that in the novel!"

   6 – How much research did you have to do to write the story both in terms of all the wonderful sweet pastries mentioned throughout the story, but also about heart transplantation and cellular memory? Was it important to you to stay true to reality, or did you focus more on using it in a creative manner to tell this certain type of story?

   Because I wanted the look at cellular memory to be more "what if?" than hard science, I tried not to get bogged down in too much research. There is much anecdotal evidence of cellular memory, especially with heart transplant patients, but because it's difficult or impossible to confirm it or explain it within the current bounds of science, it's still hanging out in that nebulous gray area. So I started with the germ of cellular memory, but I used creative license (and suspension of disbelief) to think of a scenario even more dramatic than any I'd read about.

   Oh, and the sweets: I love to bake. And eat. So that part was pure, self-indulgent fun!

   7 - What are some of your favorite books?

   Ah, my favorite question, and yet one of the hardest to answer (unless I can stay here all week!). Because it feels impossible to narrow the list of my fave novels enough to respond succinctly, I'll instead limit my choices to books on the creative life. My favorites in that category: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield, Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott, and Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert.

   8 – Do you have a writing routine or do you write whenever creativity strikes?

   My day job is ghostwriter, so I'm always writing in some fashion (and I certainly can't wait for the muse to arrive before working on projects for my clients). I try to work on my own personal projects first thing in the morning, before I turn my attention to the work-for-hire assignments.

   9 – What advice could you give aspiring authors?

   Approach writing with the mindset of 'play,' and you just may surprise yourself (and you'll likely have much more fun, too).

   10 – If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

   Ah... bionic hearing. Think of all the quirky snippets of dialogue I'd pick up that way!

Pre-order

Amazon // Barnes & Noble // Book Depository

Check out the rest of the blog tour for Borrowed:

August 1: Cover reveal at YA Interrobang

September 4: Review at Alice Reeds

September 10: Author interview at Alice Reeds

September 24: Cover reveal at BubblersRead

October 15: Review at BubblersRead

October 21: Author interview at YA Outside the Lines

November 5: Author interview at BubblersRead

November 12: Author guest post at BubblersRead

And more to come!

Review: The Art of Holding On and Letting Gn by Kristin Bartley Lenz

The Art of Holding On and Letting Go by Kristin Bartley Lenz

Expected Publication: September 12th 2016 by Elephant Rock Productions, Inc.

Pages: 307 Pages (Paperback)

Series: No

   A Junior Library Guild Fall 2016 Selection

   “When every piece falls into place, it’s like a dance, a delicate but powerful balancing act. The art of holding on and letting go at the same time.”

   Competitive climber Cara Jenkins feels most at home high off the ground, clinging to a rock wall by her fingertips. She’s enjoyed a roaming life with her mountaineering parents, making the natural world her jungle gym, the writings of Annie Dillard and Henry David Thoreau her textbooks. But when tragedy strikes on an Ecuadoran mountaintop, Cara’s nomadic lifestyle comes to an abrupt halt.

   Starting over at her grandparents’ home in suburban Detroit, Cara embarks on a year of discovery, uncovering unknown strengths, friendships, and first love. Cara’s journey illustrates the transformative power of nature, love and loss, and discovering that home can be far from where you started. (goodreads.com)

* Thank you to Elephant Rock Books for providing me with an 

eARC in exchange for my honest review *

   When the publisher contacted me regarding this book and I checked out the synopsis I was definitely intrigued. I've never read a book about a competitive climber before, or even seen climbing being mentioned in any other YA book I've read so far, so I was eager to dive into it. Thanks to a massive reading slump it took me way longer then it usually would, which is a shame, but I made my way through it and I can tell you that I was not disappointed by it.

   In this story we follow Cara's story that starts off in Ecuador during a climbing competition (which is described really, really well and with just the perfect amount of details) during which tragedy strikes Cara's family. Following Cara as she holds on to hope that maybe everything will be okay, and then having to accept that it won't and that her entire life is about to change, was heartbreaking and brilliantly written. Seeing her navigate a her new surroundings, making new friends and falling in love was amazing, especially because it was such a contrast to the way the book started off.

   What stuck out for me about this book was the way Kristin described the climbing aspect and Cara's emotional landscape, how it was changing and evolving along the way. You could really feel what she was feeling and understand why she felt that way and why she made certain choices. Cara is a fascinating character that I very much enjoyed reading about.

   I really enjoyed Kristin's writing style, the way she created likable and relatable characters that seemed realistic and three dimensional. The story definitely lived up to my hopes and to that really pretty cover.

   All in all, The Art of Holding On and Letting Go is a intriguing story that brings something new to the table, something we've not seen before, and it does it incredibly well. I can definitely recommend it if you're in the mood for a contemporary with lots of emotions and a looking into the life of a competitive climber.

I give The Art of Holding On and Letting Go by Kristin Bartley Lenz 5 out of 5 stars.

   Purchase links:
   Amazon
   IndieBound
   Books-A-Million
   Barnes & Noble
   Goodreads
   Kobo

   Also, if you want, you can totally check out the blog tour for The Art of Holding On and Letting Go (which I'm totally part of):

·      Mon., Aug. 22 – Kristin makes a guest post on Making Connections

·      Fri., Aug. 26 – Kristin interviewed on Fiction Over Reality

·      Tues., Aug. 30 – Kristin interviewed on A Leisure Moment

·      Thurs., Sept. 1 – Kristin interviewed on Crazy Book Obsessions!

·      Sunday, Sept. 4 – Kristin makes an appearance on blackplume

·      Tues., Sept. 6 – Kristin makes a guest post on Books Are Love

·      Thurs., Sept. 8 – Kristin interviewed on Alice Reeds

·      Mon., Sept. 12 – Release day post on Making Connections

·      Mon., Sept. 12 – Kristin makes a guest post on Books & Tea

·      Mon., Sept. 12 – Kristin is interviewed by her agent, Carrie Pestritto, on Literary Carrie

·      Thurs., Sept. 15 – Kristin interviewed on Books Are Love

·      Tues., Sept. 20 – Kristin makes a guest post on The Reading Date

·      Friday, Sept. 23 – Kristin makes a guest post on Twenty Three Pages

·      Mon., Sept. 26 – Kristin interviewed on Literary Rambles

·      Wed., Sept. 28 – Kristin interviewed on Wandering Educators

·      Wed., Oct. 5 – Kristin interviewed on Operation Awesome 

Ask the Author: Gaby Triana (Wake the Hollow)

   After a one moth pause I'm finally back with new interviews! 

   Today I'm bringing you Gaby Triana, the author of Wake the Hollow and other amazing books. She was so lovely as to take some of her time to answer my questions for you guys. 

   Find her book and her amazing answers below:

Wake the Hollow by Gaby Triana

Expected Publication: August 2nd 2016 by Entangled: Teen

Number of Pages: 304 Pages (Paperback)

Series: No

   Forget the ghosts, Mica. It’s real, live people you should fear.

   Tragedy has brought Micaela Burgos back to her hometown of Sleepy Hollow. It’s been six years since she chose to live with her father in Miami instead of her eccentric mother. And now her mother is dead.

   This town will suck you in and not let go.

   Sleepy Hollow may be famous for its fabled headless horseman, but the town is real. So are its prejudices and hatred, targeting Mica’s family as outsiders. But ghostly voices carry on the wind, whispering that her mother’s death was based on hate…not an accident at all. With the help of two very different guys—who pull at her heart in very different ways—Micaela must awaken the hidden secret of Sleepy Hollow…before she meets her mother’s fate.

   Find the answers.

   Unless, of course, the answers find you first. (goodreads.com)

Interview with Gaby Triana

   1 – Describe Wake the Hollow with a haiku.

   I’m not much of a poet but how’s this?

   Journal hidden near

   First to find wins money, fame

   But beware the ghosts

   2 – What was the first initial thought or thing that sparked the idea of Wake the Hollow? And in what way do you think does Wake the Hallow stand out and offer something that should make readers even more interested in it?

   The Disney short film, The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, was one of my favorites growing up. I used to show this in my classroom to all my students too when I was a teacher. I loved the autumn vibe and spooky feel, and I loved reading “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and discovering that it wasn’t so much a story about the Headless Horseman as it was about a love triangle. I thought how cool would it be to write a modern-day version through the POV of Katrina Van Tassel, only in my book she’s Micaela Katerina Burgos. My book stands out in that it’s not a straight retelling of an old classic. It’s a reimagining with a modern mystery crime twist, where the ghosts are spirit guides and the real live people are the ones we should fear. It also features a Cuban-American character in a tale as American as apple pie.

   3 – What was the most challenging about writing Wake the Hollow and which scene was the most fun to write?

   The research was challenging. There was a lot to learn about classic author, Washington Irving, who features in his own story’s retelling. Also, evoking a spooky feel in first person POV was challenging, because I wanted to vividly describe the entire town while still staying true to “teen think.” The chase through the cemetery is one of my favorite scenes. Also the one at the safe deposit box at the bank.

   4 – What do you like most and least about your main character, Micaela?

   What I like the least is that she didn’t bother to learn more about her mother before she left town six years earlier. She could’ve learned a lot about her heritage at that time, but what I love is that she redeems herself throughout the book and grows closer to her mother even after death. It’s never too late to change ourselves.

   5 - How long did it take you from first idea until publishing deal?

   This book took me the longest, because it was conceived, written, shopped, rejected, then…it sat around collecting dust. Revived. Revised multiple times, shopped again, and overall it took 7 years from idea to publishing deal.

   6 - How do you feel about the fact that in only a few more weeks (August 2nd) hundreds of readers will be able to hold and read your novel?

   I’m probably going to cry, because this is my favorite of all my books. I’m a big Halloween freak, so it’s the one that allowed me to write what I love, which is a good ghost story. For a while, I thought it would never be published, but I kept the faith, and now everyone will get to read it.

   7 – What led you to writing and wanting to be an author? Is it the way you imagined it would be?

   I’ve been writing stories since I was in 3rd grade. It was always a natural progression for me. I won writing contests in high school and always wrote, even though I went to college to become a teacher. In that way, I felt I had sidetracked myself, but I was always slow in figuring out what I wanted from my life. Now I live the dream of writing every day for a living.

   8 – What do you think about the cover? Is it anything like you imagined it being?

   The cover is the farthest thing from what I ever imagined. I always thought there would be darker black and orange tones with a headless horseman in a forest or something. When I first saw it, I thought it was beautiful but was concerned about how it would tell the story within. Then I realized it doesn’t need to tell the story within, it just has to capture your imagination, and I feel it does exactly that. It’s GORGEOUS!

   9 – Book adaptations – movie or TV series?

   Definitely a movie! This is a story that is told in one powerful burst, not spread out. That said, I can see a sequel being told in segments over time.

   10 – What advice could you give aspiring authors?

   Write every day. Write even if it’s terrible, because you can always go back and fix it, but the important thing is that you got it down. Don’t judge yourself as you go, just tell a story, and always, always revise and revise before you share. That’s the point of writing versus talking. You don’t have to get it right the first time.

   11 – If you could have any superpower, what would it be and why?

   The ability to destroy hatred. Imagine what a wonderful world we would live in.

About the Author

   GABY TRIANA is the award-winning author of six YA novels—Wake the Hollow (Coming 2016), Summer of Yesterday, Riding the Universe, The Temptress Four, Cubanita, and Backstage Pass, as well as thirteen ghostwritten novels for best-selling authors. Originally a 4th grade teacher with a Master of Science in Elementary Education and ten years teaching experience, Gaby earned Teacher of the Year in 2000, wrote her first novel, Freddie and the Biltmore Ghost, then left teaching to launch a full-time writing career. She went on to publish young adult novels with HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster, win an IRA Teen Choice Award, ALA Best Paperback Award, and Hispanic Magazine’s Good Reads of 2008. She spends her time obsessing about Halloween, Christmas, and Disney World, as well as hosting parties, designing mugs, making whimsical cakes, and winning costume contests. When she’s not writing, she might also be watching Jurassic Park movies with her boys, posting excessive food pics on social media, or helping run the Florida region of the SCBWI. Gaby lives in Miami with her three sons, Michael, Noah, and Murphy. She has one dog, Chloe, and two cats—Miss Daisy, and the reformed thug, shooting survivor, Bowie. Visit her at www.GabyTriana.com.

Review: Life After Juliet by Shannon Lee Alexander

Life After Juliet by Shannon Lee Alexander

Published: July 5th 2016 by Entangled TEEN
Number of Pages: 304 Pages (hardcover)

Series: Yes, companion novel to Love and Other Unknown Variables

   Becca Hanson was never able to make sense of the real world. When her best friend Charlotte died, she gave up on it altogether. Fortunately, Becca can count on her books to escape—to other times, other places, other people...

   Until she meets Max Herrera. He’s experienced loss, too, and his gorgeous, dark eyes see Becca the way no one else in school can.

   As it turns out, kissing is a lot better in real life than on a page. But love and life are a lot more complicated in the real world...and happy endings aren't always guaranteed.

   The companion novel to Love and Other Unknown Variables is an exploration of loss and regret, of kissing and love, and most importantly, a celebration of hope and discovering a life worth living again. (goodreads.com)

* Thank you to Entangled TEEN for providing me with an 

eARC in exchange for my honest opinion *

   Life After Juliet is the companion novel to Love and Other Unknown Variables, which I personally didn't know until after requesting it. At first I was unsure if that meant I wouldn't be able to understand certain things, since I didn't read Love and Other Unknown Variables, but I quickly fell in love with the story and characters nonetheless. So, even if you've not read Love and Other Unknown Variables, you can very much enjoy Life After Juliet.

   In Life After Juliet we follow Becca who is dealing with the loss of her best friend Charlotte, who died due to cancer, and how she slowly makes new friends and falls in love with a boy named Max. I'm not joking when I say that Max will very quickly make it very far up on your list of bookish boyfriends because he was an amazing character.

   Something I very much enjoyed in this story was the representation of grief, of how people who grief sometimes feel guilt if they find themselves forgetting or missing the person less that they've lost, and so on. I really liked the fact that the loss of Charlotte was an ever present thing in Becca's character, that it wasn't just something mentioned once in a while so we wouldn't forget, but it was simply a part of her character, naturally and realistically.

   Generally I really, really liked Becca. I love how, in the beginning of the story, she was hiding behind her books, counting time in pages and just so caught up in her grief, but also how her character developed across the story and how she began to change. She felt very realistic and three dimensional with realistic problems and trains of thought. Also I loved her relationship with her brother Charlie, with Max, and of course with the rest of the gang, being the theatre kids, both the technicians and the actors.

   Speaking of which, as I mentioned before, Max was an amazing character. I love the way he behaved toward Becca, loved his family and the fact that he had his own grief, knows the pain Becca feels, and how that connects the two on another level. I also very much enjoyed his friendship with Victor, which was just generally amazing and seeing those two together was just amusing and entertaining from beginning to end.

   Another thing that I really loved about Life After Juliet was how, despite dealing with such a heavy topic, grief, it also offered a lot of laugh-out-loud moments. Some scenes and lines of dialogues were seriously brilliant and just impossibly funny! The balance between serious and relaxed/funny was perfect.   Shannon's writing style is amazing and she is really able to capture your interest and create fascinating, realistic and three dimensional characters. They behaved like teens, had teen like problems, and also talked like teens which I very much appreciated.

   All in all I really, really enjoyed Life After Juliet a lot. I definitely want to pick up Love and Other Unknown Variables to see where the entire story began and see Becca's friendship with Charlotte before it ended. So, if you're looking for a read that blends seriousness with humor and amazing characters, then I definitely recommend this one. I binged 70% of this book in just a few hours and really had to make myself set the book aside and go to sleep at 3am.

I give Life After Juliet by Shannon Lee Alexander 5 out of 5 stars!

Waiting on Wednesday: Everyone We've Been by Sarah Everett

   Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine in which we discuss our most anticipated upcoming releases.

   The book:

Everyone We've Been by Sarah Everett

Expected Publication: October 4th 2016 by Knopf Books for Young Readers

Number of Pages: 400 Pages (Hardcover)

Series: No

   Addison Sullivan has been in an accident. In its aftermath, she has memory lapses and starts talking to a boy that no one else can see. It gets so bad that she’s worried she’s going crazy.

   Addie takes drastic measures to fill in the blanks and visits a shadowy medical facility that promises to “help with your memory.” But at the clinic, Addie unwittingly discovers it is not her first visit. And when she presses, she finds out that she had certain memories erased. She had a boy erased.

   But why? Who was that boy, and what happened that was too devastating to live with? And even if she gets the answers she’s looking for, will she ever be able to feel like a whole person again? (goodreads.com)

   My thoughts:

   This book sounds absolutely fantastic and the cover is literally everything. I cannot wait to get my hands on it and read it up. I mean, a story about shadowy medical facilities that erase memories and the hunt to find our why a certain boy was erased from the main character's memories, what more could I want?

   Let me know in the comments below or via twitter (@Alice_Reeds) which books you're waiting for this Wednesday!

Waiting on Wednesday: Gemini by Sonya Mukherjee

   Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly feature hosted by Jill of Breaking the Spine in which we discuss our most anticipated upcoming releases.

   The book:

Gemini by Sonya Mukherjee

Expected Publication: July 26th 2016 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Number of Pages: 336 Pages (Hardcover)

Series: No

   In a powerful and daring debut novel, Sonya Mukherjee shares the story of sisters Clara and Hailey, conjoined twins who are learning what it means to be truly extraordinary.

   Seventeen-year-old conjoined twins, Clara and Hailey, have lived in the same small town their entire lives—no one stares at them anymore. But there are cracks in their quiet existence and they’re slowly becoming more apparent. Clara and Hailey are at a crossroads. Clara wants to stay close to home, avoid all attention, and study the night sky. Hailey wants to travel the world, learn from great artists, and dance with mysterious boys. As high school graduation approaches, each twin must untangle her dreams from her sister’s, and figure out what it means to be her own person.

   Told in alternating perspectives, this unconventional coming-of-age tale shows how dreams can break your heart—but the love between sisters can mend it. (goodreads.com)

   My thoughts:

   The second I've laid eyes on this book and read it's blurb I knew I want this and I want it really, really badly. I've never read a book about conjoined twins, never even heard of one, so color me extremely intrigued. I cannot wait to see how the story will play out and just everything about it, the life these twins live and how life looks like through their eyes. 

   And also, that cover is absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to have it standing on my shelf!

* * *

   Let me know in the comments below or via twitter (@Alice_Reeds) which books you're waiting for this Wednesday!

Review: What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler

What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler

Published: September 22nd 2015 by HarperTeen
Number of Pages: 336 Pages (Paperback)
Series: No

   Critically acclaimed memoirist Aaron Hartzler, author of Rapture Practice, takes an unflinching look at what happens to a small town when some of its residents commit a terrible crime. This honest, authentic debut novel—inspired by the events in the Steubenville rape case—will resonate with readers who've ever walked that razor-thin line between guilt and innocence that so often gets blurred, one hundred and forty characters at a time.

   The party at John Doone's last Saturday night is a bit of a blur. Kate Weston can piece together most of the details: Stacey Stallard handing her shots, Ben Cody taking her keys and getting her home early. . . . But when a picture of Stacey passed out over Deacon Mills's shoulder appears online the next morning, Kate suspects she doesn't have all the details. When Stacey levels charges against four of Kate's classmates, the whole town erupts into controversy. Facts that can't be ignored begin to surface, and every answer Kate finds leads back to the same questions: Who witnessed what happened to Stacey? And what responsibility do they have to speak up about what they saw?

   National Book Award finalist Deb Caletti calls What We Saw "a smart, sensitive, and gripping story about the courage it takes to do what's right." (goodreads.com)

Trigger warning: Rape.

Nothing is exactly as it appears. The closer you look, the more you see.

   What We Saw is a very honest and, at times, heartbreaking portrayal of a school dealing with four boys being accused of sexually assaulting a classmate during a party. The story is based on a real life high school rape case that happen in the US in 2012, though I've only really got to know that once I was done reading. I admit, that detail made the story seem even more shocking then it already was. As someone who wasn't in the US at the time I hadn't heard about the events surrounding the rape case before, though reading about it after I was done with What We Saw, it definitely made me happy that I am done with school and that, fortunately, something like that never happened at a school that I'd visited, while also making me wonder how the media could deal with something like this the way they had - the completely wrong way.
   The story is told through the eyes of Kate, a soccer playing girl who used to be friends with the victim in the past but not anymore at the time of the incident. The story deals with victim blaming, how important it is to look at all the facts, consider every option, instead of jumping to conclusions based on popularity and outfits, slut-shaming and, above all, the immense importance of consent.

“Well, I just think it’s awful what that Stallard girl is doing to them. Dragging their good names through the mud.”

   What really struck me was this sense of "it's her own fault" and "boys will be boys" that many of the teens showed, which was in many ways horrifying and, unfortunately not surprising. Those two phrases slip past your lips so easily yet weigh heavily because they excuse the assailants and their actions, teaching them that they have not done anything wrong, which as we all know, is not true. I really enjoyed seeing how Kate slowly started to really think about what happened, what it all really means, and why everybody immediately takes sides with the popular boys instead of thinking about how the girl, Stacey, must feel, assuming that she must have made it up, forgetting that she is human and might actually be telling the truth.

“All I’m saying is there are rules. You don’t get wasted. You don’t take off your top. You don’t flirt with raging drunks. You don’t dress like a slut. You have to play by the rules. If you don’t, this is what happens.”

“Words have MEANINGS. When you say you ‘can’t help yourself’ if a girl is wasted, that means something, too. You’re saying that our natural state as men is ‘rapist.’ That’s not okay with me.”

   Kate was an incredibly interesting character. She was strong, smart, and despite the fact that everyone told her to not get involved or think about what happened, she still felt the need of at least checking on Stacey, which ultimately, among other reasons, led her to wanting to figure it all out. I enjoyed her friendship with her team mates and her feelings toward Ben, her childhood friend on whom she had a crush for years.

   Speaking of which, Ben was an interesting character as well. He was the one who drove Kate away from the party, at which the assault happened, when he was that she was already totally drunk, but returned to it after bringing Kate home. He didn't want to get involved and had his own problems to deal with, meaning his mom who is addicted to buying things with coupons. I really liked that aspect of the story, especially because it was something I've not seen done before.

   I liked the dynamic that these two had when interacting with each other, and was fascinated my Kate's courage to go against the masses and get involved, against all odds. It was fascinating to see how most girls tried to explain to themselves that something like what happened to Stacey could never happen to them because they are not "that girl". It was brilliant to see Kate come to the conclusion that if she wouldn't have had Ben, she could have been "that girl" just as well as Stacey since she'd been pretty drunk, too.

“What about me?” I choke. “Do you owe me something? I was just as wasted as she was. Why do I get driven home and kept safe but not her? Why not just leave me to Dooney and Deacon and the boys in the basement?”

   Another aspect of What We Saw that I found interesting was the portrayal and involvement of the media, which I hadn't really seen before in books dealing with sexual assault. We got a look at live news broadcasts, TV vans standing in front of the school trying to get any information they could, and also got to read a couple of news articles written by the main journalist involved in the case. That was really intriguing and helped shape the atmosphere of the entire book.

   Aaron Hartzler has a really good writing style that really makes you think that this character, Kate, is a teen at school. He captured her thoughts and how they changed over the course of the book magnificently. As mentioned previously, the book really felt very realistic and true to the nature and tendency to being judgmental that teens have, along with this sheep like behavior many of them have out of fear of sticking out should they have a different opinion.

   All in all, I truly enjoyed What We Saw and can't recommend it enough. It's honest, realistic, and brilliant in so many ways along with being one of those truly important books one should simply read. The characters are great and the writing style really good. If you are interested in hard topic books then this one is definitely for you.

I give What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler 5 out of 5 stars.