Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone

Two Nights in Lisbon by Chris Pavone
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

January LaVoy does a spectacular job narrating this taut thriller with so much psychological drama!!! I enjoyed listening to this book, Ariel's husband is kidnapped while they are on a business trip in London. The police and the American Embassy do not take her seriously, until the FBI & CIA are involved. A real who done it!

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The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline

The Exiles by Christina Baker Kline
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved so many of the women characters in this historical fiction novel about women who suffer at the hands of society and are sentenced to jail in London's Newgate Prison, only to be sent to Australia because they are deemed a menace to society. Also the whites have pushed put the Aboriginal people and one of their own, Mathinna, becomes a focal part of this story with Evangeline and Hazel. There was terror going by boat from London to Australia, not only seasickness but sailors who rape the prisoners. You will be riveted by this story of strong female friendship, survival, and hardship! A must read!

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Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases by Paul Holes

Unmasked: My Life Solving America's Cold Cases by Paul Holes
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Awesomely narrated by Paul Holes; this audiobook covers Holes' time solving cold cases, serial killer captures and rapist cases. His stories are compelling; his need to solve cases to help the families was pivotal and affected his life, his marriages and his relationships with his children. A must read!

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The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore

The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read this book because it received a Nerdy Book Club 2021 YA Fiction award. But I have read and loved all of Anna-Marie McLemore's books and been moved by the magical realism and their worlds of diverse Latinx characters. This book is different (read the Author Note after you have read the book) and though many tough topics are discussed, YA readers will relate to Ciela and Lock in their worlds of color and privilege. Both are struggling with what happened to them at a party (two rooms next to one another) by awful privileged white students whose parents names appear on school buildings. Ceila and Lock do not know one another at the beginning of the book, but become friends when he is a new student at her high school. Ciela has magic that has been passed down by her family and when she is assaulted that ability stops. How Ciela reclaims her life and becomes Lock's friend show what a strong brown girl feels for what is right, even as it shatters her life like a shard of glass nestling in her body. I could not stop turning the pages, and many times it was a difficult read because of what was perpetrated on these teens by classmates. Highly recommended!

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The Deal (Off-Campus, #1) by Elle Kennedy

The Deal by Elle Kennedy
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is the first Elle Kennedy romance I have read and oh did I enjoy Hannah and Graham. They were both believable college students, Graham the jock and Hannah a music Major. But they bring their real selves to their friendship which begins with Graham stalking Hannah to tutor him so he won't get kicked off the ice hockey team. As Captain, Graham has lots of friends and girls who chase him. But Hannah works, is a good student and is in the annual music show, and she does not have many friends, does not drink and does not go to frat parties. I liked the slow way their bickering friendship proceeded and as they begin to tell each other things that they have not told to too many people, my fingers were crossed. A really great book to begin the Off-Campus series, I can't wait to read more Elle Kennedy romances!

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Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was so so much and MORE!!! Whether you have read SPEAK or not this book deals with so much more than Melinda's story; it is Laurie Halse Anderson's story and also any person who has been sexually violated. In the audiobook version Laurie's voice resonated with so much truth, anger, empathy and wonder. Everyone needs to read this memoir of Laurie's rape, her family life growing up, her writing and the many stories she has from her readers. This call to action shows the readers how the culture of rape has not changed.

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Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson

Speak: The Graphic Novel by Laurie Halse Anderson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Just as I loved the book; so did I love this graphic novel---Emily Carroll's illustrations were perfect; her artwork nailed Melinda's thoughts, anxieties, and silence. I read this graphic novel for the 2019 HUB Reading Challenge because it won 3 awards (Amelia Bloomer Top Ten, Great Graphic Novels & Quick Picks)---a must read!

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The Pain Eater by Beth Goobie

The Pain Eater by Beth Goobie
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Such a realistic look at a young teen's rape, how it reduces her to self-harm, being invisible, and unable to communicate with her loving family. Maddy Malone has just watched the school show and is making her way home when 5 boys grab her and rape her. She tells no one and begins to withdraw from everyone. Maddy will not confide in her older sister (whom she is very close to) and really doesn't have any friends in school. What makes it worse is that she loses herself and in order to cope begins to burn herself to lessen the pain of remembering (she has nightmares all the time). When she returns to school in the fall things do not get any better - but there is a class project called The Pain Eater and each week a student (alphabetical order) must read aloud their chapter. Kara is the first and does a great job in setting up the story, but as time goes on the bullies in the class begin to influence the story through their intimidation/friendship tactics. The Pain Eater parallels Maddy and her predicament---and as time goes on the reader will root for Maddy to find the courage to take control and become the happy, fierce Maddy she once was. I have read and loved Beth Goobie books for some time now- students loved her books, especially reluctant readers. Her books deal with issues teens can relate to and will jump start conversations on many real issues teens deal with in today's world. Highly recommended!

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Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough

Blood Water Paint by Joy McCullough
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Joy McCullough's beautiful, devastating historical fiction novel in verse shows the life of Artemisia Gentileschi, guided by her mother's stories of strong women in the Bible, used by her father, raped by her teacher, all the while producing artwork that her father signed. The reader feels the highs and lows of Artemisia's life in Renaissance Italy as she toils in a dinghy room, mixing paints, drawing sketches for painting, and not feeling any love by her father, brothers and caretaker. She wants love, acknowledgment, and must, in the end, only count on the famous women of the Bible, to keep her strong as she tries to take back her life. Gripping, sensual, and breathtaking, highly recommended!!!

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Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Beartown by Fredrik Backman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I listened to Marin Ireland's stellar narration of Beartown which was a compelling tough read/listen. It was about hockey, small town nastiness, bullying, bullying, bullying. Backman chose to tell his story about a great team of boys, their families, the hockey mentality (which was not pretty to listen to over and over again) of the boys, the townspeople, the board, the sponsors and the families. Within all of this, Backman begins on the first page with a bang,bang, bang that continues to be hammered incessantly through the book (a little too much for me) and doesn't really get to the "crime" til so much later in the book. With the way Backman chose to tell the story, it was not so much based on interactions of the characters but thoughts of what could have been said, what was and was not done, therefore I did not really feel totally invested in the characters in the story but in their circumstances and how that played out in their town, Beartown and how it related to ice hockey. That being said, there were some characters I really enjoyed- they were deep, committed, passionate- Peter, his wife, Kira, his daughter Maya and her best friend as well as Benjie, his mom, Ramona, Ahmed. I tried to like the coach of the boys but he was a tough character especially when compared to the older coach, Soon, who was such an upstanding human being. Backman's portrayal of Benjie and his fierce personality and struggle with being a hockey player and gay broke my heart. On the other hand, Ahmed, was always bullied, was "of color" in a white town, his mother a worker at the rink- but when the time came- he stepped up and revealed the truth even at great cost to himself. A tough read and the bullying aspect was so ingrained in Beartown it was hard to take over and over again from my reader point of view.

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Exit Pursued By A Bear by E. K. Johnston

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Narrated flawlessly by Jeorjiana Marie, Hermione is a senior cheerleader squad captain, has a best friend and boyfriend and is attending her last cheerleading camp. What she looks forward to becomes mute when she is drugged and raped. With a strong cast of cheerleaders, parents, police officer, and therapist the reader will be right by Hermione's side as she tries to recover without losing it and live in the NOW that has changed her forever. I liked her sassiness, cockiness and down to earth teenage snarkiness. She was believable, likable and I rooted for her recovery and sense of self. Highly recommended.

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The Way I Used To Be by Amber Smith

The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This story about rape and its effects on a freshman in high school was a sucker punch readers will not be able to escape. Rebekkah Ross's narration of this audiobook was compelling; the voices Ross used for Eden, her friends and family were so good I did not want to stop listening! Eden is young for her age and nerdy. One night she is savagely raped by her brother's best friend, Kevin Armstrong, whom Eden idolized. As the reader follows Eden through high school, we see her terror (Kevin threatened to kill her id she told anyone & he said no one would believe her), self loathing, and descent into a life of self harm (she sleeps around, is rude and mean to her friends, she turns on her brother and parents, drinking and drugs). It was so distressing to see this young girl who was full of life and hope become angry, isolated, and desperate (Eden keeps pushing down the incident). I rooted for her to trust someone with the truth and for her rapist to burn in hell. Amber Smith gives the horrifying statistics about rape in her Author Notes- rape doesn't just destroy the victim and so many times it goes unreported, why is this? This story does a stellar job of getting into a victim's head and heart. Every school should have this book in their library and all teens MUST read this raw and compelling book!

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All the Rage by Courtney Summers

All the Rage by Courtney Summers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

All the Rage by Courtney Summers
Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press and St. Martin's Griffin for the ARC, All the Rage by Courtney Summers. Wow, what a gripping read! Students will be mesmerized by the self-loathing Romy endures as she navigates losing her friends and gains the anger, ire, and hostility of many around her when she accuses the sheriff’s son of rape and is not believed. Romy is a victim and this book is explosive as it ignores her truth and instead believes those with power , like the police, and student athletes. What will happen to Romy as the abuse and tensions grow? A must read for teens and adults as rape, sexuality, identity, and failure are scathingly explored.


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You Against Me by Jenny Downham

You Against Me by Jenny Downham
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved Jenny Downham's Before I Die and this book was just wrenching as it explored Mikey's reaction to his sister's assault; his downward spiral of lies and his families' dysfunction. As Mikey plots with his friend, Jacko to revenge his sister's honor; he crashes a party being given at the suspect's house fully expecting to get information on how he can make Tom Parker suffer the way his sister Karyn is; she won't leave their house, talk to her friends, or go to school. Instead he meets Tom's sister, Ellie and he begins to meet up with her (to find out information about Tom)and finds he wants to be with her and Ellie wants to know more about this mysterious guy. I really enjoyed getting to know Mikey and Ellie. Mikey doesn't have an easy life, but he is a charmer, girls love him and he desperately loves his mum (who drinks too much) and his sisters. Jacko, his friend is weird but you have to love him because he is a true friend who would do anything to help Mikey. Ellie was a timid girl, almost a nerd; very knowledgable and wants to help her brother, Tom. But she is conflicted throughout by what she saw, what she said she saw; and how to make things right. There is tremendous growth in Mikey and Ellie throughout the story and they were slow to "get together" but there were signs and I liked both of their reactions; they were honest with each other; didn't play mind games and were sure about how they felt but very hesitant about where to go with their feelings. As the story develops, you know as some point Ellie has to find out who Mikey is...hence You Against Me...but Jenny Downham builds a very believable story about drinking, sexual assault and family. This is my favorite part of the book- when Jacko confronts Mikey about Ellie: "When I first saw Ellie, I knew it was her- she was my fantasy. I didn't want it to be true, but every time I met her it was obvious, and the funny thing was that she was better than the fantasy, like I got more stuff than I'd imagined." p. 337

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