When your friend accuses your twin brother of rape where do you turn? Your friend wouldn’t lie, but could the brother you love do this? Add in the complication of an ex-girlfriend and it’s enough to tear anyone apart. This is Mara’s reality.

This novel will break your heart, I need to warn you going into this. I read this while stuck in the hospital and I truly escaped into the novel and felt my heart break but was also blown away. This has so many levels, Mara’s relationship with her brother, with her parents and with her friends.

Ashley Herring Blake really captures the grey area of consent. In many cases of sexual assault, particularly when the accused and accuser know each other things get muddy. That said she has perfectly captured the complexity of the situation and at no point blames the victim.

In the era of #MeToo more stories like this are being heard and even though this novel is fictional it reinforces the message: you deserve to be heard. While this is from Mara’s perspective, this does not take away from the emotions of someone to have gone through such an event. It is superbly written

On another note, I love, love, love that there was a bisexual main character. There are very few I’ve seen that show interest in both sexes within the novel, that was a huge thing for me. This isn’t a huge plot point or a twist it just is what it is and I applaud that.

If you haven’t guessed already, I gave this novel 5 stars. It really is a brilliantly written novel which has heart as well as complexity. This is the kind of novel that should be taught in school, that will give young people something to relate to.

I’d love to hear your thoughts you’ve read this novel. Let me know in the comments below!