By: C. Desir
Published by: Simon & Schuster
Released on: October 15th, 2013
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Ben could date anyone he wants, but he only has eyes for the new girl — sarcastic free-spirit, Ani. Luckily for Ben, Ani wants him too. She’s everything Ben could ever imagine. Everything he could ever want. But that all changes after the party. The one Ben misses. The one Ani goes to alone.
Now Ani isn’t the girl she used to be, and Ben can’t sort out the truth from the lies. What really happened, and who is to blame? Ben wants to help her, but she refuses to be helped. The more she pushes Ben away, the more he wonders if there’s anything he can do to save the girl he loves.
I put this book down quite a few times. I had a hard time reading it. Not only is this out of my comfort level, and what I enjoy reading, this book felt real to me. I felt like I was reading a page out of this character's life. Not only did my heart break for her, but it was so sad and painful to watch how Ani's rape effected her so much, it completely changed her. I would except it too. That's not something that should be taken lightly, nor was in this book. The interesting thing about this book though, is that it's not written from the victims or the attackers point of view, but the boyfriend of the victim.
All too often I feel when rape is discussed no one ever talks about the victim's boyfriends or husbands. In this case Ben, the boyfriend is the one telling the story of how he not only wasn't there when the attack occurred, but he had to watch his girlfriend's life spiral out of control as she dwelt with her rape. It would have been great if Ben had some sort of super power that could have fixed his girlfriend and made her back to how she used to, but Ben is just Ben. He's your average teen guy, who does what he can to help fix his girlfriend. I can't fault him for taking on the world himself to try and help her. His anger to those who attacked her, and what is happening, and his sense of helplessness as he watches the changes and the choices she makes is downright heartbreaking. What's worse is his sense of not being able to do a thing, as the changes effect him and their relationship as well. No matter what Ben did or didn't do, nothing helped, and in the end it results into a heartbreaking decision. That decision is one I understood. I'd be a liar if I said it wasn't an emotional one, because it was.
As I said before, this is not a book I'd recommend to everyone. It's not light and fluffy. It's gritty, dark and realistic. I admire the author for writing this, because there are readers who are going to relate to this book, which is horrifying to think about. No one should ever have to deal with rape. Ever. It's one of those things that shouldn't ever happen or exist, but it does have. Having a book like this might help someone who feels alone in their struggles to move on. I admire the author for not being afraid to talk about rape as being rape. Regardless of what someone wears, what others may have heard they do or don't do, rape is rape, and Fault Line is direct about that. I know how hard it was for me to read this book, and I can only image how hard it must have been for the author to write it. More importantly, I can not imagine what victims go through. The courage it takes to fight back, to try to pick up the pieces and move on with your life and go on. I feel like the after math of what happens doesn't get talked about much, and this book addresses it, and it does in this book.
A warning to readers, this book has a lot of sexual context, a rape, and language. This is a book who's subject matter is best suited for mature readers.
Now, the things I didn't like. I had a huge issue with, and was was extremely disturbed at the student/teacher relations that took place in this book. This book could have gotten it's point across and been completely fine without those sexually relationships in this book. That's not something I can even over look and not mention. The other thing I have to say, is while my heart broke for Ani, I also had a hard time with her continued streak of doing things to self destructive. I'm not saying I blame her for that, but she needed help, and I wish she had gotten that help during this book. Like real help. Same with Ben. Ben put everything on hold for her, which wasn't helping nor was it healthy for either of them. I'm just going to say this.... the ending of this book is horrible. That was not an ending. There was no closure. The book should have ended long before that scene. I know it shouldn't, but that bugs me the most with the book. Like really bugs me. I don't know, maybe there's a different ending in the published book compared to the arc I read, but since I read the arc for review purposes, that's the end ending I have to go off of. Aside from the subject matter, there were a few minor things within the story and it's development that needed to be a bit stronger for me.
I'm a YA author who loves dark contemporary books. My debut novel FAULT LINE comes out from SimonPulse October 1, 2013. My second novel BLEED LIKE ME will be released from SimonPulse in Fall 2014. I am also a feminist, rape victim activist, and romance novel editor. I live outside of Chicago with my awesome husband and our three small children.
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I totally agree that this book was a tough and not for everyone. The ending wasn't an ending , so I didn't really see any growth :(
ReplyDeleteThe subject matter was hard to read. I wish rape wasn't something that even existed, but it does, and it's books like this that will help out someone who feels alone. Writing wise, that ending was not an ending. I'm not sure if there was more of an ending with the published copy or not. I hope there was.
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