Trigger warnings: rape, sexual assault, gaslighting, misogyny, sexual harassment, bullying, ableism, panic attacks, vomit

Oh, my heart. I was a little hesitant to listen to this on audiobook but I'm really glad I did. It really brought Ariana's story to life, from her fear to her anger. The friendships that develop in the course of the story are truly wonderful, as is the found family dynamic.

Reyes handles the difficult subject matter with nuance, both in regards to Ariana's selective mutism and Luis' crimes. It's a hard hitting book, but the revenge aspect of the story was well done and I am so glad I picked this up despite my own hesitations because it was brilliant.

astarlia's review against another edition

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3.75

Great premise, love the friendships. Good situational mutism rep

bookishlymichelle's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

idkemmaaa's review against another edition

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4.0

Let me start by saying this is such an important book that I think teenagers everywhere should read. I loved everything about this book. Our main character has autism and selective mutism and the representation was done wonderfully, which I really appreciated. Be aware that the main focus of this book is definitely very heavy, but the author approached the subject with so much care and wrote it in such a powerful way, which I think will have a great impact on lots of people. Even the more light hearted side of this book was amazing, for example, the friendships. The friend group in this book made me so extremely happy and smiling from ear to ear. I finished this about a day and just absolutely flew through. This book is definitely one to look out for as well as the author. I see this keeping a lasting impression on me and I strongly recommend it to EVERYONE!!

Thank you Netgalley and Harper Collins Children’s Books for this ARC copy!

motz_stick's review against another edition

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challenging informative tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Disappointed

I picked this book up after seeing Reyes’ name attached because I had a great time reading Lesbiana’s Guide to Catholic School. I knew this book would be fast paced considering my previous knowledge of their work, but this was too fast even for me. I absolutely loved the empowering plot and the way the characters developed overtime, but there was so much going on it became hard to keep track. I wish this book would’ve been a series that covers Ari’s family issues, exposing of Lewis, and blooming relationship in 3 different books. This would’ve allowed for so much more development in a more reasonable amount of time. The only other complaint I have is that the first half of the book feels forced. Labels are added in so frequently it begins to just feel like buzzwords.

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