A review by el_stevie
Starers by Nathan Robinson

2.0

I enjoyed the idea behind the book, especially the end-of-the-world type scenario but there was one particular feature which really jarred with me and that was the sexualisation of a 12-year-old girl. I work in a secondary school and anyone caught as she was at 12 would not just have had a letter or call from the headmaster. It would be child protection at the very least, family backgrounds examined etc - much of this to ensure grooming is not a part of that child's life. Early evidence of this is always acted upon in schools and this has really affected my view of the story, as did the attempted rape of Lucy by the mysterious 'He' of the story. To me, Lucy was still too much of a child to be suffering all this and I found that difficult. Without this aspect, I would have rated the story higher.