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A review by bookishlychar
The Wolves Are Waiting by Natasha Friend
5.0
The Wolves are Waiting is a powerful book looking at sexual assault and rape culture. It is not only about this, but it is about consent, misogyny and toxic masculinity. This book had me sucked in from the beginning, and pulled at my heart strings. I felt for all the people in this story.
This book had so many good discussion about sexual assault and the impact it can have on an entire community. It also talked about supporting someone who has been sexually assaulted and seeking justice. There was a great discussion on the fact that it is NEVER a persons fault for being sexually assaulted. It tackles the myths of "she drank to much" or "she dressed like she wanted it" head on and challenges, even well meaning men in the story, that it is not an appropriate narrative. Aside from the sexual assault storyline, there is also a discussion of friendships and the importance of friendship.
This book is written in multiple POVs, and that sometimes can take away from the story, but in this case it was so well done. Natasha Friend has a knack for knowing who's POV will most enhance the story at a particular time. This brough the book together in a way that made it cohesive and well written.
I found reading Cam narrative was hard. She wanted to be a friend to Nora so badly, and wanted justice for her friend, but struggled to do that in the time frame that Nora wanted. I understand why she did the things she did, especially her being a young person herself. She was looking for justice. Some of the justice she sought though, was pushing Nora to fast into talking about what happened. I think Cam and Adam came from a place of love and support, but the book did a good job of showing how it hurt Nora to force her to process the assault faster than she was ready to.
This book was chilling and challenging. Natasha Friend did an excellent job exploring the issue of rape and sexual assault. This would be and excellent book to be read by high school students to learn about some of the aftermath of sexual assault.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.
This book had so many good discussion about sexual assault and the impact it can have on an entire community. It also talked about supporting someone who has been sexually assaulted and seeking justice. There was a great discussion on the fact that it is NEVER a persons fault for being sexually assaulted. It tackles the myths of "she drank to much" or "she dressed like she wanted it" head on and challenges, even well meaning men in the story, that it is not an appropriate narrative. Aside from the sexual assault storyline, there is also a discussion of friendships and the importance of friendship.
This book is written in multiple POVs, and that sometimes can take away from the story, but in this case it was so well done. Natasha Friend has a knack for knowing who's POV will most enhance the story at a particular time. This brough the book together in a way that made it cohesive and well written.
I found reading Cam narrative was hard. She wanted to be a friend to Nora so badly, and wanted justice for her friend, but struggled to do that in the time frame that Nora wanted. I understand why she did the things she did, especially her being a young person herself. She was looking for justice. Some of the justice she sought though, was pushing Nora to fast into talking about what happened. I think Cam and Adam came from a place of love and support, but the book did a good job of showing how it hurt Nora to force her to process the assault faster than she was ready to.
This book was chilling and challenging. Natasha Friend did an excellent job exploring the issue of rape and sexual assault. This would be and excellent book to be read by high school students to learn about some of the aftermath of sexual assault.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book in exchange for an open and honest review. All opinions are 100% mine.