Tag Archives: PTSD

Review: Tonight We Rule the World by Zack Smedley

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,
Tonight We Rule the World by Zack Smedley

Tonight We Rule the World
Zack Smedley
Page Street Kids
Published October 12, 2021

Amazon | Bookshop | Goodreads

About Tonight We Rule the World

In the beginning, Owen’s story was blank . . . then he was befriended by Lily, the aspiring author who helped him find his voice. Together, the two have spent years navigating first love and amassing an inseparable friend group. But all of it is upended one day when his school’s administration learns Owen’s secret: that he was sexually assaulted by a classmate.

In the ensuing investigation, everyone scrambles to hold their worlds together.

Owen, still wrestling with his self-destructive thoughts and choices.

His father, a mission-driven military vet ready to start a war to find his son’s attacker.

The school bureaucrats, who seem most concerned with kowtowing to the local media attention.

And Lily, who can’t learn that Owen is the mystery victim everyone is talking about . . . because once she does, it will set off a chain of events that will change their lives forever.

Heartbreaking and hopeful, this is a coming-of-age story that explores how we rebuild after the world comes crumbling down.

My Review

First, there are a lot of things about this book that I really liked. I felt like Owen’s character was really real and gripping. I loved the way the friendships with his group developed and especially the scene on the beach with them. So many of those moments felt exactly the way I remember my high school friendships feeling, so reading them was super nostalgic for me.

I also thought it was interesting that on one side, Owen had his dad and his family’s struggles with his dad’s PTSD and how to respond to it. Then on the other side, there’s Owen with a relationship that spirals into abuse. It highlighted how complex relationships can be– how there can be good elements tangled in with toxic or abusive ones and how difficult that can be to sort out.

It was also really weird for me as a reader because as I read some of the conversations between Owen and his abuser and Owen’s thoughts as he scrambled to stay ahead of the gaslighting and manipulation, I realized I’d been in those same conversations before, in Owen’s shoes. So that was both validating but also kind of ripping open a past wound I wasn’t prepared for? I think it was good, but I just didn’t expect to experience that.

I guess all of that together makes this book one of those to approach with attention to triggers. The story raised some really good points about toxic and abusive relationships and consent. It also explores some gender stereotypes in a way that may expose some prejudices or expectations we may not realize we have. I know it did that for me.

I think readers who like dark, issue-driven stories with memorable characters will want to check out TONIGHT WE RULE THE WORLD. I’d recommend it to fans of Courtney Summers or Lauren Oliver.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Owen is diagnosed with ASD and is bisexual. His dad is a Marines veteran with PTSD.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used somewhat frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content – Trigger warning for rape.
Several references to masturbation. Kissing between boy and girl, making out. One scene showing rape.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
One scene showing rape. Several scenes show some gaslighting and manipulation. This escalates to physical violence on multiple occasions. Owen recalls a memory in which he woke his dad up in the middle of the night and his dad hit him due to his PTSD.

Drug Content
Some references to teens smoking pot and drinking alcohol.

Note: This post contains affiliate links, which do not cost you anything to use, but which help support this blog. I received a free copy of TONIGHT WE RULE THE WORLD in exchange for my honest review.

Review: Vanishing Girls by Lauren Oliver

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Mystery/Suspense/Thriller, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Vanishing Girls
Lauren Oliver
HarperCollins
March 10, 2015

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads | Book Depository

About VANISHING GIRLS

Dara and Nick used to be inseparable, but that was before the accident that left Dara’s beautiful face scarred and the two sisters totally estranged.

When Dara vanishes on her birthday, Nick thinks Dara is just playing around. But another girl, nine-year-old Madeline Snow, has vanished, too, and Nick becomes increasingly convinced that the two disappearances are linked. Now Nick has to find her sister, before it’s too late.

My Review

I read VANISHING GIRLS in the middle of a suspense binge. I like that it blended suspense elements with psychological elements. Nick is a complex character. She wants to be close to her sister, but has a lot of feelings of guilt and resentment toward her.

Weirdly, VANISHING GIRLS is the second suspense book I read this summer where the main character works at a theme park. (The other is TWO CAN KEEP A SECRET in which Ellery works at a horror-themed park.) I had some parts of the plot related to the theme park figured out pretty quickly. Other things took me completely by surprise.

One big twist didn’t make sense to me. It’s one of those moments that turns your whole perception of the story on its head. I love those kinds of moments. I love looking back through the big moments earlier in the book to see how the new information changes what was really happening there. But one moment didn’t seem to fit with the new reality. So I got kind of caught up on that.

On the whole, I think VANISHING GIRLS is an interesting book, and some of the issues it deals with are big issues. I definitely appreciate that and think it’s awesome that this novel addresses an issue that most people don’t want to talk about. I think I like PANIC by Lauren Oliver better, but it ‘s a different kind of story– more community-oriented whereas so much of VANISHING GIRLS is about what’s happening in Nick’s head.

Content Notes

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Representation
Characters are white and straight.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used pretty frequently.

Romance/Sexual Content
A girl and boy kiss. References to sex. A girl and her boyfriend kiss while both are topless. He asks her to have sex with him, but she refuses.

References to child pornography. Someone finds an image of a teenage girl posing topless.

Spiritual Content
Dara and Nick’s aunt believes in energy and crystals and seances. The girls don’t buy into her beliefs.

Violent Content
Some brief descriptions of a violent car accident. A man threatens a teenage girl.

Drug Content 
Several scenes show teens drinking. Dara has a history of smoking pot and experimenting with other drugs like mushrooms and cocaine.

Note: This post contains affiliate links which cost you nothing but which help support this blog.

Review: The Lovely Reckless by Kami Garcia

Book Review and Content, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , , , , ,

The Lovely Reckless
Kami Garcia
MacMillan / Imprint
Published October 4, 2016

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

After her boyfriend’s death, Frankie Devereaux spirals. A drunk-driving conviction lands her at her dad’s house, responsible for community service and public school for the first time. As she fights vicious flashbacks to Noah’s death, Frankie desperately tries to remember the face of the man who killed him. The last thing Frankie needs is Marco Leone, a dangerous racer with a larger-than-life reputation. Frankie resists the pull she feels, but when she learns who Marco truly is, she knows she can’t simply walk away from him. She’s left with a terrible choice which could destroy them both—or save them.

The rich-girl-meets-bad-boy story has been told again and again, but never has it featured a heroine as complex as Frankie. Her PTSD drives Frankie deeper into anger, depression, and risk-taking behaviors, but her new situation at school teaches her about friendship, trust, and forgiveness. Though ultimately, this is a love story about a girl recovering from trauma and a boy from the wrong side of the tracks, it’s also about finding courage to face fear, to stand up for others, and to believe in the value of life and love.

The title comes from a song written by Frankie’s best friend’s dad, a rock star whose life ended in a tragic drug overdose. I liked the way it pulled together Frankie and Marco’s story but also the things her best friend Abel was experiencing in the wake of his father’s unexpected death.

The Lovely Reckless deals with a lot of heavy things. Sometimes Frankie seems really negative, but considering all she’d been through, I felt like this fit her character. It also showed the transformation she began to experience as she got to know Marco and Cruz, another driver at school, and had to decide whether to open herself up to them. Side note: Cruz might have been my favorite character. I loved her frankness and loyalty. Everyone needs a best friend like Cruz!

In some ways, I feel like this book is perfect for fans of The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton. It has that same sort of us versus them setting in the way Garcia describes the Heights and the Downs. It has some of the same sense of romance and desperation. So I guess it’d be more like if The Outsiders was told from the point-of-view of Cherry Valance. Okay, probably not many people will follow me there. That’s okay. Cherry was the up-town girl the boys talked with who seemed pretty all right.

Recommended for Ages 16 up.

Cultural Elements
Frankie, Lex, and Abel are Caucasian. Frankie falls for Marco, a Latino street racer, and befriends Cruz, a Latina racer.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme profanity used with moderate frequency.

Romance/Sexual Content
Frankie has some brief memories of her relationship with her former boyfriend—kissing him and how he never pressured her for more than she was comfortable with.

She shares some passionate kisses with a boy. In one scene, she removes her top. In another, it seems like they might have sex, but she asks him to stop.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violent Content
Frankie suffers flashbacks to the night she saw her boyfriend beaten to death. The descriptions are pretty short, but graphic.

She witnesses two boys fighting at school.

Drug Content
Frankie gets pulled over for drunk driving. She ends up with community service and a suspended license. Later, she goes to a party and gets very drunk before wandering into the street in a dangerous part of town. Marco comes to school drunk and ready to pick a fight. Frankie’s best friend Abel’s dad died of a drug overdose and his mom is addicted to prescription drugs.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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