Tag: Sexual Assault

Consent Laid Bare – Chanel Contos

We sat through a single, excruciating sex ed lesson in high school. An embarrassed teacher bumbled their way through a bunch of slides on a projector. The boys were all bravado, laughing and making out that they knew everything there was to know already. The girls either laughed along with the boys or shrank in their seats.

I waited all lesson for the teacher to talk about what to do if someone does something you don’t want to. It was never mentioned. I wonder how many lives would look different today if it had been.

From the Teach Us Consent website:

In February 2021, Chanel Contos posted an Instagram story asking followers if they or someone close to them had been sexually assaulted by someone when they were at school. Within 24 hours, over 200 people replied ‘yes’.

Overwhelmed, but unsurprised by the response, Chanel launched a petition calling for more holistic and earlier consent education in Australia, as well as teachusconsent.com, a platform where people could share anonymous testimonies of sexual assault.

The petition, which gathered over 44,000 signatures, and a further 6,600 personal stories of sexual assault were presented to MPs around the country to advocate for this critical education to be included in the national curriculum.

In February 2022, we did it. Ministers of Education from around Australia unanimously committed to mandating holistic and age appropriate consent education in every school, every year, from foundation until Year 10, beginning in 2023.

In this book, you’ll learn about this. You’ll learn about sexual violence, the patriarchy and the ways that the internet has been instrumental (not in a good way) in changing expectations around sexual activity.

From Chanel’s initial Instagram post to comments made in this book, it’s clear the world she grew up in was one of privilege. She mentions in the book that most women over 40 where she grew up had had some sort of cosmetic procedure. On Instagram, she specifically asked about experiences of sexual assault perpetrated by “someone who went to an all boys school”.

This initially made it difficult to feel like this book would be relatable for someone who attended public school. There were some moments where I definitely felt like this wasn’t my world she was talking about but the concepts themselves rang true.

There wasn’t a lot of information that was new to me but if I’d read this book as a teenager it would have been an eye opener.

There’s one particular quote that’s sticking with me, mostly because of how depressing it is.

Only 1.7 per cent of cases in Australia result in a conviction, and it is estimated that only 5 per cent of people report their rape to the police. Not all cases make it to court. On top of this, it is impossible to know the exact number of people who have been subjected to sexual violence, especially when so many are not equipped with the language to be able to identify what happened to them, and when these acts have been normalised and being subjected to them is too often understood as an unavoidable part of womanhood. All of this together means that we have essentially decriminalised rape in Australia. This is rape culture.

I was an avid reader growing up and had a pretty decent vocabulary as a result. I knew the word ‘consent’. I never heard it used in the context of sexual activity, though, until I’d been an adult as long as I’d been a child. Sure, I knew about sexual assault but, let me tell you, that Tea and Consent video was an eye opener.

It’s only really been in the last couple of years, when I’ve learned more about consent, that I feel I’ve finally got more of a hold on what it is, and what it isn’t.

While there is a lot of good information in this book, there wasn’t a handy one or two page summary of what consent is and isn’t. In case I’m not the only one who would have found that useful, here’s an excerpt from 1800RESPECT’s website about consent.

What does it mean to consent?

If you consent to sex it means you want to have sex at that time with that person.

If you do not give your consent to have sex with that person at that time, but sex or sexual things happen, it is sexual violence.

If you are forced to have sex, you have not given your consent.

Consent means more than just saying yes or not being forced. Consent must be informed.

‘Informed consent’ means there is nothing stopping you from giving consent or understanding what you are consenting to.

Informed consent cannot be given if:

  • you are passed out or unconscious due to drugs, alcohol or a violent assault
  • you are asleep
  • you are conscious, but the effects of alcohol or drugs mean you are unable to say what you do or don’t want
  • the other person tricks you into thinking they are someone else
  • the other person makes you feel too scared to say no. This might be due to a fear that they will:
    • hurt or kill you
    • hurt, kill or take away your children or pets
    • tell other people private or damaging things about you
    • share private or damaging information, photos or videos of you on the internet
    • take away
      • your money
      • access to medical treatment
      • care or other crucial support
  • the number of people wanting you to have sex or do sexual things makes you too scared to refuse or resist, or make it impossible for you to do so.

Time will tell how effective the introduction of consent education in schools has been. I’m cautiously optimistic, though.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

The game-changing book about sex and consent that every woman – and man – should read

In 2021, Chanel Contos posted on Instagram asking people to share their stories of sexual assault during their schooling years. This post unexpectedly went viral and almost 7000 people sent in testimonies describing behaviour that constitutes rape. Virtually none of these instances were reported, and almost all of them were by people they knew. 

How and why is this happening in an era of growing equality? Chanel Contos argues that when it comes to sex, we are still working with an outdated social contract that privileges men’s pleasure at the expense of women’s humanity. 

Consent Laid Bare challenges the lingering inequality that reinforces this behaviour. It asks if consent is possible in a world where female sexuality has been hijacked by forces such as porn, patriarchy and male entitlement. It gives girls and women the encouragement to seek sex that is truly enjoyable and equips them with the information they need to properly consent. It asks boys and men to become advocates for sex centered around intimacy rather than fuelled by aggression.

It is a battle cry from a generation no longer prepared to stay silent.

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The Butcher of the Forest – Premee Mohamed

Veris is wearing her pyjamas when she’s given a quest by the conqueror of her land. She needs to find his children. Or else.

“If you do not recover my children your village will be razed to the ground and burnt, and we will roast your people alive upon it and eat them.”

So, no pressure. I suppose they don’t call him the Tyrant for nothing.

It’s not like the north woods are dangerous or anything…

“They told us no one ever gets out.”

I appreciated that Veris isn’t a spring chicken when we meet her, not that pushing 40 is old by any stretch of the imagination. She’s already done the impossible so she’s bringing knowledge hard won by experience. She’s also bringing traumatic memories she didn’t have the last time she stepped into the woods.

I’m a huge fan of body horror so that sat well with me. I encountered a number of oddities in the north woods, my favourite of which were the guardians.

I enjoyed this read but I’m left wanting more. Details about Elmever: its history, its inhabitants, why it is the way it is. The full story of Veris’ first time there. The backstory of the Tyrant, because you know he has to have a backstory to become … that. I also wanted to get to know Eleonor and Aram better.

I’m sure I’ll get some of this in the sequel. There’s absolutely going to be a sequel. It’s been set up so there’s really no other option.

I’m keen to read it but part of me is frustrated too. I wish this had been a novel instead, one that fleshed this story out some more and provided a conclusion. My need to know is trumping my frustration, though, so I’ll definitely be there for the sequel.

“I’m ready to go back to … to the woods.”

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this novella.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

At the northern edge of a valley ruled by a ruthless foreign tyrant lies a wild forest, home to otherworldly creatures and dangerous magic. The local people know never to enter — for no one who strays into the north woods is ever seen again. No one, that is, except Veris Thorn.

When the children of the Tyrant vanish into the wood, Veris is summoned to rescue them. She has only one day before the creatures of the forest claim the children for their own. If she fails, her punishment will be swift and merciless.

To stand a chance of surviving the wood, Veris must evade traps and trickery, ancient monsters and false friends, and the haunting memory of her last journey into the forest. 

Time is running short. One misstep will cost everything.

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Finding the Light – Marian Henley

This was always going to be a difficult read. Marian’s story is both shockingly common and unusual. Marian has survived two rapes, both perpetrated by strangers.

Statistically, one out of every six American women have experienced rape or attempted rape in their lifetime, although I’d wager the number is significantly higher. Eight out of ten rapes are committed by someone known to the victim. Source: RAINN.

Marian’s story is heart-wrenching. Be aware that this graphic novel includes some details of the rapes Marian experienced, along with other violence. There’s victim blaming and injustice. There’s also a significant amount of swearing.

Anyone who has experienced dissociation will identify it the first time it’s pictured, well before it is named. The impacts of sexualised violence are explored, as is the courage and resilience of survivors.

I absolutely loved the panels depicting Marian’s relationship with her son, especially as we watch him grow up.

Marian with her son

Marian captures his innocence, as well as the relationship we have with the animals that adopt us, with such purity and heart.

Much like the yin-yang symbol Marian uses to illustrate the revelation she has about being a mother to a boy, the devastation in this graphic memoir sits alongside hope.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Andrews McMeel Publishing for the opportunity to read this graphic novel.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Marian Henley’s beautifully illustrated memoir tells an emotionally resonant story about the wonder and redemption of raising a son after surviving extreme male violence.  

This poignant graphic memoir describes the most difficult conversation between a mother and her son — the one about the two rapes she experienced as a young woman. It’s something she always knew she would share with her son, but the process of doing so is harder — and more freeing — than she could have imagined. This difficult but beautiful story chronicles how she overcame trauma and violence to find love and healing as a mother. Drawing on her decades as a professional cartoonist, Henley’s elegant black ink illustrations, trademark humour, and witty writing style shine through even in the darkest moments and tell a story of survivorship, parenting, and hope.

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The Reformatory – Tananarive Due

“Everything seems fine until it ain’t. And then we come to see it wasn’t never ‘fine’.”

This is one of the most harrowing books I’ve ever read. One of the best, without a doubt, but also one of the most heartbreaking.

Before I even made it to the first chapter I knew this was going to be a confronting read. Robert Stephens, a relative of the author, died in the 1930’s at the Dozier School for Boys in Marianna, Florida.

Robert Stephens, the book’s main character, is sent to The Gracetown School for Boys. He’s only twelve years old when he’s sentenced to six months at the Reformatory for kicking a white boy.

This is Jim Crow Florida in the 1950’s and it’s just as brutal as I feared it would be.

“Nobody stays nice”

But despite everything its characters endure, their courage, strength and resilience shine brighter than I’d dared to hope.

“This isn’t everything. There’s more than this.”

I expected this to be Robert’s story. I wasn’t anticipating the chapters voiced by Gloria, Robbie’s sister. Getting to know Gloria was a double edged sword for me. I grew to love her but that came with its own fears.

It was painful enough witnessing what Robert and the other boys at the Reformatory were subjected to. Worrying about Gloria as well, almost certain that the only ways her story could end were with the loss of her brother or her sacrifice to save him, made this book even more stressful.

“I may not be brave most times, but I can be brave for Robbie.”

The brutality of the physical and emotional abuse the children in the Reformatory experienced was bad enough. That a town full of adults who could and should have protected them but didn’t, that’s a whole other level of injustice.

Books like this are so hard to read. If they’re not, something is very wrong. Books like this are necessary, though. I loved this book. I hated this book. You need to read this book. Just make sure you have tissues in arm’s reach while you’re reading it.

“Go on,” Blue said, voice husky. “Ask me what I know about this place. Ask me.”

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Jim Crow Florida, 1950. 

Twelve-year-old Robert Stephens Jr., who for a trivial scuffle with a white boy is sent to The Gracetown School for Boys. But the segregated reformatory is a chamber of horrors, haunted by the boys that have died there.

In order to survive the school governor and his Funhouse, Robert must enlist the help of the school’s ghosts – only they have their own motivations…

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Friday the 13th #2: Hell Lake – Paul A. Woods

It’s Friday the 13th and you know what that means! It’s time to visit Camp Crystal Lake! But first we need to escape from hell.

Welcome to Friday the 13th: January 2006 edition, the book where if there’s a slur you really, really don’t want to read, you’re almost destined to find it. Probably more than once.

When Wayne Sanchez, the Daytona Beach Devil Boy, is executed, he anticipates fanboying over Satan. Instead, the rapist and murderer finds himself in the thirteenth circle of hell with none other than the legendary Jason Voorhees, his other hero. The hell experience isn’t quite as advertised, though, so Devil Boy starts looking for a ticket out of hell. He thinks he’s found one because if anyone’s going to be able to find their way topside again, it’s gonna be Jason.

Wayne riles up some of the locals and pretty soon they’re out of there like bats out of hell. Or a bunch of serial killers and rapists.

Destiny had led Wayne Sanchez to Jason Voorhees, even if that destiny had meant the extinction of his earthly life.

So, this is really bad news for the hundreds of drunk and stoned party goers who conveniently ignored every single Friday the 13th slaughter up until now. Unfortunately for them but fortunately for those of us reading about them, the University of Forest Green sophomores aren’t as invincible as they’d like to think they are.

Here you’ll meet such party goers as Josh Logan, Trey Leblanc, James Fitzgerald, Lisa Applebaum, Shawna Black and Gretchen Andrews but don’t bother trying to remember their names because most of them will be casualties of the “Friday the 13th crime-wave”.

Then the first scream filled the air.

This Friday’s victims are lining up to be decapitated, garrotted, strangled and impaled.

I’d been anticipating this read since the last Friday the 13th but I didn’t enjoy it as much as the first book in the series. There wasn’t as much Jason as I’d hope there would be and I absolutely hated all of the slurs, so much so that I started skimming the book instead of looking forward to the carnage.

Next Friday the 13th read: Hate-Kill-Repeat, in which Jason meets a cultish serial killer couple.

Rating: 3 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Jason Voorhees. Unstoppable. Camp Crystal Lake’s most infamous son is back, and he’s doing what he does best!

When serial killer Wayne Sanchez was executed, he was looking forward to meeting his hero, Jason, in Hell. When they discover there is a way back up into the real world, Sanchez persuades Jason to go back with him, assembling an army of Hell’s worst inhabitants along the way. The world will soon be at the mercy of an army of the most terrifying and infamous killers in history brought back from the dead, with Jason at their head!

Full of thrills, spills and good old-fashioned slasher mayhem, Hell Lake proves that death is not the end … of fear.

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The Sisters Grimm #3: Child of Earth and Sky – Menna van Praag

It’s never too late to live a new life.

We last caught up with the Sisters Grimm when they were 21. While the first two books in the trilogy were everyone’s story, this one was mostly Goldie’s. And Luna’s. Goldie has an almost ten year old daughter now and she’s more powerful than any other sister.

I realise now that I’m not just a Grimm; not just a sister but a soldier too.

Goldie runs a women’s shelter with Teddy, her brother. I was surprised that Teddy worked there and was involved in the intake process. I also wasn’t always the hugest fan of the way the women at the shelter were spoken of.

Still, she can’t help but think of the women at the shelter and how much better their lives would’ve been if only they’d been taught to stand up for themselves earlier.

This reads to me like we’re blaming the victim and making them responsible for the behaviour of the perpetrator, and ignoring the ways they have resisted the violence perpetrated against them.

I’m realising more and more that while I’m all for justice and fairness, I’m not into vengeance so one element of the story didn’t sit well with me.

It is a story of love and loss and something strange and terrible to come – but exactly what isn’t clear.

This series is about sisterhood. It’s taking back your power, elemental magic and there’s an underground library! Why have I not known there’s a place where 900 years of magical literature live before now? I need to spend the next year or decade exploring it.

Alastair Meikle has illustrated the entire series and I always look forward to choosing a favourite. In this book it was the one that accompanies Luna’s story, The Good Girl.

In a pinch, you could read this book as a standalone. To get the most out of it, though, and to understand the characters’ individual backgrounds and their shared bond, I’d recommend reading them in order.

‘Soon you’ll be braver and stronger than you’ve ever believed possible.’

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Bantam Press, an imprint of Transworld Publishers, Penguin Random House UK, for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Born of bright-white wishing and black-edged desire, the Grimm girls each command a single element and wield it with great power. But a child born of a Grimm and a fallen star will have command over every element … and wield infinite power.

At twenty-one, Goldie gave birth to a daughter by her dead lover. Now Goldie is nearly thirty and Luna almost ten. Conceived in the realm between life and death, Luna is part star-soldier, part Grimm and now those opposing forces are waging war within her.

Terrified of losing her increasingly volatile child, Goldie goes on the run. Then an act of violence forces her to return and Luna is taken into care. Mother and child can still meet – in the haunted otherworld that is Everwhere.

Desperate to reclaim her daughter, Goldie must also confront whatever is corrupting Everwhere. For fresh leaves are falling, and Grimm girls are dying. Fearing the return of her father, Goldie knows she cannot succeed alone and summons her sisters.

But can the bonds of sisterhood bear the terrible price that will be paid …

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A Study in Downing – Ava Reid

Effy has read her copy of Emrys Myrddin’s Angharad so many times she can quote entire chunks of it verbatim. A student of architecture (because women aren’t allowed to study literature), Effy has a unique connection to the story.

Though she had read Angharad for the first time at thirteen, she had been dreaming of the Fairy King long before that.

When she learns that designs are being sought for Hiraeth Manor, which will house the recently deceased national treasure’s writings, Effy jumps at the chance. While the odds are slim that a university student a mere six weeks into their degree will be chosen, Effy’s determined to make her design stand out.

Upon arriving at Hiraeth Manor, Effy meets Ianto Myrddin, Emrys’ son, and Preston, a literature student. Ianto is … odd and she’s not a fan of “smug, pedantic” Preston. (Effy’s words, not mine.)

Effy’s disdain for Preston grows when she learns the focus of his study, to discredit Emrys Myrddin. Fair enough, too. If your intention is to cast aspersions on one of my favourite authors, we’re going to have a problem.

A book featuring a character who’s this passionate about a book was always going to end up on my radar. Set it in a location like Hiraeth Manor, which you should really explore yourself before anyone describes it to you, and I’ll be planning a road trip. Add fear, uncertainty, some trauma, magic and a mystery to solve, and consider me sold.

I may have to rethink my ‘I don’t do romance’ stance. Emily Wilde’s Encyclopaedia of Faeries and now this book have both well and truly sucked me in, and I haven’t had a problem with the romance components of either. I was actually looking forward to the characters finally getting their acts together and declaring their love.

“Oh, stop it. You’re being so relentlessly you.”

And now I must retreat into the forest to contemplate my fractured bookish romance worldview.

This book describes dissociation in one of the most authentic ways I’ve ever read. The impacts of the trauma Effy has experienced also rang true.

The writing is beautiful, even when it’s describing darkness. It took me much longer than I expected to finish this book, not because I wasn’t enjoying it but because I wanted to linger over each sentence. I didn’t want to miss a thing and I’m keen for a reread.

I’ve agonised over this review for weeks. There’s so much I want to say but I don’t want to ruin anything. I expect this will be one of my favourite reads of the year.

But if fairies and monsters were real, so were the women who defeated them.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Del Rey for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Effy has always believed in fairy tales. She’s had no choice. Since childhood, she’s been haunted by visions of the Fairy King. She’s found solace only in the pages of Angharad – a beloved epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, and then destroys him.

Effy’s tattered copy is all that’s keeping her afloat through her stifling first term at her prestigious architecture college. So when the late author’s family announces a contest to design his house, Effy feels certain this is her destiny.

But Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task: a musty, decrepit estate on the brink of crumbling into a hungry sea. And when Effy arrives, she finds she isn’t the only one who’s made a temporary home there. Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar, is studying Myrddin’s papers and is determined to prove her favourite author is a fraud.

As the two rival students investigate the reclusive author’s legacy, piecing together clues through his letters, books, and diaries, they discover that the house’s foundation isn’t the only thing that can’t be trusted. There are dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspiring against them – and the truth may bring them both to ruin.

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For Girls Who Walk Through Fire – Kim DeRose

Every week Elliott attends a sexual assault support group for teenage girls. Every week Elliott hears the stories of the other girls in the group. Every week Elliott becomes more and more certain that nothing is changing.

Elliott is sick of talk. She’s sick of the perpetrators not being held to account for their actions.

“I’ve been thinking about this a lot, and I think it’s time we take matters into our own hands.”

Elliott is ready to do something new and she thinks The Book of Reflection could hold the answers. Now all she needs is a coven.

“For when brought together with a coven – and only with a coven – will the spell most suited to the conjuring witch be summoned. Those who would suppress and destroy you stand not a chance when confronted with the power that lies within these pages.”

Going into this read, I thought I’d be entirely on board with a story of revenge, where victims take back their power while dealing a dose of ‘let the punishment fit the crime’ to those who have violated them. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that, while I’m big on fairness and justice, revenge is actually not something that motivates me.

The more I read, the more uncomfortable I became with the results of the revenge. By spending so much time focused on the perpetrators, the girls weren’t learning ways to manage the impacts of their trauma.

The way the revenge took place left the girls in a passive role. The book, rather than the girls, chose the spell for each perpetrator and until it was cast the girls didn’t know what the result would be. While the girls each decided they wanted revenge, not having agency in deciding its form didn’t feel like an especially trauma informed way of going about it.

I appreciated that this book clearly shows that sexualised violence takes many forms. Those who have experienced it come from all walks of life, as do those who choose to commit those crimes. The short and long term impacts look different from survivor to survivor and healing is most certainly not one size fits all.

While revenge definitely plays a significant role in this book, connection and healing are also explored so while you may walk through the fire with these girls, there’s also hope.

Because here was the truth of walking through fire: it was excruciating, and it burned, and it turned you to ash. But flames did more than burn. Flames also brought light.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Union Square & Co for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Those who would suppress and destroy you stand not a chance when confronted with the power that lies within these pages …

Elliott D’Angelo-Brandt is sick and tired of putting up with it all. Every week, she attends a support group for teen victims of sexual assault, but all they do is talk. Elliott’s done with talking. What she wants is justice.

And she has a plan for getting it: a spell book that she found in her late mom’s belongings that actually works. Elliott recruits a coven of fellow survivors from the group. She, Madeline, Chloe, and Bea don’t have much in common, but they are united in their rage at a system that heaps judgements on victims and never seems to punish those who deserve it.

As they each take a turn casting a hex against their unrepentant assailants, the girls find themselves leaning on each other in ways they never expected — and realising that revenge has heavy implications. Each member of the coven will have to make a choice: continue down the path of magical vigilantism or discover what it truly means to claim their power.

For Girls Who Walk Through Fire is a fierce, deeply moving novel about perseverance in the face of injustice and the transformational power of friendship.

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The Last One to Fall – Gabriella Lepore

“Sooner or later you’re going to get what’s coming to you.”

Introduce me to a group of dysfunctional teenagers that go somewhere and all but one return because someone’s no longer breathing and now everyone else is a suspect, and I’m a happy camper. Add some social issue soup to the mix and I’ll be hooked. It doesn’t matter how many books along these lines I read; I just keep coming back for more.

Savana and Jesse are neighbours who’ve known one another for years. They’re friends and there is absolutely some chemistry between them so when Jesse asked her to meet him at Cray’s Warehouse, the senior class’ summer break party spot, of course she was going to go.

She didn’t expect to see someone fall out of a fourth storey window when she got there. She definitely didn’t plan on getting caught up in a murder investigation. But here we are.

I have a horrible feeling this is just the beginning.

Supplementing the narrative, which is told by Savana and Jesse, are transcripts of an audio file, interviews and text messages, as well as an email and news article.

This was a quick, entertaining read. I guessed the who but not the why.

I don’t know what it is about books like these. They feel like a guilty pleasure. I don’t expect to stop reading them anytime soon, though.

“Don’t assume you know the whole story.”

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Harlequin Australia for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Six friends. Five suspects. One murder.

Savana Caruso and Jesse Melo have known each other since they were kids, so when Jesse asks Savana to meet him at Cray’s Warehouse in the middle of the night, she doesn’t hesitate. But before Savana can find Jesse, she bears witness to a horrifying murder, standing helpless on the ground as a mysterious figure is pushed out of the fourth floor of the warehouse.

Six teens were there that night, and five of them are now potential suspects. With the police circling, Savana knows what will happen if the wrong person is charged, but someone is willing to do whatever it takes to keep the truth from coming to light.

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Girls of Little Hope – Sam Beckbessinger & Dale Halvorsen

WELCOME TO LITTLE HOPE, CA! POPULATION 8,902.

Best friends Donna, Rae and Kat skipped school on Wednesday afternoon to traipse through the woods. Two of them returned on Saturday. One is still missing.

Donna Ramirez is a wannabe rebel. Her mother, who left when Donna was 9, now has a new family. Donna has an older brother, Jay. She lives with her father, Hector, who is fluent in Dad jokes.

Donna doesn’t remember what happened in the woods.

Tammie-Rae (Rae) Hooper is a preppy church girl and star of the athletics team. She lives with her parents and her brother, Brandon. Her parents have a list of “Forbidden Demonic Things”. It’s a long list.

They love you so long as you stay their good girl.

Rae returned from the woods screaming.

Their sweat glands have been on overdrive since they returned and they’re mighty peckish.

“Remember what we promised each other?”

Wallflower nerd Katherine (Kat) Larkin recently began wearing oversized men’s flannel shirts. She’s smart and loves Nancy Drew books.

Kat is still missing.

The story is told by each of the girls as well as Marybeth Larkin, Kat’s mother. Through them, you meet some of Little Hope’s townsfolk, including town boogeyman, Ronnie Gaskins, who murdered his parents when he was a child.

I flew through this book. I wasn’t a fan of the amount of times I read about how much weight one character had gained and the size of another’s breasts but there was a lot to love. The 90’s pop culture nostalgia. The mystery of what happened to the girls during the missing time. The squishy body horror. The newspaper articles and zine pages. Snooping in Kat’s diary. The fact that I was hooked the entire time.

If they didn’t live in a small town, Donna, Rae and Kat may not have ever become friends. If it wasn’t for newspaper club, they probably would have remained acquaintances. They reminded me of the intensity of teenage friendships: the shared experiences and the bonds that feel unbreakable.

I’m a teensy bit obsessed with the prayer to Scully, “our lady of The X-Files”.

Favourite no context quote:

“I will be the Batman of toilets.”

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Titan Books for the opportunity to read this book.

Rating: 4.5 out of 5.

Once Upon a Blurb

Three girls went into the woods. Only two came back, covered in blood and with no memory of what happened. Or did they?

Being fifteen is tough, tougher when you live in a boring-ass small town like Little Hope, California (population 8,302) in 1996. Donna, Rae and Kat keep each other sane with the fervour of teen girl friendships, zine-making and some amateur sleuthing into the town’s most enduring mysteries: a lost gold mine, and why little Ronnie Gaskins burned his parents alive a decade ago.

Their hunt will lead them to a hidden cave from which only two of them return alive. Donna the troublemaker can’t remember anything. Rae seems to be trying to escape her memories of what happened, while her close-minded religious family presses her for answers. And Kat? Sweet, wannabe writer Kat who rebelled against her mom’s beauty pageant dreams by getting fat? She’s missing. Dead. Or terribly traumatised, out there in the woods, alone.

As the police circle and Kat’s frantic mother Marybeth starts doing some investigating of her own, Rae and Donna will have to return to the cave where they discover a secret so shattering that no-one who encounters it will ever be the same.

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