Find my reviews on Blogger ~ Reviews by Bookish Sarah 
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 Rape Girl is a short story about 16-year-old Valerie, a girl who lives an average teenage life - school, friends, parties, babysitting her younger sister... until it all changes during a party Valerie throws while her mom is out of town. Shortly following this party, she is raped; raped by a boy she thought she could trust - a boy she actually liked and wanted to get to know. 
 During Thanksgiving dinner, Valerie tells her mom the truth about what happened. This brings a whole new level of hurt to Valerie's doorstep, because, aside from her mom, no one seems to believe her. 
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 *Some spoilers ahead!* 
 I enjoyed this novel, as much as one can anyway, with such a touchy and sad subject. It's one that I find very hard to read about, fiction or not. Quite frankly, I hate the title of this book because it makes me uncomfortable. It just seems so crass and just, in your face. I guess that was probably the point, right? 
 Anyway, let me start out by saying that I had to take a star away because this book was just too short. The story takes off very fast. There wasn't really a need to ease into what we already know is going to happen, but I would have liked to get to know Valerie more. She had no personality. She was just a faceless teenage girl and that made it a little hard to connect with her. Not hard to sympathize, because as a woman, I automatically can - but knowing things about her specifically would have just made that even more intense. 
 Something I truly appreciated about this book was that the author seemed to cover all the bases; all the key things that happen after a rape occurs. Valerie went through so many different emotions and inner struggles throughout this novel - from feeling emotionally distressed, afraid, guilty, angry, depressed, all the way to healing, connecting with that first boy after being raped, and eventually overcoming the tragedy. We get to see her at her worst and at her best. We see her lose friends and gain new ones. We also get to see how others react to her accusation. Her best friend, her mother, police officers, other kids at school, the school principal, etc. 
 That brings me to the fact that, within this story, there is clearly a case of 'blame the victim' - people think that just because she originally liked this boy; that she paid attention to him and even went into a room alone with him at a party, that she is either lying or deserved what she got. The 'don't get raped' mentality - something that I despise with every fiber of my being. I was so disgusted with some of the people in this book that I could have vomited right then and there. It's like the two separate classifications of "rape" & "date rape" - just because a person is on a date with someone doesn't make the act any different than, say, someone grabbing a stranger in an alley and committing the act that way. There is no gray area where rape is concerned - the two different distinctions are not needed. My point is, I appreciate that the author wove this element into her book. It's a huge flaw in society and I appreciate anyone who has the guts to speak up about it in any way, shape, or form. 
 If you read this book expecting your run-of-the-mill happy ending, you'll be disappointed. This is yet another thing I appreciated from this book. The end is not sad, or bad, but the one thing you hope for doesn't happen: justice. The bad guy doesn't get his punishment, but the girl does overcome what has happened and learns to stop letting others' perception of her matter within her own heart and mind. It's a realistic portrayal of what so many girls go through. 
 All in all, this was a great book. This is a story of hope. This is a story of coming to terms with things you cannot change. This is a story about not letting other people make you into someone you aren't, and not letting them change who you are. It's a story about standing up for yourself and what you know is right, even if it hurts. It's a story about power; about realizing when it's not yours and coming to terms with that, and about knowing you have it when it is yours. In the end, Valerie learns that only she has the power to not let this event alter her present and future life, and once that happens, she is free. This book is sad and emotional, but it's an inspiration. It's a short story that packs a lot of punch. Don't tread into it lightly, but definitely read this one. 
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 Book source: NetGalley 
 Publisher: namelos