Title: Asking For It
Author: Louise O'Neill
Published: 3 Sep 2015
Series: -
Rating: 4 stars
Synopsis:
It’s the beginning of the summer in a small town in Ireland. Emma O’Donovan is eighteen years old, beautiful, happy, confident.
One night, there’s a party. Everyone is there. All eyes are on Emma.
The next morning, she wakes on the front porch of her house. She can’t remember what happened, she doesn’t know how she got there.
She doesn’t know why she’s in pain.
But everyone else does. Photographs taken at the party show, in explicit detail, what happened to Emma that night.
But sometimes people don’t want to believe what is right in front of them, especially when the truth concerns the town’s heroes…
Trigger Warning: non-consent, suicide
I received this book as an ebook from NetGalley in return for an honest review.
It didn't take me as long to read this book as I thought it would because I have been in a massive reading slump for months. However it did make a lot of powerful points.
"No one forced them to wear that. They're just asking for something to happen to them like that."
No.
No one forced the perpetrator to do what they did either, but they did it because they wanted to do it.
The main point of his book is that no one is ever 'asking for it' because of what they wear, how they act, and so on. Victims of sexual crimes shouldn't be made to feel punished for something that isn't their fault.
When the main character, Emma, had that happen to her, she didn't know how to cope. Yet no one takes her side and believes her (not even her best friends). This is because she wasn't the nicest person (even to her best friends), she dressed what could be classed as inappropriately, and she had slept with people before. But that's sort of the point - non-consented sex can happen to anyone of any age, race, gender, or personality type.
"They are all innocent until proven guilty. Not me, I am a liar until proven honest."
This is a book that I urge you to read. This is a book that I urge everyone to read. Especially those in high school. It's hit-you-in-the-face honesty that we live in a world like this, and Louise O'Neill doesn't sugar coat that fact.
This is a book that will stay in your mind.
Title: Circle of Nine: Beltany
Author: Valerie Biel
Published: 24 Sep 2014
Series: Circle of Nine #1
Rating: 4 stars
Synopsis:
“Since I was a little girl I've been labeled a freak in my small town. There’s no blending in when your mom practices an ancient pagan religion and everyone believes she’s a witch. On my 15th birthday my secret wish is the same as always – to just be normal. But that’s not what I get. Not even close.” – Brigit Quinn
Instead, Brigit is shocked to learn she’s descended from a legendary Celtic tribe - powerful people who serve as guardians of the stone circles of Ireland. A spellbound book of family history reveals the magical powers of her ancestors. Powers that could be hers - if only she wanted them.
And when someone sinister and evil returns to steal her family’s strength, Brigit has to make a decision. Fight to keep her unique heritage or reject it for the normal life she’s always wanted.
I received a copy of this book in return for an honest review.
Circle of Nine: Beltany was a very well written book by Valerie Biel. This was the first time that I have read about Ireland or it's history and I actually quite liked reading about it.
My favourite part of this novel would have to be getting to read the book that was given to Brigit Quinn by her mother about their ancestors. It felt like I was really looking through her ancestors eyes and seeing what they got up to in each of their own eras. I think that it would be cool to read a copy of the ancestry from each woman's point of view rather than just the few though.
Brigit may have thought that her mother seemed weird to other people, but I agree with her and think that her mother was pretty cool.
At one stage I did think that Bigit was going to end up with someone else in Ireland, but I think that the author was right to keep Brigit's boyfriend and her together as it also kept his grandmother in the picture - giving Brigit's mother a reason to tell the story of their past together.
If you like reading about the history of Ireland, or even Ireland itself then I would say this book is one you might like to read.
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All books in this series:
1 | Beltany 2 | Novella Collection 3 | Sacred Treasures
