So, I won a signed ARC of Mindi Scott's newest novel online a few weeks ago, and I just finished reading it.
Wow.
Just...wow. This book has power.
Coley Sterling looks perfect. Perfect family, perfect grades, perfectly in line to be the dance team captain next year. She's even on the verge of having her first boyfriend, Reece. But nothing is as it seems, and Coley's facade is unraveling. Beneath the layers of perfection and ease, she carries the shame and fear of sexual abuse. She's been a victim for years, and she can't quit bring herself to tell her attacker "no". Because here's the problem:
She loves him.
She doesn't love the abuse, but she is unwilling to do anything to hurt her attacker. And, her body whispers traitorously, maybe it's all her fault, anyway. But something's got to change, or Coley will break once and for all.
The fear and shame that Coley feels pierced my heart, and I couldn't stop reading this book. Scott hooks her readers and manipulates their emotions skillfully: this a book that every teen girl should read. It's up there with powerful, gut-wrenching books like Speak and Thirteen Reasons Why.
What powerful books have you read recently?