"Veronica Mars meets William Shakespeare in E.K. Johnston’s latest brave and unforgettable heroine.
Hermione Winters is captain of her cheerleading team, and in tiny Palermo Heights, this doesn’t mean what you think it means. At PHHS, the cheerleaders don't cheer for the sports teams; they are the sports team—the pride and joy of a tiny town. The team's summer training camp is Hermione's last and marks the beginning of the end of…she’s not sure what. She does know this season could make her a legend. But during a camp party, someone slips something in her drink. And it all goes black.
In every class, there's a star cheerleader and a pariah pregnant girl. They're never supposed to be the same person. Hermione struggles to regain the control she's always had and faces a wrenching decision about how to move on. The assault wasn't the beginning of Hermione Winter's story and she's not going to let it be the end. She won’t be anyone’s cautionary tale."
Goodreads - Exit, Pursued By A Bear
I was never a cheerleader in high school. I always thought it would be fun to be tiny and fly through the air while doing stunts and tumbling passes. I've been around cheerleading for more than a few years since my niece was a competitive cheerleader for nine years and my sister used to own a elite cheer gym. I think that is why I initially picked up this book. The cheerleader on the front caught my eye and I figured it had a strong cheerleading storyline. While cheerleading was an important factor in this book, there was a bigger storyline at work.
This book starts off with a flash forward. We meet our main character Hermione and she goes to speak with a reverend. We then immediately jump back to where the story starts. A team of cheerleaders are on their way to cheer camp for two weeks. It is Hermione's senior year which means that this will be her last year at camp and she plans to make it the best alongside her best friend Polly. Camp is almost over when everyone attends a mixer in the cafeteria at camp. Hermione remembers taking a cup from someone, drinking it, becoming very tired, and she starts looking for a trash can...then she blacks out. She wakes up in the hospital and Polly is with her. She becomes a victim of rape. Hermione then has to deal with doing what is necessary to catch the guy that raped her. She finds that her friendship with Polly is stronger than ever and that her relationship with Leo was never a good relationship. Hermione learns how to get over what has happened and how to not feel like the victim she is.
This book was phenomenal. It took a few chapters for me to get into it, but once I committed to the book I sat down and immediately finished reading it. The book is broken into four parts or seasons as I'm going to call them. They also mimic Hermione's attitude throughout the book to an extent. In the fall she was warm and happy, winter she was cold from what had happened, in spring she was starting to warm back up and find a normal in her life, and summer finally allows her to find some happiness and accept everything. The chapters in this book were the perfect length, not too long and not too short. The book has a few words that are not typically found in common usage, but I googled the few I didn't know and went on reading.
I honestly thought the main focus of this book would be cheerleading and everything that goes with it, but I was very wrong. This book is about rape and I expect it could be a trigger for someone who has been sexually assaulted. The entire book doesn't focus necessarily on the rape and the media following it. It focuses on Hermione and her learning how to cope and deal with the fact that she is a victim of rape. There is a brief mention of the story being covered in the media, but that isn't the focus. The book also doesn't really focus on the kids at school talking and spreading rumors about what happened. There are a few encounters where we read about the kids at school discussing what happened. The biggest focus though is that Hermione constantly feels like she isn't a victim even though she is. She often finds herself forgetting that it happened unless someone mentions it. She managed to handle the entire situation really well unless she was triggered by the pine smell or by the song that was playing. We typically see the vulnerable side of the victim because of the fact that they were raped, but Hermione showed her vulnerable side when she discussed the fact that she would have to testify against her attacker. She knew that her memory was spotty and she was scared to testify. After Hermione and Polly spoke with the reporter Hermione got angry that people thought that it was her fault that she was raped. She knew it was no one's fault except the guy who raped her, but she was still angry and upset that people could and would say that.
This book really encompasses what today's society is like with the rape culture. People always blame the victim. It is always the victims fault that they were raped. Most victims are intoxicated or drugged to the point of unconsciousness and they can't give consent, which was the case with Hermione. Some victims are perfectly capable of giving consent and saying yes, but they say no and they still get raped. Rape isn't something that should be taken lightly and we shouldn't be giving them month long sentences so that it doesn't ruin their life (Yes, I'm talking about the Stanford rape). Victims are victims and they shouldn't be belittled, mocked, or told that it was their fault. Their lives have been forever changed too. They will have intimacy issues and will struggle to trust people, as well as having triggers in their life that make them recall the time they became a victim. Some victims not only become victims, but become mothers because they were raped. And some of those victims who become mothers have to make the decision to terminate a pregnancy because they don't want a child or a reminder that someone took advantage of them.
This book was a great read that gave a different perspective than is typically given in books about rape. This was well written and E.K. Johnston successfully executed an attack on rape culture in today's society. I give this book 5 stars. I would enjoy reading a follow up book that chronicles what Hermione is facing as charges are filed against her attacker. I want to see Hermione go to college and find someone who does really love her and someone she can love. I just feel there is so much room for a second book, even if it has a main storyline of the trial against her attacker.
No comments:
Post a Comment