I couldn’t sleep last night so I thought why not reach such a sad book until 3 in the morning. So for context, between middle school and today, I’ve probably read this book at least 5 or 6 times, with there being an almost 10 year difference since the last time I read it. I was scared this wouldn’t hold up, but randomly saw the graphic novel in the library and thought why the fuck not.

Holy hell does this book still hold up. In fact, with the added artwork (short out to the artist who literally makes horror webcomics because yes, this is a literally horrifying situation), it made it so much creepier to the point that the rapist’s appearance on page literally made me uncomfortable to the point I shuttered. Considering this book was written in the 90s, it still is super relatable and is still a very real portrayal of why people don’t speak up when they’re sexually assaulted and Melinda coming to terms with what happened to her. You don’t exactly find out what happened until the second half of the book and it moves pretty slow, but I also think that makes complete sense for the context of the story. Loved it as a child and still love this today. If you’ve never read the graphic novel version of this book, I’d highly recommend.