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A review by alexiacambaling
The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed
5.0
Trigger warning/s: Rape and Sexual Abuse
What an incredibly powerful book. The Nowhere Girls is up there on my list of feminist books every girl should read. This tells the story of violent misogyny and sexism rooted in the culture of a small town and especially entrenched in its high school. It tackles the power structures that enable abuse to happen and abusers to commit them and the peer pressure that causes people to turn a blind eye and mock victims of abuse and even say that they asked for it or are looking for attention. It tackles the fact that while these girls, these women may be believed in private, they are derided for having the courage to tell their truth.'
Most of all, this tells the story of the girls who said enough is enough and decided to go against this rape culture and fought back. Girls like you and me hailing from different backgrounds with their own sets of issues and problems that they face in school, at home, or in their social life. The book follows three girls- Grace, Erin, and Rosina, as well as other girls in their high school, some named and some not and all of them have rich lives, their own struggles, and they are portrayed very well. The ‘Us’ chapters in this book was very powerful and those were my favorite parts.
The plot is about three friends who form a club called The Nowhere Girls which aims to take down the patriarchal and sexist culture in their high school. Along the way, they experience a lot of pushback, some from their peers, but most of it from adults. This part was a little heavy-handed for me and sometimes difficult to read. Almost every adult here, with the exception of the girls’ parents were against this club and basically reinforces the pre-existing culture.
I don’t get why adults wouldn’t prioritize the safety and comfort of these teen girls. It made me feel very angry and in that regard, I guess the heavy-handedness worked. I guess it was insane to me in the first place that everyone in this high school would know that the boys were rapists and sexual abusers, yet they’d still get away with it. It really does get difficult and the sense of outrage you get reading this book was very real.
I wouldn’t lie. This wasn’t an easy book to read. I had to put it down several times and reach for something else because it gets heavy. This is not a book that concerns itself with your comfort. It’s not a feel-good type of read. It’s not something you pick up because you want something light on a nice summer day. This book concerns itself with real ugly truths that society may try to hide. That’s what makes it powerful.
Most, if not all the characters in this book have been hurt in some way. All of them may carry scars that linger, scars that may take time to fully heal or never will. However, they continued to fight, they struggled because it’s what they have to do in order for them to be taken seriously, or to prevent the same hurt from happening to other people. The girls here, both the main and side characters are incredibly brave in their own way. Some of them may be entrenched within the power structures of their high school but even that doesn’t protect them.
There is a fictional blog in this book written by one of the male high school students, a rapist and sexual abuser. The blog is full of misogynistic and violently sexist comments that may be triggering for some readers. I think that this book is a must-read but I also understand that it may not be for everybody as it deals with sensitive issues.
What an incredibly powerful book. The Nowhere Girls is up there on my list of feminist books every girl should read. This tells the story of violent misogyny and sexism rooted in the culture of a small town and especially entrenched in its high school. It tackles the power structures that enable abuse to happen and abusers to commit them and the peer pressure that causes people to turn a blind eye and mock victims of abuse and even say that they asked for it or are looking for attention. It tackles the fact that while these girls, these women may be believed in private, they are derided for having the courage to tell their truth.'
Most of all, this tells the story of the girls who said enough is enough and decided to go against this rape culture and fought back. Girls like you and me hailing from different backgrounds with their own sets of issues and problems that they face in school, at home, or in their social life. The book follows three girls- Grace, Erin, and Rosina, as well as other girls in their high school, some named and some not and all of them have rich lives, their own struggles, and they are portrayed very well. The ‘Us’ chapters in this book was very powerful and those were my favorite parts.
The plot is about three friends who form a club called The Nowhere Girls which aims to take down the patriarchal and sexist culture in their high school. Along the way, they experience a lot of pushback, some from their peers, but most of it from adults. This part was a little heavy-handed for me and sometimes difficult to read. Almost every adult here, with the exception of the girls’ parents were against this club and basically reinforces the pre-existing culture.
I don’t get why adults wouldn’t prioritize the safety and comfort of these teen girls. It made me feel very angry and in that regard, I guess the heavy-handedness worked. I guess it was insane to me in the first place that everyone in this high school would know that the boys were rapists and sexual abusers, yet they’d still get away with it. It really does get difficult and the sense of outrage you get reading this book was very real.
I wouldn’t lie. This wasn’t an easy book to read. I had to put it down several times and reach for something else because it gets heavy. This is not a book that concerns itself with your comfort. It’s not a feel-good type of read. It’s not something you pick up because you want something light on a nice summer day. This book concerns itself with real ugly truths that society may try to hide. That’s what makes it powerful.
Most, if not all the characters in this book have been hurt in some way. All of them may carry scars that linger, scars that may take time to fully heal or never will. However, they continued to fight, they struggled because it’s what they have to do in order for them to be taken seriously, or to prevent the same hurt from happening to other people. The girls here, both the main and side characters are incredibly brave in their own way. Some of them may be entrenched within the power structures of their high school but even that doesn’t protect them.
There is a fictional blog in this book written by one of the male high school students, a rapist and sexual abuser. The blog is full of misogynistic and violently sexist comments that may be triggering for some readers. I think that this book is a must-read but I also understand that it may not be for everybody as it deals with sensitive issues.