I first read this book when I was in the sixth grade. Since then, it has stuck in my head in a way few other books have. I remembered so much of the plot - mostly because whenever I would talk about books with my friends, I would tell them, "Hey, do you want to hear this really fucked up book I read at age 12?" The story was even better in that I found My Sweet Audrina in the classroom library, and when I finished it, I mentioned to my teacher that I enjoyed it. I can remember to this day how she blanched and murmured, "That book was in the classroom library?" (It disappeared from the collection soon after. Luckily for my teacher, my mom was very open-minded about what I read, being a fellow English teacher herself.)

I picked it up again because I was recounting this story to a friend about a month ago. I wanted to see if the book held up, if it was as enjoyable as it had been during those many days of silent reading we spent together. And I would say it did, more or less. It was much easier for me to read now (no duh), and the plot twists that I'd found so mind-blowing as a child were much more predictable, though for me, I like to figure out plot twists (it feels satisfying when you guess what's going to happen), so I wasn't bothered. It also wasn't as... problematic as I would expect a gothic lit novel written in the early 80s would be. Yes, it covers rape, sexual violence and trauma, gaslighting, murder, domestic and child abuse, misogyny, and disability/ableism... and it certainly doesn't shy away from any of that, or depicted it in a sugar-coated perfect world way... but I felt like Andrews has a good grasp on all of those subjects - and what true horror is (hint: it's not a physical disability or a mental illness).