Scan barcode
A review by brooke_review
Dear Medusa by Olivia A. Cole
3.0
Olivia A. Cole's Dear Medusa is a raw, unflinching novel in verse about a sixteen-year-old girl grappling with the aftermath of sexual abuse at the hands of a beloved educator.
Alicia has a fire burning in the noxious pit of her stomach. It was put there by The Colonel, a teacher much loved at her high school. A teacher who abused her. Alicia walks the halls of her high school carrying her secret, mouthing off to teachers and students, and hooking up with any guy who asks because she doesn't know what else to do with the pain.
This gritty novel follows Alicia as she finds her footing and voice following the abuse. It shows how unspeakable acts can consume and destroy a person, not only robbing them of the power to make their own choices about who they want to be intimate with, but also shredding their self-esteem and worth. Alicia is a girl in pieces, kicking around like pebbles, what's left of her life.
Dear Medusa is a timely, important book that will serve as an affirming, resonating read for any teenager who has stared abuse in its face. Books like this need to exist because people like this exist. With that being said, Cole cycles through many of the same feelings and issues over and over again until this novel begins to feel overwrought and repetitive. Likely bringing light to the fact that those in mental anguish will often ruminate over the same scenarios and issues time and time again, this plot device is realistic, but not entirely compelling.
Furthermore, Cole drives home what feels like many personal agendas, putting her characters on a soapbox about a myriad of controversial issues and painting them only in black and white. Cole tells her readers what to think about these issues instead of presenting them subtly and allowing readers to decide for themselves what they believe. In a book written for impressionable teenagers and young adults, such a harsh and unforgiving stance which leaves no room for anyone else's opinion, other than what the author perceives to be the "right" opinion, can come off as indoctrination.
Alicia has a fire burning in the noxious pit of her stomach. It was put there by The Colonel, a teacher much loved at her high school. A teacher who abused her. Alicia walks the halls of her high school carrying her secret, mouthing off to teachers and students, and hooking up with any guy who asks because she doesn't know what else to do with the pain.
This gritty novel follows Alicia as she finds her footing and voice following the abuse. It shows how unspeakable acts can consume and destroy a person, not only robbing them of the power to make their own choices about who they want to be intimate with, but also shredding their self-esteem and worth. Alicia is a girl in pieces, kicking around like pebbles, what's left of her life.
Dear Medusa is a timely, important book that will serve as an affirming, resonating read for any teenager who has stared abuse in its face. Books like this need to exist because people like this exist. With that being said, Cole cycles through many of the same feelings and issues over and over again until this novel begins to feel overwrought and repetitive. Likely bringing light to the fact that those in mental anguish will often ruminate over the same scenarios and issues time and time again, this plot device is realistic, but not entirely compelling.
Furthermore, Cole drives home what feels like many personal agendas, putting her characters on a soapbox about a myriad of controversial issues and painting them only in black and white. Cole tells her readers what to think about these issues instead of presenting them subtly and allowing readers to decide for themselves what they believe. In a book written for impressionable teenagers and young adults, such a harsh and unforgiving stance which leaves no room for anyone else's opinion, other than what the author perceives to be the "right" opinion, can come off as indoctrination.