I keep going in between 2 and 3 stars. I've decided to go with 2 because although I did enjoy reading the book, it just didn't hold a significance after I was done with it.

I didn't have an emotional attachment to any of the characters. Granted, this is a relatively quick read, but I think for the issue it tackled the characters should've been more fleshed out. It's difficult to judge the dynamic between characters and to truly feel the dilemma they face if you don't care for the characters at all.

Another and more prominent issue is that I couldn't really see this as being realistic. Though I agree some fiction works with the suspension of belief, to actually write a moving novel about rape it has to be realistic. A progressive family would just defend their son? A feminist paper would be read all over the school? Not to mention, the way the characters spoke was just... off. I know this is going to sound trivial but at some point the narrator says Charlie (the best singer in the school), sings like "Adele and Halsey". When complimenting vocal range, Halsey is not necessarily the person I would allude to. It's a small thing that just really put me out of the book.

The novel tries to tackle these issues but they just end up being halfhearted attempts. There's no real resolution and nothing the reader can look forward to. It doesn't fare well compared to other books about rape because it just seems so unrealistic.