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Zusatztext “A stunningly good, important book.”— Becky Albertalli, author of Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, now a major motion picture "Unforgettable in its candor...Blake’s timely and gripping contribution is a nuanced he-said, she-said story with a fierce feminist bent."-- Booklist, ?STARRED review "A compassionate and engaging novel about what it means to tell your truth, no matter how painful it might be. A must-read for all YA shelves."-- School Library Journal, STARRED review "Mara’s bisexuality and Charlie’s closeted nonbinary gender are examples not only of well-crafted representation but of vital nuance as Mara navigates the present while coming to terms with her past. Blake strives admirably and with resounding success for emotional authenticity while shedding light on issues of consent, trauma, relationships, and identity."-- Horn Book Magazine "A powerful, nuanced, and necessary read."-- Kirkus Informationen zum Autor Ashley Herring Blake used to write songs and now she writes books, including Suffer Love and How to Make a Wish. She reads them a lot too and has been known to stare wistfully at her bookshelves. She lives in Nashville, TN with her husband and two sons. www.ashleyherringblake.com Twitter: @ashleyhblake Instagram: @ashleyhblake Klappentext For readers of Girl in Pieces and The Way I Used to Be comes an emotionally gripping story about facing hard truths in the aftermath of sexual assault. Mara and Owen are as close as twins can get, so when Mara's friend Hannah accuses Owen of rape, Mara doesn't know what to think. Can her brother really be guilty of such a violent act? Torn between her family and her sense of right and wrong, Mara feels lost, and it doesn't help that things are strained with her ex-girlfriend, Charlie. As Mara, Hannah, and Charlie come together in the aftermath of this terrible crime, Mara must face a trauma from her own past and decide where Charlie fits into her future. With sensitivity and openness, this timely novel confronts the difficult questions surrounding consent, victim blaming, and sexual assault. CHAPTER ONE Charlie refuses to answer my texts. Or she has her phone set on silent. Or she forgot to charge it. Or she had a rare fit of temper and tossed it into a toilet, thereby rendering it unusable. Whatever the case, this lack of communication between us is decidedly not normal. I stare at my phone for a few more seconds, analyzing my last text to her. It’s a simple question— ​Will you be at the Empower meeting next week? —​so I don’t understand why she won’t answer it. Yes or no. How hard is that? Then again, Charlie’s never missed an Empower meeting, so she probably sees right through my desperate attempt at indifference. Groaning at the still-blank screen, I toss the phone onto my bed and slide my window open. An early autumn breeze ghosts over my skin and hair, bringing with it the smell of burning leaves and cedar from the rocking chairs on our front porch. Throwing a leg over the sill, I twist my body through the window and onto the porch’s flat roof. In the distance, the setting sun drizzles the last bit of color through the sky, lavender fading to darker violet. The first stars are blinking into view and I lie down on the gritty shingles, my eyes already peeling through the almost-dark for Gemini. You can’t really see the constellation this time of year, but I know those twins are hiding somewhere in the west. “There they are,” Owen says as he climbs through the window and settles next to me. He waves his hand off toward the east. “You’re so full of shit.” “What, they’re right there.” “That’s Cancer . . . or something.” “I know my twins, woman.” I laugh and relax into the familiarity of the scene. Owen, messy...
