My expectations were a little high on this one, so that might be the reason I was disappointed with the book. Many booktubers raved about this book, and I admit that I didn't dislike all of it. First of all, I really liked the concept of the story, of having a vigilante-ish group address a serious issue and help a traumatized girl get through it. Date-rape is a sticky subject and many authors are too afraid to get near the subject, so I praise Daisy Whitney for having the guts to do so. I hate to sound like a snob but it was the writing that disappointed me the most. The language was very repetitive, and it relied on similes and overtelling to get the point across. Whitney has a habit of over-explaining; where one of her sentences would make a point, she would add two more to emphasize. She used dialogue as a way of adding backstory, and after a while it got annoying to be talked-at rather than shown. I also expected Whitney to really delve into the grittiness of what happened, the panic of waking up in an unfamiliar room, the pain of the experience itself, the way all physical touching feels claustrophobic. Instead the more physical and psychological stresses were glossed over. Again, most of what Alex went through was told to me rather than shown. Even in the first chapter, Alex's panic is told in a logical step-by-step manner, and that felt forced and unrealistic for an in-the-moment problem. I know that such intimate details are difficult to write about, but that is what makes the traumatic aftermath so hard to get through: you can't put it in soft-focus. I was also really surprised by how quickly Alex finds comfort in Martin. Usually after something like this, an instance where someone used physical force on Alex, any tangible touch feels awkward. I'm not saying that is what SHOULD have happened; after all, Whitney herself was date-raped in college and would know more about this issue than me. But in memoirs I've read and in conversations I've had with survivors, any kind of touch feels wrong; even hugs from friends can make them feel sick. I'm glad that Alex didn't feel hemmed in, and that she felt safe with Martin; I just thought Martin's relationship with Alex progressed very quickly. (That said, I'm glad that this book is out there, and I'm glad that Whitney addressed this issue.)
