E. K. Johnston

"First published in the United States of America by Dutton Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 2016"--Title page verso.

Exit, Pursued by a Bear

E.K. Johnston

From #1 New York Times bestselling author E.K. Johnston comes a brave and unforgettable story that will inspire readers to rethink how we treat survivors. Hermione Winters is captain of her cheerleading team, and in tiny Palermo Heights, this doesn’t mean what you think it means. At PHHS, the cheerleaders don't cheer for the sports teams; they are the sports team—the pride and joy of a small town. The team's summer training camp is Hermione's last and marks the beginning of the end of…she’s not sure what. She does know this season could make her a legend. But during a camp party, someone slips something in her drink. And it all goes black. In every class, there's a star cheerleader and a pariah pregnant girl. They're never supposed to be the same person. Hermione struggles to regain the control she's always had and faces a wrenching decision about how to move on. The rape wasn't the beginning of Hermione Winter's story and she's not going to let it be the end. She won’t be anyone’s cautionary tale. "E.K. Johnston has a seemingly limitless range.... This is realistic fiction at it's best."—The Globe & Mail ★ "Johnston’s clever—but never precious—update of Shakespeare’s The Winter’s Tale is unflinching but not at all graphic in its treatment of sexual violence.... Middle and high school readers will pass this powerful, engaging story around and around."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review ★ "Fierce and gorgeously drawn, this is a rape story that doesn’t focus on victimhood."—Booklist, starred review ★ “A beautifully written portrait of a young woman facing the unthinkable, this is a must-buy for high school collections.”—SLJ, starred review "Exit, Pursued by a Bear is an important new novel comparable with Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson.”—VOYA. "This story of a cheerleader rising up after a traumatic event will give you Veronica Mars-level feels that will stay with you long after you finish."—Seventeen Magazine A NPR Best Book of 2016 A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2016 A Booklist Best Book of 2016 A New York Public Library 2016 Top Ten Book for Teens A Chicago Public Library Best Teen Fiction of 2016 A Globe & Mail Best Book of 2016 A CBC Best Book of 2016 A Quill & Quire Best Book of 2016 A Bustle Top 30 YA Book of 2016 A Bookish Best Book of 2016 A Bank Street College Best Children's Book of the Year A finalist for Audible’s Best Young Adult Audiobook of 2016 A 2017 Ontario Library Association White Pine Honor Book

Jamieson

FULL REVIEW NOW POSTED

Exit, Pursued by A Bear is a book recommended to me quite a bit, and I've just seen a lot of hype for it out and about. I decided to read it for TheReadingQuest as my buddy read challenge. 

TRIGGER WARNINGS: before I get into anything, the book has the following triggers which will be discussed in this review: rape, sexual assault, alcohol spiking/drugging, alcohol use, abortion & discussions around abortion

Exit, Pursued by a Bear primarily deals with the rape of a girl called Hermione at her cheerleading camp. This book is, obviously, confronting. But what it also attempts to be is .... hopeful? Thats a weird thing to say, but Exit Pursued by A Bear goes out of it's way to show a rape victim receiving the help and support they need and deserve. And although it may not be realistic for every situation, and in fact most of them, I was glad we got to see a positive representation of therapy on page. 

Hermione Winters endures an incredible amount of hardship throughout this book, and her strength of character is outstanding. I truly admired how strong she was, how resilient and how fierce. Although Hermione faces victimisation from her peers, has to come to terms with her own assault and must also continue on with things like school, cheerleading and university application. Hermione's arc of dealing with her own ptsd and trauma around the abuse was one of my favourite aspects of this book.

The side characters around Hermione are incredibly supportive of her recovery. Although they mess up, they attempt to do better whenever told and give Hermione the support and space she needs. I really liked to see such a helpful response from her teammates, and especially her best friend Polly who acts as Hermione's rock throughout the book. 

Exit, Pursued By a Bear tackles the mountains of difficulty victims face head on: Hermione must deal with assault, therapy, pregnancy and being demonised by some of her peers. She must tackle head on the stigma that comes with being a victim, and the way people attempt to blame the victim. These issues were dealt with thoroughly and carefully, while also being honest about the impact of assault on people's lives, both victim and friends/family. 

I loved that Exit, Pursued By a Bear addresses the important issues, without ever trying to make them seem edgy or romanticised. The positive and hopeful depiction of therapy and the strong emphasis on friendship and support systems really stood out to me. 


  “If you think I'm going to apologize for being drugged and raped, you have another thing coming.” 


One thing I didn't like about this book was how Polly's sexuality was dealt with. Polly coming out as a lesbian felt clunky and poorly handled and some of the conversation around it irritated me. I definitely felt like her coming out was treated as a plot twist, and since her arc is never shown it just didn't need to be like that. She should of just been out from the start. But I did like there is a f/f relationship between Polly and another cheerleader. 

I have also seen this book criticised for it's overly optimistic approach, which I get. I can see why that might not be for everyone, but personally I thought it was nice to see a story where a victim got to put the pieces back together. 

I also think the criticism that the writing is not ... great ... is fair. 

I loved the ending of this, it was nice that Hermione had a choice and could have taken whichever path SHE WANTED.

 
  “Of course, if I were dead, they could just bury me, and move on. Broken is harder to deal with.” 


Exit, Pursued By a Bear definitely made me think about some things I hadn't as much previously, and I read most of it in one night because the story really does drive you forward. I enjoyed the majority of this book, and loved that for once we got to see a victim get the therapy they deserve.

Siya S

This has to stop!!! I've posted this like a few hours ago and now it's gone!!! MY REVIEW IS GONEEEE



Hello?

Anyone?

OK FINE *sniff* let's get back to business. 

3.5/5 Stars 

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https://thebleedingeyes.wordpress.com/

I've been wanting to read Exit, Pursued By A Bear since forever. There's something about the title that says this book's gonna be good. I'm pretty much right about that one...sort of. 

OK, let's be honest. I still have a mix feeling about this book. It was light and lovely and funny at times. The writing was good. The story was good. It's about cheerleading and friendship and a perfect epitome for coming-of-age genre with likeable protagonist and sidekick. So why this feeling? Why I still feel that it's unsatisfying? that it's not enough? While it's a realistic YA story dealing with real problems happening to real people on a daily basis, the book is still lack of, ugh, depth. 

Johnston keeps on bombarding Hermione (great name. I love the HP reference here so bonus point) with a series of shitty life events, but then what? Sure she had an abortion, and then what? Sure she had an asshat of a boyfriend and then what? Sure her parents were equally hurt and confused but then Hermione explained the situation and they seemed to be OK about it? What are the consequences? Where’re the struggles? Somehow Johnston made everything seemed so easy and vague. I feel like we're going nowhere but just only the surface of things. I felt like I just went to a wine-tasting event – all the good stuff just for gurgling and spitting out. Where’s that real glass of wine I’ve been waiting for?

But don’t get me wrong, I still like this book because it’s about friendship and I’m a sucker for books about friendship. I love Polly. And I wish I knew more about her (surface) because she’s such a great supporting character. Or maybe that’s just because I don’t get any other solid personalities from other supporting characters at all. Sure Hermione has Mallory (surface), Jenny(surface), Amy(surface), Chelsea (surface)and two Sarahs(surface). What are their personalities anyway? I couldn’t pick them apart. I ended up not giving a shit about any of them. Just a whirlpool of secondary characters and all. 



So OK, maybe I’m not being fair. It’s not like I come across this kind of book that often. I haven’t read that much of YA books on rape victims to judge. There’s one line I like in the book where Hermione said something about the difference between sympathy and empathy. I just wish Johnston has explored deeper into the heart of the matter, and execute the book in a way that helps us understand what it’s really like. To make an impact. Otherwise this book will be just another story with a protagonist for us to feel sorry about and nothing more.

Maggie Gordon

Exit, Pursued by a Bear is not your typical YA book about sexual assault. Instead of featuring a protagonist who crumbles and has to dig herself out of a terribly deep pit of depression, Hermione is assaulted, struggles, but has a fantastic support network and slowly heals while still completing grade 12, doing university applications, and being a kick ass cheerleader. There is no tragedy porn here, which I fear a lot of stories about sexual assault tend to be. And that isn't to say that Hermione is the "right" type of survivor, but that a lot of narratives about sexual assault tend to focus on all the horror, often leaving the survivor to struggle without friends or loved ones. Hermione is incredibly privileged on the spectrum of survivors, but the lessons this book tells readers about how to respond to someone who has faced violence are invaluable. It's a story about a terrible violation that does not shy away from some of the resulting horrors, but gives hope some for survivors, and it also shows people what to do and not to do when your friend is hurting. 

One other thing that I loved about this book that I suspect is often overlooked is how well it approached the experience of finishing one's final year of high school and getting ready to move onto something different. Hermione is has been best friends with Polly since they were little, but both know and prepare themselves for the big changes that will happen when each heads off to a different university. There's no TV-style "we'll all go to the same home-town college!" cop-out here. The girls accept that change is a thing that has to happen, and they quietly prepare themselves.

Amanda Kordeliski

Excellent read but I think the neat and tidy ending will keep it from being a serious Printz contender.

Sheila

So if Bring It On had a sexual assault plotline, it would be this book. I loved it!

It's obvious that this book is far more 'neat' than other books on this topic in this genre, but I appreciate it for that very fact. Honestly, this book should serve as a kind of handbook for "How to Handle A Sexually Assaulted Friend/Relative". Everyone around Hermione was supportive in their own way: from her parents to her cheer team, her therapist, and even the OPP police woman who was on the case. It almost doesn't help that this story is set in Ontario, because despite our PM and decades of socialized health care, it's not a utopia up here! 

The stand-out in this book is Hermione's best friend Polly. I wish everyone had a Polly in their life, because she is the best friend everyone deserves. Johnston writes their scenes together so lovingly, a feature that was evident in her other book A Thousand Nights. Hermione's ability to move past what happened to her wasn't only the fact that she largely couldn't recall the rape itself, but also because she had Polly there holding her up the whole way. ;~;

Caroline Lewicki

I absolutely loved this book and think it is important considering everything going on in the world and our country right now. However, I do feel that it was almost too perfect. Hermione Winters is raped and everyone is so accepting of it, aside from a small handful of encounters she has with people who aren't even that upset or reacting inappropriately. I don't necessarily feel that the book depicts a realistic sexual assault survivor's situation. The book also deals with abortion, which also seems to go off without a hitch. The book lacked some of the deeper emotions I would expect from a young adult novel dealing with some incredibly tough topics.

Jen Estrella

Maybe he is starting to understand. I don't really care, though. I do not want to be anyone's model for becoming a better person.

One word: Empowering

Claire

b.andherbooks

Hermione, cheer captain, senior, and all-around hardworking go-getter, is raped during summer cheer camp. She doesn't really remember what happened as she was given a drugged drink, but this is the story of how she reclaims her life.

For me, the story was very clinical. Everything progressed very smoothly and naturally, which I am sure happens sometimes, but unfortunately for a lot of others is not the case.

Hayley 📖🌈💜🌸

Apparently it's Finish Reading Really Good Books In The Middle Of The Night Week. 

This was one of the best books I've read in such a long time. The characters, the writing, the cover even! It was so easy to sink into this book, I read it in one sitting and I am overwhelmed by how good it was. 

Do yourselves a favour, and read this one if you get a chance. It's not an easy subject, but it's important. And this is a new look at it, it sheds a different light on a difficult subject and shows that there's more than one way of dealing with things. 

Also, I'd like to say that Polly is officially the best BFF to have ever BFF'd.



Reread: 14-15/2/17 (finished at 2am)
UGH THIS BOOK.
I am thoroughly impressed by this book again. A++.
Though I will add a trigger warning this time: the "not easy subject" matter is rape. I don't know why I didn't just say that in my original review. 

Polly continues to be the best BFF fictional or otherwise. (With Mallory being a close second in this particular book.)