Name: ree's review of The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed
Item: The Nowhere Girls
Rating: 4.5
Author: ree

Amy Reed

'Empowering, brutally honest, and realistically complex' Buzzfeed 'A call-to-action to everyone out there who wants to fight back' Bustle 'With a powerful message about consent on the one hand and a diverse range of female protagonists and attitudes towards sexuality on the other, this is an engrossing and inspiring read . . . One of my absolute favourites of 2017' Irish Times Who are the Nowhere Girls? They're every girl. But they start with just three: Grace, the preacher's daughter who unwittingly moved into the old house of a victim whose pain adorns the walls. Bold Rosina, whose heart has become hardened by all of the straight girls who broke it. And misunderstood Erin, the girl who finds more solace in science and order than she does in people. They are brought together by the idea of changing the narrative of a girl they had never met, Lucy Moynihan, the victim of a sexual assault who was victimised further by people who found it easier to believe she had cried wolf than to confront what had really happened to her. A girl who, through the course of one evening, went from an excited teenager who felt wanted by a boy for the first time, to someone else entirely, with 'a voice in the darkness, giving her a new name: Slut'. Together, they form the Nowhere Girls, and decide to avenge the rape of a girl none of them knew. 'At once harrowing and heart-lifting, it's both an indictment of entrenched victim-blaming and a demonstration of what can happen when girls lay aside their differences to demand better treatment' the Guardian

The Nowhere Girls

"Three misfit girls come together to avenge the rape of a girl none of them knew and in the process start a movement that transforms the lives of everyone around them"--

It is all the girls, all their voices, calling out as loud as they can. 

They burn through darkness. They brand the night. 

He sees them as he has never seen them—a group, solid and formidable, and so much bigger than him. 

... and the giggles turn into laughter, then into something else entirely, a sound without definition, something born out of so many weeks', months', years', so many lifetimes' worth of held breath finally expelled, so many clear voices restored, feeding one another, building and growing until the station explodes in cheers so loud there is nowhere left for silence to hide. 

The Nowhere Girls are here. They are everywhere. 

A small glimmer of gratitude pulses through her, like one single heartbeat, and it is more than enough. This is the scale of their love. 

"You're always fighting," Mami says, her pleading eyes burning into Rosina's. "You want to fight everything."

"That's not true," Rosina says, but softly, without conviction. 

"Someday, you're going to lose," Mami says. "You're going to get hurt." 

"Maybe," Rosina says. "But when that happens, do you want to be the one hurting me?" 

Rosina can't help but smile at the sight of her friend—such a small, tidy movement of the lips to express something so huge inside, such a tiny gesture to reveal this bursting of love and pride. 

rosinaaaa, i'm so!!!!!!! you get me saur bad. 

Something so intimate, something so primal, as a mother rocking her wounded child. (...) Could Rosina trust her own mother to love her?

Maybe she wishes she had a god she could pray to right now. 

... but nothing will ever be as hard as that night. You already survived that You can survive anything now. 

What's the point of meeting her rage with more rage? What's the point of fighting someone who's always angry no matter what happens?

You are not even important enough to scream at anymore.

A tiny spark ignites inside her, a soft voice finds its way through her depths, through the previously empty expanses that are slowly filling, through the place in her throat where so many thousands, maybe millions, of words have gotten stuck over time. 

She wonders if all growth has to hurt. She wonders if change always requires some kind of pain from someone. 

But just because she's mot helpless doesn't mean she doesn't need help. 

She felt her body, but not what was inside it. She was something empty, something that had not yet been filled, something waiting to know what it's made out of. 

And if the court says she was incapable of saying no, what does that mean for her capacity to say yes?

Silence does not mean yes. No can be thought and felt but never said. It can be screamed silently on the inside. It can be in the wordless stone of a clenched fist, fingernails digging into palm. Her lips sealed. Her eyes closed. His body just taking, never asking, never taught to question silence.

He was born knowing how to give pleasure. But did he know how to feel it? Was he programmed to feel fear? To feel the merging of these two opposite emotions until there was no more pleasure left. (as he prayed to a god he didn't even believe in to please make it stop)

You can always cram the wrong piece into the puzzle hole if you push hard enough and limit your definition of "fitting".

The sea's rhythms were constants, predictable and comforting, while everything else was changing in the life of a girl who abhorred change. 

She has no place for comfort, no place for refuge, no place that feels like home. Her house is still a mess of half-emptied boxes. Her room is full of a lost girl's screams. 

Even our whispers can send ripples that will spread farther than we could ever imagine reaching. One small kindness in a sea of cruelty, one word of truth among lies, these are the seeds that can change the world. 

But Grace's heart aches a selfish ache, an ache that shames her, as she wishes the smile was meant for only her and not all these stranger. 

allie

i decided to read this after watching the series "get even" and i really enjoyed it! the message is truly strong and important and i loved the characters. the author's writing style is also very similar to mine and it's my first time reading something like it so !! not perfect but i believe it's a must reaaddd <3 i totally can envision this being a show.

Jule

I loved this book. I finished it within a couple of days. The issues discussed in here are crucial and essential and need more attention. 
However, I disliked the character constellations. The character were flat and I sort of got the feeling the author was trying to hard to include a wide variety of characters without enough research on it. I wished for a more sensitive depiction of a young woman's life with Hispanic roots & a girl's life characterised by Asperger Syndrome. I acknowledge the attempt to include minorities but it backfired a little bit for my taste. To me the 3 protagonists and also the victims seemed to be rather flat than internally developing. 

Nonetheless, an important book with a crucial message for every gender out there.

“A call-to-action to everyone out there who wants to fight back.” —Bustle “Scandal, justice, romance, sex positivity, subversive anti-sexism—just try to put it down.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Cuts straight to the core of rape culture—masterfully fierce, stirring, and deeply empowering.” —Amber Smith, New York Times bestselling author of The Way I Used to Be Three misfits come together to avenge the rape of a fellow classmate and trigger a change in the misogynist culture at their high school transforming the lives of everyone around them in this searing and timely story. Who are the Nowhere Girls? They’re everygirl. But they start with just three: Grace Salter is the new girl in town, whose family was run out of their former community after her southern Baptist preacher mom turned into a radical liberal after falling off a horse and bumping her head. Rosina Suarez is the queer punk girl in a conservative Mexican immigrant family, who dreams of a life playing music instead of babysitting her gaggle of cousins and waitressing at her uncle’s restaurant. Erin Delillo is obsessed with two things: marine biology and Star Trek: The Next Generation, but they aren’t enough to distract her from her suspicion that she may in fact be an android. When Grace learns that Lucy Moynihan, the former occupant of her new home, was run out of town for having accused the popular guys at school of gang rape, she’s incensed that Lucy never had justice. For their own personal reasons, Rosina and Erin feel equally deeply about Lucy’s tragedy, so they form an anonymous group of girls at Prescott High to resist the sexist culture at their school, which includes boycotting sex of any kind with the male students. Told in alternating perspectives, this groundbreaking novel is an indictment of rape culture and explores with bold honesty the deepest questions about teen girls and sexuality.

Denaiir

4.5 to 5 stars, I can't decide because I started this book months ago and just stopped reading when I was on vacation. I only picked it up today (I was about 35% in) and finished it and LOVED IT!
The writing is good (one thing that was a bit annoying was that in dialogue the author kept writing "blabla, X says. Blabla, Y says. Blabla, X says" so it became quite repetitive. However, apart from that I enjoyed the writing style which was flowing pretty well. 
I loved all the characters who were very different from one another and really had their own personalities. None of them were annoying and the plot was gripping.
I read it shortly after Beartown and it has a similar subject but I loved this one a lot more.

Alexa M

Ana Paula

Please check tw before reading, there are quite a lot of details at times so be aware of that pls!🥺

You know Moxie? I´ve never read the book but did watch the movie when it came out on Netflix earlier this year...but I´m sure, not an ounce of doubt, this is what Moxie wanted to be. 
A group of girls starting something the town they lived in really needed (change and unity). There´s no singular main character, there are no silly tandrums or exaggerated egos that take away from the importance of the topics being discussed (mainly SA)

Yes, it felt slow at times; but honestly, if the book had felt like a light-comedy show from intro. to epilogue then the author would´ve done an awful job. I am so glad that my heart ached in every chapter.

Eszter Baranyi

Very good. Had a really important message but still managed to be realistic. The characters were great, I especially liked Erin, finally a good, genuine female autism representation

Jo Young

EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS BOOK! I absolutely loved this book. The spark and fire of these girls who want things to change is encouraging and amazing. The story and characters were so well fleshed out and intricate, in particular I liked Erin’s character and found her very interesting.

Carley Whitehead

"The thing is," Rosina says, "People don't want to hear something that'll make their lives more difficult, even if it's the truth. People hate having to change the way they see things. So instead of admitting the world is ugly, they shit on the messenger for telling them about it."


4.5 stars. Not perfect, but still incredible and engaging.

Sahi K

** spoiler alert **
           WOW!!!!! This book just left me speechless, with goosebumps and a lot of thoughts swirling in my head. I’m not sure if I can express anything properly in this review but I’m definitely going to try.

Grace is a white Christian girl who is new to the town of Prescott after her minister mother is forced out of her old church for preaching about a more progressive version of Jesus. Now, all she wants is to live her life in high school without making any waves and probably find some normal friends. Rosina is queer latina teen who wants more from her life than just working her ass off at her uncle’s restaurant and taking care of her cousins. She also feels very invisible and insignificant for being a poor brown lesbian girl in a small town. Erin is a very smart socially awkward girl who wants to be a marine biologist learning about the numerous life forms living under the water. She has Asperger’s syndrome and she follows her own rigid set of rules to get through every day and finds solace in watching Star Trek. She is very empathetic and hopes that she could be void of her emotions like her favorite android character because she wants to escape the emotional overload that she feels sometimes.

When these three girls come together to do something to bring justice to Lucy – a rape survivor who was bullied and shamed and denied justice – the “Nowhere Girls” are born. But this book and the group are not just about this one issue. Through the group, all the girls come together, have discussions about their lives and choices, their expectations, their need to be seen and valued and loved as equals. This book is about so much more:

A girl who believes in her faith and prays to find purpose in her life and do good.
A girl who wants to forget all the trauma that she has experienced and just get through the day in a normal way.
A girl who is conflicted about loving her family that is also suffocating her dreams.
A girl who is resigned to faking it while being with a guy because she believes she is worthless and her “no” means nothing.
A girl who enjoys sex and is confident enough to ask for what she wants.
A smart girl who wants to look and dress pretty but believes that she has to choose between beauty and brains.
A cheerleader with a love for dancing who can’t get behind the idea of her body being on display and judged for it.
An athletic girl who is stereotyped as a lesbian and goes so unnoticed that she believes even being taken advantage of might be better.
A closeted trans girl worried if she would be accepted by the group of girls in her school.
A black girl tired of white feminism which is so indifferent to her struggles.
The patriarchy that treats women as second class citizens only good for serving men.
The culture that perpetuates the notion that women like being with a strong man, women dressed a certain way are asking for it and excuses the actions of boys “for being boys”.
The hypocrisy of being called a slut for enjoying sex while being named a prude for not putting oneself out there.
The men who don’t call out the sexism and misogyny around them because they don’t want to lose their friends.
The men and women who would do anything to maintain the status quo and not ruffle any feathers.
The parents who believe their kids and fight for the truth alongside them.
The parents who are complicit in furthering the misogynistic attitudes in their kids.
This book made me think a lot, question my own beliefs and attitudes and actions till date and what I can do better in my life. It also reaffirms the need for listening to the victim, stop blaming them and female solidarity. Though it is unfortunate that this book seems so realistic in this day and age, but this is the world we live in and I recommend everyone to read this book and introspect.

Jessica Williamson

3.75

Hard trigger warning for rape and sexual assault. 

I'm almost at a loss for words on this one so, I'm going to go very formulaic here.

What worked: 

Three diverse main characters. 

Grace is a chubby, white, Christian who is a refreshing take on this character type. Her story, her character growth had nothing to do with her weight, it was just a fact. And though she came from a very backward Christian upbringing, she was an openminded intelligent young woman. 

Rosina is both Latina and likes girls (I don't recall the book stating her actual sexual orientation). She has a pretty typical family life for someone with a family business and more cousins than they can count (at least it's accurate in my experience). And while she's angry on the outside, she's soft and mushy on the inside.

Erin has Aspergers and could be described as Androgynous. Erin is not your stereotypical character on the Spectrum. I enjoyed reading about her character the most because it's so different from what I'm used to seeing in YA.

The girl power! Not only do you have these three women, but a full cast of women who each bring something different. You have jocks, stoners, uber-Christians, drama queens, and student body president all mingling together. This book is pure evidence of what could happen if we teach young women that supporting others doesn't hurt yourself. Teach them that we are stronger together. Look, Mean Girls had it right, calling each other whores and sluts just makes men think it's okay to talk to us that way. We should empower each other, not tear each other down.

The heart-to-hearts these girls had. It supported my theory that no one answer about when and with who to have sex is the right answer for everyone. It's going to be different for everyone and just because their choice is different, doesn't mean it's wrong.

What didn't work: 

The Audiobook. The narrator did not work for me here. 

The "us" viewpoint. Once I realized what was going on it got a little easier to understand but it was a little difficult in the beginning because I kept trying to assign the "us" attributes to the three MC's and then I couldn't remember what happened to whom.

The cover. Normally I don't talk about the covers in the reviews, but I do rate the cover in my overall rating so it should be noted that I have no idea what this cover has to do with the book. 

So let's get into a couple of other things, shall we?

While I grew up Christian, as a teen I started studying religion and ended up somewhere in the Pagan realm. Typically I like to be warned ahead of time that a book is going to have a heavy "churchy" feel to it. However, if I had known how much Grace's character hinged on her religion, I might not have read this book. I was pleasantly surprised by the open-mindedness of Grace and her mother and those members at their church. I also hadn't expected it to fit the story so well. It wasn't just a part of Grace's character, it was a part of the plot and it worked.

Lucy. That rape scene. I was not emotionally prepared for that scene. As I sit here thinking about how pissed off and disgusted I was after reading it, I'm actually tearing up. While reading I simultaneously wanted to punch someone and cry. It just disgusts me so much to know that there are people like this in the world. Not just men, but people in general. That there are people that could think they have the right to inflict this much violence on another person. 

Let's bring this back around shall we. 

I really enjoyed this book. I think it should be required reading in high schools. Not only did it show the vileness of some men, but it also showed that other men can be compassionate. It shows girls what they can accomplish if they work together and support one another. I am all for this book.

Yanelle Ruby

Moon of Pages

4/5 stars

This book really took me by surprise, it wasn't even on my tbr, I just stumbled upon it and started reading it, and I am so happy I did that!

It was such an inspiring story that everybody should read, I've never read a book about rape culture before and it's a very hard topic but it was somehow represented in a beautiful way.
I also really liked that in the story, the girls stick together, no matter how different they are from each other, they all stand together and face the same fear as one team.

“Silence does not mean yes. No can be thought and felt but never said. It can be screamed silently on the inside. It can be in the wordless stone of a clenched fist, fingernails digging into palm. Her lips sealed. Her eyes closed. His body just taking, never asking, never taught to question silence” 

This book also made me hate men a little more than I already did before but oh well :D The guys in this book were just horrible in every way of the definition. I did like Otis and Jesse and I was happy that they didn't make all the boys in this story douchebags. 

The characters were so amazing in this book, I really felt for them and I liked that they were so diverse and unique in their own kind of way. I think I liked Erin the most, I also like her bond with her dog spot, and how he can really calm her down. I also think she grew so much throughout the story, I felt really proud of her that she felt confident to talk about everything at the end. 
I liked that Rosina was both a very strong, independent woman but also very sensitive and sometimes afraid of what would happen. Grace was very fierce and brave and I adored that she wouldn't give up until she accomplished what she wanted.

When I was reading this book it went so fast, I was never able to put it down and I never felt like I had to push myself to continue.

I did want to see a little bit more of Erin and Otis and I really wanted to know who the two of them would grow more to each other, but besides that, this book really did something with me and I would recommend this to anyone, it has such an important message and it is really really good!

“You save yourself or you remain unsaved.”

Paulina 

Takich książek brakowało, gdy dorastałam. Takie książki powinny czytać osoby nastoletnie. Może wtedy coś zmienimy

Melissa Minshull

A powerful well written book that despite the dark themes of the book leave you hopeful after reading. A must read

All the stars in this world for this book!

Alexia Cambaling

Trigger warning/s: Rape and Sexual Abuse

What an incredibly powerful book. The Nowhere Girls is up there on my list of feminist books every girl should read. This tells the story of violent misogyny and sexism rooted in the culture of a small town and especially entrenched in its high school. It tackles the power structures that enable abuse to happen and abusers to commit them and the peer pressure that causes people to turn a blind eye and mock victims of abuse and even say that they asked for it or are looking for attention. It tackles the fact that while these girls, these women may be believed in private, they are derided for having the courage to tell their truth.'

Most of all, this tells the story of the girls who said enough is enough and decided to go against this rape culture and fought back. Girls like you and me hailing from different backgrounds with their own sets of issues and problems that they face in school, at home, or in their social life. The book follows three girls- Grace, Erin, and Rosina, as well as other girls in their high school, some named and some not and all of them have rich lives, their own struggles, and they are portrayed very well. The ‘Us’ chapters in this book was very powerful and those were my favorite parts.

The plot is about three friends who form a club called The Nowhere Girls which aims to take down the patriarchal and sexist culture in their high school. Along the way, they experience a lot of pushback, some from their peers, but most of it from adults. This part was a little heavy-handed for me and sometimes difficult to read. Almost every adult here, with the exception of the girls’ parents were against this club and basically reinforces the pre-existing culture.

I don’t get why adults wouldn’t prioritize the safety and comfort of these teen girls. It made me feel very angry and in that regard, I guess the heavy-handedness worked. I guess it was insane to me in the first place that everyone in this high school would know that the boys were rapists and sexual abusers, yet they’d still get away with it. It really does get difficult and the sense of outrage you get reading this book was very real.

I wouldn’t lie. This wasn’t an easy book to read. I had to put it down several times and reach for something else because it gets heavy. This is not a book that concerns itself with your comfort. It’s not a feel-good type of read. It’s not something you pick up because you want something light on a nice summer day. This book concerns itself with real ugly truths that society may try to hide. That’s what makes it powerful.

Most, if not all the characters in this book have been hurt in some way. All of them may carry scars that linger, scars that may take time to fully heal or never will. However, they continued to fight, they struggled because it’s what they have to do in order for them to be taken seriously, or to prevent the same hurt from happening to other people. The girls here, both the main and side characters are incredibly brave in their own way. Some of them may be entrenched within the power structures of their high school but even that doesn’t protect them.

There is a fictional blog in this book written by one of the male high school students, a rapist and sexual abuser. The blog is full of misogynistic and violently sexist comments that may be triggering for some readers. I think that this book is a must-read but I also understand that it may not be for everybody as it deals with sensitive issues.

Alyssa Jacunski

This is yet another book that initially came on my radar from BookTube. At some point in the last two years, I bought this off Book Outlet, and had never picked it up. This year I'm trying to read books that I already own and I am so glad I picked this up.

We follow a cast of strong female high school students who decide they're taking a stance against sexual assault. This was so well done! The varying perspectives we read from helped bring this full circle. Watching the characters grow as friends and human beings was amazing. 

Honestly, I can't help but gush about this book. It's a very important book for people to read. Sexual assault is all too common and I felt that the author handled the topic well. Don't get me wrong, it was difficult to read at points. But she handled it in a way that wasn't disrespectful, while also being incredibly realistic for so many people. It explores not being believed and shamed for being assaulted, while others may experience the opposite. It shows how sometimes all someone needs is to feel safe to tell their story. 

This book is not without its faults. I do wish that there was more exploration at the end for several of the characters. But otherwise, it wrapped everything up the way I wanted it. This is an important story that needs to be read. I am so happy that I read this and am telling all my friends to read it too.

Strong trigger warnings for rape and other forms of sexual assault.

Giulia 

Non pensavo che questo libro mi sarebbe piaciuto così tanto! Non è una storia semplice, tratta di molti temi pesanti ma senza essere troppo semplicistica, cosa che ho apprezzato molto. Le tre protagoniste princiapli mi sono piaciute e sono riuscita a immedesimarmi con qualche caratteristica di tutte loro. Probabilmente quella più vicina alla mia esperienza è Grace. 
In generale non ho critiche da fare, sarebbe stato bello vedere la preside strappata dal suo ruolo. Non posso credere che dopo quel finale le abbiano permesso di tenere il suo lavoro senza conseguenze.

Kate

Powerful, sickening, hard hitting and so incredibly important. 
This is not an easy read by any means but it’s painfully necessary. 

TW: use of homophobic & ableist slur, rape, racism, homophobia, sexual assault, sexual harassment, fatphobia, ableism, ableist language, deadnaming, fatphobia

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The Nowhere Girls by Amy Reed

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