#daisywhitney

This book was on many other bloggers' list of Best Back to School Books. I was curious, and so I decided to find out what it was about. This was a very difficult book to review... I'm still not sure I'm satisfied with it.

Summary (by Goodreads):

Some schools have honor codes. Others have handbooks. Themis Academy has the Mockingbirds.

Themis Academy is a quiet boarding school with an exceptional student body that the administration trusts to always behave the honorable way--the Themis Way. So when Alex is date raped during her junior year, she has two options: stay silent and hope someone helps her, or enlist the Mockingbirds--a secret society of students dedicated to righting the wrongs of their fellow peers.

In this honest, page-turning account of a teen girl's struggle to stand up for herself, debut author Daisy Whitney reminds readers that if you love something or someone--especially yourself--you fight for it.

My Thoughts:

Where shall I start? Something positive.

Alex is a very interesting character in the way that she views the world. She has her own way at dealing with things, and since she loves music so much, everything that happens to her she relates to some part of music. I found that deepened the character.

The tone and writing was okay. I found the fact that this was by a debut author really showed. This book could have been an onrush of emotion and pathos, but I found the plain, almost matter-of-fact retelling took away from the deepness of the book.

This book had a great theme: stand  up for yourself. It also explores a lot, trying not to ruin anything, 

The plot was severely lacking in some respects. The idea of The Mockingbirds had so much potential to be a symbol; to be more than just a band of students that solved crime in a boarding school, but I found the way it was written was too unrealistic. 

The Impact: This book had a powerful theme. Stand up for yourself... I think that's pretty much all I can say without ruining too much.

Conclusion: This was a book with a great theme. It explores some deep things, yet the writing is matter-of-fact enough so that you don't get emotional. I felt it had a lot of potential, and though it may not have been fully explored, it's still a noteworthy novel.