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YA Review: I Stop Somewhere by Te Carter

Title: I Stop Somewhere
Author: Te Carter
Year Published: 2018


Genre: YA fiction
Pages: 298
Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Location (my 2019 Google Reading map)USA (NY)

FTC Disclosure: I bought this with my own money

Summary (from the inside flap of the book): Ellie Frias disappeared. Long before she vanished. Tormented throughout her freshman year with a new look: she doesn't need to be popular; she just needs to blend in with the wallpaper.

But when the unthinkable happens, Ellie finds herself trapped after a brutal assault. She wasn't the first victim, and now she watches it happen again and again. She tries to hold on to her happier memories in order to get past the cold days, waiting for someone to find her.

The problem is, no one searches for a girl they never noticed in the first place.

Review: This book is intense. It deals with issues that are tough to read about: sexual assault, lying, victim blaming, and more.

While these things are difficult to read about it is so important for authors to get these stories out there; for teenagers to read about them, to know they are supported if they have experienced something similar. 

Ellie is a sympathetic character. She is lonely, unsure, and a prime target for the boy who "chooses" her and others like her. It's easy to be the popular boy, the one with money, confidence, and an untouchable family.

I don't normally quote from books I read, but this line stood out to me as powerful. There were numerous other lines as well, but they give away to much of the story for me to include them.

"They targeted us because they thought we were weak. But even the weakest girl has powers inside her. She maybe just needs a little guidance to find it."

Challenges for which this counts: 

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