Whidbey

At its heart, this is the story of 3 young women processing their trauma of sexual abuse at the hands of the same man. When the young man is found dead of a hit and run, it reopens all the wounds of the past. But there's so much more to this book, which is told from multiple POVs. Dark and at times, darkly funny, I wasn't sure I wanted to finish it. But I'm glad I did because wow, that ending really tied it all up. There is just so much to process after reading it, and reflecting, I think the plot and the way the author rolled it out is just brilliant. Great character development made it shine. You might feel like giving up, but don't. It just may be the best book you read this year.

This is the tale of sexual abuse of several young girls by a boy who isn’t much older. The characters are very well drawn and the plot is interesting. In places it is riveting, and in others it is very slow or confusing. It is often difficult to tell who is speaking, or if they are just thinking to themselves, as there are no quotation marks. The timeline shifts back and forth, which is fine. But, usually an author gives the reader a heads up that the story is moving to a different time period. Not so here. I read an advance copy, so it is possible these problems will be corrected in the final version. I received a complimentary copy of this book and chose to write a voluntary, unbiased review.

Whidbey deals with one of the most difficult situations around and does it with grace and dignity but it is still disturbing to read. Be sure to read the content warning before starting. The author has also written a memoir on the subject so has the credibility to write on this subject,Birdie is spending the summer at Whidbey Island, off the coast of Washington state, by herself, cutting herself off from society to deal with some major issues. There are multiple perspectives which provide insight into various situations. No quotation marks are used, which is not a style I enjoy and sometimes it was confusing as to whether we were in the present or a memory. While I can’t say this was an enjoyable novel, it was certainly compelling. The last section provided a twist with a good ending.Thanks to the author, NetGalley and Mariner Books for the opportunity to read and review this digital ARC.

Whidbey was not the book for me. It wasn’t the subject matter that proved a problem. I can deal with abuse, even violence, as long as it’s couched in fiction. However, the writing style and the characters didn’t appeal to me. It drove me crazy that the author chose not to use quotation marks. That made determining what was dialogue and what wasn’t a bit of a task, and I often found myself needing to double back to make things make sense. I felt that the book involved more telling than showing. That combined with the lack of quotation marks made for a slow, uninteresting read. The characters didn’t do much for me, either. While I sympathized with their situations, I couldn’t find much to like about them.This book centers on pedophilia and the effect it has on young children and early teens long term. There is focus on mental health and psychology, and how victims feel the lifelong loss of safety after facing human monsters.I found the book depressing, but of course, it is a depressing subject, so no surprise there. The failure of the legal system to bring justice and safety to children and young teens was truly heartbreaking. I fear that there’s far too much of that hidden in our society.This will probably be deemed a great read by many, and I understand that, but it wasn’t a book that I enjoyed.I received an advanced reader copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. I thank all involved for their generosity, but it had no effect on this review. All opinions in this review reflect my true and honest reactions to reading this book.

Lots of content that may need warnings, but for most women, we’ve been here before and we know the terrain. Strangely satisfying to feel vindicated in such odd ways, though—but I highly recommend this book. I feel better having read it, and that’s saying something.