<i>I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.</i>

Urgh, this book's subject matter is troubling. Viciously attacked by a classmate, Seelie Stanton defends herself - and ends up killing her attacker - Shane Mayfield, a football star and the son of a judge. You can imagine how that goes over in her town. Seelie is arrested for murder. Despite bruises on her neck and obvious marks from the assault, she isn't believed. Power and the patriarchy threaten to prevail.

The book follows Seelie as she deals with the ramifications of what happened to her. It's a young adult book, which means that often Seelie acts in a wildly frustrating way. Though she did defend herself, she won't discuss it - which means that the police (who are already predisposed to not believe her) don't have all the information or evidence. Though I admit to forgetting what it's like being a teenager for the most part, I just wanted to shake her out of her unwillingness to stand up for herself.

A lot of the relationships felt very surface level as well. I would have loved more of an exploration of Seelie's relationship with her mother, for instance - who is portrayed as a cold, workaholic automaton. There's no real explanation for why these two are so at odds / disconnected.

Altogether, this book is an important read, and it sheds light on what happens when girls are attacked, how they often aren't believed, and how systems of power put in place will always try to protect themselves - at the expense of everyone else.

Thank you so much for the opportunity to read this book. I am unable to continue this book. Did not finish @ 15%

Unfortunately this book was not for me, it was a bit slower than I would like and it just didn't hold my attention. I am sure other people will love it!

I have to admit, I was surprised at how good this story was. I mean, I wasn’t expecting it to be bad. But I really didn’t anticipate it being a story I couldn’t put down. That’s exactly what it ended up being. Starts off with a brutal attack resulting in a self-defense killing. Then the victim gets arrested. There are legal elements thrown in along with the stories of the teens involved. I enjoyed all of the main characters, and I loved the underlying themes. There are also a couple of little twists to keep things interesting.

Although I have distanced myself from YA stories for the past few years, this was a really good book. I found Seelie's story to be engaging and a different way of telling about a narrative that is still so important to be talked about. I did think she acted quite immature at times, purposefully making the lives of people who longed to help her harder, but again - this is a YA book, with a teen protagonist and sometimes teenagers are just like that. I think overall this is a good book for older teens.

I seem to have requested a great deal of books about violent assault, and then being unpleasantly surprised when i finally read them. I am an assault/abuse survivor, myself, and I think my problems with the book stem wholly from my own experience. This book is eloquently written and interesting, if a little rushed at the end.
2 stars

Definitely a tough subject to read but it is written with taste and class. A brutal attack. This is the story of the victim from her perspective. Her bravery and strength. But is it the whole truth ? is it even true at all ? Very interesting read.

I received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher North Star Editions in exchange for an honest review.

I have such mixed feelings about this book. My Whole Truth is the story of Seelie, a girl who murders a boy called Shaun after being brutally attacked by him. Seelie is then drawn into a court battle, with half the town thinking she's a cold-blooded killer and the other half turning a blind eye. With perhaps one of the worst mothers I have ever read about barring actual physical abuse, Seelie has only her close friends for support.

So much of this book I really liked. I loved the message of found families being as important (if not more so) than real families. It was really engaging and well-written throughout, I think the pacing was spot on and I couldn't predict exactly where the story was going which kept me hooked. There were however sadly a few issues.

Firstly, there is a female-female romance in this which would be awesome if it didn't come out of nowhere. It genuinely wasn't until a line about halfway through where the character goes 'we could be something more' that I realised this was meant to be a romance and not a friendship. Given I'll ship characters in queer relationships at the drop of a hat, this was a little odd.

Secondly, the main character makes a HUGE dumb decision. I can't talk about it in detail but it is baffling when it happens, continues to be baffling for the rest of the book and is even more baffling at the end. I don't understand the main character's actions at all and so it just comes across to me as a bad decision at every point. And not a bad decision that the narrative acknowledges either. This is the reason this book got a much lower rating than I would have otherwise given it. I could not get over this thing which seemed to happen purely because of plot contrivance.

Overall, My Whole Truth is an excellent attempt to deal with very different subject matter. It doesn't shy away from the topic it has chosen and, for the most part, I was invested in the characters and plot. I just think if the main character's motivations could be described a bit better, that would turn a good book into a great one.


Overall Rating: 3.5/5 stars

This book was surprisingly very different then I thought it would.
The story is about the a assault victim who is charged with a murder. The story and the characters were developed.
Just the ending was bit to fast.

"Seventeen-year-old Seelie Stanton never wanted to kill someone. She never wanted to be invisible in her own family, never wanted to crush on her best friend Alyssa, and she definitely never wanted to know how effectively a mallet could destroy someone’s head."

My Whole Truth is a well written emotional story with a very timely message. The opening scene grabs your attention and keeps you interested even when Seelie gets on your last nerve by not speaking up for herself. The author does a great job of helping you to understand Seelie's reasoning for not speaking up for herself. The trial was very realistic and could have turned out much worse for Seelie the redemptive ending makes up for some of the tension the reader experiences during the trail.

This powerful, book has left me completely speechless. A strong, brave story. that had kept me in suspense from beginning to end.

This book was a thorough explanation of victim-blaming, especially if that victim is a woman. Even though she was clearly attacked and killed her attacker in self-defense, she is painted as a murderer. It's frustrating, and if you already get rage about white male privilege (like I do), it will piss you off. A strong debut!

As if being a seventeen year old isn't difficult enough ... factor in being attacked by a much older boy, keeping a secret from your best friends and family, grieving for your dad and then being catapulted into the spotlight of a murder trial when all you've done is try to defend yourself. My Whole Truth explores the frailty and magic of deep seated friendships and contrasts that with the entitlement of the rich to pervert justice and bully the underdog. If you enjoyed 13 Reasons Why, you will enjoy this nuanced portrayal of teen life when tragedy and trauma strike in one fail swoop. I read this in one sitting. I loved the fact that the charcaters were flawed and vulnerable. I loved the different ways their strengths were shown and most of all I loved the message ... Anyone can be a hero!

This book was just okay for me. Since I can't possibly understand what she is going through, it isn't fair for me to judge the actions in the book. But it just seemed like every social issue was thrown to Seelie in the book and so it wasn't really believable.

A heart wrenching, appallingly accurate story. As heartbreaking as I was, I could believe that America would put this poor girl on trial which made the story all the more poignant. My heart was genuinely pounding whilst reading the pages leading up to a the verdict. Brilliant.

This is a book that needs to be read and talk about. I received this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion. Mischa does an excellent job telling us the story of Seelie she is a young woman that in the first chapter of this book is brutally attacked and needs to defend herself not only is she a survivor but a fighter who needs to still deal with people treating her horribly and this aside from her healing process not just physical but also mentally. We get to meet her support group her faction as they referred to themselves I love this characters and cant help but to say go girl to Cara who is her lawyer. To all the Seelies out there you are a survivor you are a warrior you deserve the best!

I loved this book! It was different to most i had read before just with the premise of thr story but really glad i had got the chance to read it! This was a fast paced, page turning book that i found hard to out down, i finished it one day! Can’t wait to read more from this author!

This started out with a strong premise but quickly devolved into a circular narrative of the protagonist stressing out about being on trial. It could have given so much more commentary on rape culture, but it felt like it was holding back.

This chilling, realistic book is sometimes difficult to read, but that's also what makes it necessary and important. At the book's opening, Seelie has been raped and has already killed her rapist in self-defense, but it's not over yet, emotionally or legally. The book painstakingly tracks the emotions Seelie goes through and they will ring true for those who have experienced or are otherwise intimately familiar with sexual assault. For Seelie, matters are made worse by a completely unsupportive, berating mother, which allows her to seek more solace from her tight group of misfit friends. But even among her friends, we learn, things aren't all that they seem, and the repeated betrayals that occur cut the reader as much as they cut Seelie.

But the book also reveals the power of love, forgiveness, and acceptance in unexpected and lovely ways. An LGB relationship becomes prominent, but it never becomes the focal point of the novel or feels as though its there for the sake of being LGB. Rather, it simply is the way things are, and that's what makes it special. It's difficult to say too much without giving away spoilers or major plot points, but suffice it to say that "My Whole Truth" gets at the truth of sexual assault, self-defense, relationships, friendships, mother-daughter dynamics, and similar messy things in life without becoming heavy-handed or stretching belief thin. The twists and turns that occur don't feel unrealistic and fit well into the narrative.

One of the things I loved most about this book -- and what I think makes it especially important in today's age -- is something I can't say without giving away a major spoiler, but I'll say this: it deals with a politically sensitive topic that rarely gets discussed at all in teen literature, and even when it is, it's almost never cast in the light it is in this book, and it's a good thing that this book shows a different side to the narrative that many teens likely hear on this issue. (I actually cannot think of a single YA book that has ever dealt head on with this issue, much less taken the direction it does in this book.) I wish I could say more on that, but suffice it to say this is an important book that I'm grateful is available for teens.

Let's get down to it. Seventeen-year-old Seelie has just killed her high school's former basketball star, and the town Judge's son. Never mind the fact that he almost killed her. It's not like she ever planned on killing someone. She doesn't want to think about it, any of it, so you can bet she doesn't want to talk about it. Seelie is going to have to decide if some secrets need to be shared - especially when she's arrested for murder.

There's so much going on in this book. First, you have Seelie's assault. Second, you have the death of her attacker (pretty much on the same page). Then you've got Seelie's super-awesome-totally-devoted best friends and some of their secrets. There's also the crush that Seelie has on Alyssa (one of the best friends). Let's not forget the horrific relationship Seelie has with her mom - who is a legit bitch. Add in some drug dealing, bullying, lying, secret keeping, and teen angst, and you've got most of what's going on here. I mean, that's a lot. Thrace could've taken some of these concepts out, and still had an amazing book - perhaps an even better one.

There was a lot to love about this book, and a lot to make me wanna throw it across the room in frustration. Thrace did a great job of making me feel. Sometimes I felt understanding, sincerity, happiness, and other positive feelings. Other times I felt negative feelings and the desire to pull characters out of the book and beat the ever loving crapola out of them. I loved Lyssa as a kind of protector goddess, and how her and Seelie's feelings grow through the story. 

Thrace made this a character driven story, which is perfectly fine with me. However, there are aspects of the plot that felt forced. It's like Thrace wanted Seelie to experience certain things, so she justified questionable plot choices to make it happen. The way the crime scene was secured - or not so much, to the surprise in the court room. These things didn't read as believable. 

It's difficult to rate this. I liked Seelie and her friends, and I cared about their lives and circumstances, but the questionable plot problems and way too many angsty threads left me feeling very meh. 

I guess I'll settle with a "meh & 1/2" out of 5 (3.5).

Stefanie Rae