I normally don't read books written in verse, as it's not a format I particularly enjoy. However, I can't imagine this story being told any other way. The verse format was really able to get at the emotional core of Alicia's experiences and helps tell her story.

Dear Medusa needs to be required reading for all high schoolers.

This YA novel in verse hit me hard. I kept highlighting my favorite phrases, reading them again and again as I was filled with righteous feminist rage.

READ THIS BOOK.

Read it to become a better person. Read it to stop the wolves. Read it to save a life.

Trigger warning: sexual assault of a minor

This was a very interesting way to tell the tale. I've read stories written this way before and I think it adds a level of gut wrench to the pain expressed. Lovely.

This was so beautifully written and powerful and you could feel the emotions flowing off the pages. It is a story that needs to be out in the world.

Novel In Verse sounds like an easy thing to read but the depth and emotion that Olivia Cole presented made my body ache and my stomach turn.

It was at every juncture of the journey that I felt, wholly and unmoving.

The story though similar to many girls was also eliciting such anger that I can't put into words how somehow as a girl who's gone through something similar I felt vindicated.

Everyone needs to read this book. Such a powerful message, and it's all told through poetry. Easily one of my top reads for the year.

Alicia’s story is told in poignant, searing verse that gives readers insight into the background of her emotions that are jagged, raw, and at times numb. Like Medusa, she is blamed for the circumstances that have made her who she is,so she attempts to shift the narrative of the patriarchal toxic masculinity that surrounds her. Simply spectacular!

I requested Dear Medusa by Olivia A. Cole for two reasons. One reason is that I have a morbid fascination with stories about survivors of sexual abuse. Mostly, I requested an e-galley because I needed to read something written in verse for one of my year-long reading challenges. While I read one book in verse many years ago, I am not a fan of poetry and actively avoid it. So, I started Ms. Cole's novel in verse with trepidation. Thankfully, I loved every line.

As you might suspect, the subject matter of Dear Medusa is not easy, but I believe telling her story in verse helps ease some of the potential for triggers. The poem form of the novel means that Ms. Cole has to select her focus with care, and in Dear Medusa, she opts for emotion over action. Alicia is suffering, and not just from what was done to her by a beloved teacher a year ago. Her pain is palpable, as is her anger, longing, desperation, confusion, and self-loathing. She has no support network and is so alone that it hurts. Ms. Cole conveys all this in clear, concise lines that don't portray the actions as much as the occurring emotions or thought processes.

There is so much happening to Alicia. She sees herself as a pariah among her peers, tainted by her willingness to have sex and shamefully bearing the burden of being labeled the school slut. Then, there is the apparent trauma she still suffers after the abuse she suffered at the hands of a teacher. Her parents recently divorced, and her relationship with her brother is nowhere near as close as it once was. But the absolute worst thing you have to watch Alicia struggle with is her self-loathing, as seen in her willingness to make herself available to men who do not care about her age but only see her as a piece of meat willing to do whatever they want.

No matter what age you are when you read Dear Medusa, Ms. Cole's verse helps you remember how confusing it was to be a teenager. On the one hand, you are proud of your new, post-pubescent, more womanly body and want others to find you as attractive as you think you are. Yet, you find yourself getting attention from the wrong people or the wrong type of attention. Dear Medusa took me back to places I didn't want to go, remembering situations I don't want to remember and scenarios I experienced that look very different through a perspective lens. Younger readers will see themselves in Alicia, working through their confusion at the mixed messaging society continues to give young people identifying as women.

Dear Medusa is powerful in so many ways. Every page has at least one passage I want to remember, even though I do not typically collect quotes from books I read. The verse is so beautiful in its simplicity. Alicia is full of pain, and Ms. Cole ensures we feel every nuance. Dear Medusa is a novel I am so glad I took a chance to read because it will stay with me for a long time.

I loved this novel in verse that explores the traumas of existing in a female body at sixteen, woven with the interpretations of the myth of Medusa, in a form that gets to the core of the incoherent rage, shame, and devastation that follows sexual abuse and being labeled and punished by peers and family as a slut.

I am really into books in verse and this one didn't disappoint! In a nutshell, Dear Medusa is about a teenage girl who struggles after being sexually assaulted by one of her school's teachers. She feels so alone in the world but through her poetry and texts, we get a look at her thoughts as she makes new friends and breaks free from her fear. Several trigger warnings of sexual assault, racism, and gender identity phobias. Highly recommend it to teenagers and young adults.

I went back and forth about reading this for a long time. But I finally decided since its about Greek mythology. I really need to start reading the synopsis lol Because this was nothing like what I was expecting it to be.

Ok so first things first. When I saw this title I knew I needed to read it. I’m a huge fan of all things mythology. So when I saw this one, the need for it was immediate. But unfortunately, in this way, it didn’t actually deliver… I mean it did in the way that Medusa was assaulted, but Idk, I wanted more than that. But it wasn’t mentioned at all in the story but a couple of times. Idk, since it had that much of an impact (since it’s the actual title) I just thought it would have more of a presence in the story.

The writing style was what hooked me. I’m very open about the fact that I dont’ really like novels in verse lol But this one wasn’t bad. This was really moving and I was hooked from the beginning. I did have to slow down the narration, but it was because speeding it up shook the cadence up and it sounded weird. But the way it was written reduced me to tears, made my so angry I could have slapped someone, and even more emotions. I felt some of everything in this book. And that’s how I know I liked it.

I also didn’t like the ending. It was left too open. (This is also why I don’t like novels in verse. We can assume what happens, but novels n verse don’t always tell you all the details. And I’m just not one who likes to make decisions on books I’m reading. I like to be given all the facts and just sit and enjoy. I don’t wnat to have to work for it if that makes sense.

The narrator was the author. And that’s another win for me. The way the author just knows where they want to breathe, or stop, etc. It just makes sense to narrate your own work because you know how you want it to sound. And this one was no different. It was beautiful and haunting, and sad.

This book was not at all what I was expecting, but it was so good. Even to someone like me who isn’t even a real fan. This book was so important and very needed. I really hope students can find something in this book to help them should they need it.

Are you there, Medusa? It’s me, Alicia.

16 year old Alicia is acting exactly how you would expect a girl who was sexually assaulted by multiple men, including a teacher, to act. She quits everything she loves and ostriches the world. She’s angry and lonely. She folds into herself and the expectation of others. She figures that if everyone already thinks terrible things about her, then she may as well be doing those things. If people want to use her, she’ll use them right back. People, especially her classmates, make assumptions about her and treat her terribly and while she tries to ignore it, we all know it’s hard.

Her ex best friend, Sarah was unsupportive for many reasons, the main being that she blames religion for her bigotry and hypocritical judgements. She stops answering Alicia’s texts and deems her too poisonous to associate with. I would say no loss there. No use keeping those kind of people around anyway. Sarah is a monster and if there is a hell, I hope she gets a first class ticket.

Alicia finds other friends who love and care about her and help her figure out the feelings she has, even if inadvertently and without knowing anything at all. Good friends are so important and in a story of heartache, I loved that she had these people.

“I kind of like actual wolves. They’re endangered. I wish these were.”

This gives some light to the truth about men who prey on young teens and get away with it. It’s despicable and disgusting, but it’s out there. As women, we’ve all seen it. However, this tells that story is such a beautiful and heartfelt way. I was gutted hearing Alicia’s story and knowing that it happens far too many times.

It was so smart for the author to tell this story in verse-I think it makes it that much more powerful. The title is also genius- Dear Medusa- are you kidding me?! Love it.

Overall, this was fast paced, powerful, pointed and brilliant. ❤️🐍

#MeToo

Dear Medusa was so damn good and wanted more. I couldnt put this down even if I wanted to. I wanted this book to keep going

Dear Medusa. Our protagonist, Alicia Rivers, writes her journal entries and poetry to Medusa, wanting to channel the badass hero who can turn men to stone. Alicia falls into the “troubled teen” category, mostly because she is promiscuous. After being sexually abused by one of her teachers, Alicia finds that she feels better about sex when she is in control. Even if it’s not what others find romantic or socially acceptable, Alicia wants to rewrite her narrative and she is doing it one random sexual encounter at a time. Alicia wants, also, to believe that there are decent men out there. But when she stares back at them with a challenge in her eyes, she is almost always disappointed by their reaction: rarely do they ask how old she is and if they do ask, they don’t care.

It’s high school: sleeping around gains her a reputation. Gosh the rumors and name-calling made me sad. Especially when Alicia’s brother gets involved in some of the finger pointing, it hurt my soul.

This story is mostly sad. It’s adolescent angst at its finest. But there are redeeming moments with Alicia’s friendships. Her relationships with Deja and Geneva bring inspiration and warmth, a salve to my hurt spirit. And yet, I loved this so much. I don’t read many novels in verse, but the ones I have have all been exceptional. Dear Medusa follows that vein. And there is power, too. Highly recommended. Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

So many favorite lines:
“This world is full of wolves. I’ve already met worse wolves than Terry. Terry is just a dog. Running from a dog At this point, at this juncture in my career with wolves, feels like admitting I’m a rabbit when every day I feel more like a bull. Sometimes wolves hunt bulls and they win. But sometimes they get the horns.”

People always wonder what I was wearing. Why when it comes to girls and wolves do we let our brains look for reasons why she deserved to be prey before we notice his fangs?)

I give enough fucks to fill a thimble. My fucks are the empty side of the hourglass: I have none left, they have trickled down like sand.

…that if you welcome touch, you must also welcome blame,

In the movies there are two kinds of women: Ones who have sex and people still look them in the eye, and ones who have sex and people look through them.

Although I wasn’t embarrassed at first. When you’re fourteen and just realizing maybe someone thinks you’re beautiful you can mistake the sound of howling for a heart song.

Rumors are like wildfire: a little breath and the flames are running catching burning The only difference is wildfire burns everything in its path, and a rumor about a slut only burns one.

It is incredible to me that boys are allowed to be boys for so long, while girls are made women years before we’re ready.

She’s the kind of person who carries a torch in her face. Every smile is electric…

Let me tell you a list of things that don’t exist: Flying pigs Dinosaurs——at least not anymore
Zombies
The Queen of Canada
Freddy Krueger
and
Sluts.

if all these things we talked about periods and body-shaming and hormones and gender roles or whatever and racism and slut-shaming if these are all weapons formed against us then we’re helping them prosper when we turn them against each other.

Alicia: Do you ever feel like if you have to balance one more thing on your head, everything will come crashing down
Geneva: Sometimes. But you know what the answer is when you feel like that?
Alicia: No
Geneva: Handing something to someone to hold;)
Alicia: I don’t think your hands are big enough
Geneva: Then maybe we can just put it down
Alicia: Or burn it
Geneva: Burning it is always an option

Dear Medusa is a book that is emotional and a glimpse at the sexism, privilege, and pains of growing up. Of the 'monstrosity' and the defense mechanism, the ways our body is weaponized or portrayed without our consent. I've been a fan of Olivia A. Cole for a few books now, and I knew I had to read this one! It's rage inducing because of how relatable certain scenes are: the predatory nature of some men, the ways they can be wolves in disguise, and how we can want to speak out, but are afraid.

Beautifully written! This novel in verse is everything that you would expect from a book written like this. You can feel the pain the shame the anger and the loneliness of the character. You can feel the hurt and how alone she feels in this cruel world. Loved it!

This was a really stunning book and especially translated well via audio. I've seen some other reviews talking about how it felt stilted when reading it in verse and I didn't experience that when listening to it. I did have it at a fairly fast speed so that probably plays a part in it but just something to consider if you choose to read this book.

It's a heavy one that has its central focus on sexual assault. I do wish that the Medusa aspect had been more fleshed out and discussed along with the main characters relationship with her mom and brother, but there were so many parts of the stuff that I really really liked. One of my favorite bits was that of her friend and figuring out her asexuality and discussing it. Our main character is bisexual and her best friend is asexual and I loved seeing The Ace and Bi comparisons regarding expectations and stereotypes because there's so much crossover that's wild. I also really loved the group facilitated by a researcher full of girls learning how to not only stand up for themselves but dismantle these systems that are put in place to pit women against each other and oppress us further for the benefit of men. I feel like there were a lot of great topics brought up during that and I would have liked to see it as a larger part of the story.

As a whole I think this is a very important book and one that I would recommend with the caveat that sexual assault is a very large content warning.

Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC.

I love books in verse and had high hopes for this YA novel on some really tough topics. Unfortunately, maybe it was the overall length, it never quite worked for me. Parts of it was moving and heart wrenching and then others I felt came off disjointed and almost confusing.

Nonetheless, I’d recommend.

Dear Medusa is a novel in verse about 16 yo Alicia Rivers. I didn't know much about this book when I started it, and it may the best way to read it in my opinion, but TW for: slutshaming, sexual abuse, rape (not on page), abuse by a man in power, sexual assault, racism, lesbophobia...

While I did receive an ARC of this through Netgalley, I ended up listening to the audiobook cause reading with my eyes has been a challenge these past weeks.
Anyway, the audiobook is narrated by the author and it was really good. It's also a pretty fast read but it's definitely a heavy one. I did like the verse of it all, it made it go straight to the point and I enjoyed that. The main character was really layered and I found her very interesting but overall, I thought this did lack a little depth. Maybe it was a bit too short even. I didn't feel all the things I thought I would but also, maybe I disconnected cause it hits a little bit too close to home on some fronts. So, don't trust me, and go read this. It's definitely one of a kind.
This was barely a review, let's blame it on my work schedule.

This meant a lot to me. I think sexual assault and trauma can happen to anyone, at any age, but this author speaking from 16 year old Alicia's pov really gave this particular trauma a strong voice.

Alicia's whole life changed after being sexually assaulted by a popular teacher. The girl who ran track and wanted a future was gone, but throughout this story told in verse, Alicia does regain her strength. Particularly with the help of other girls, other strong girls that show her that she is worth fighting for.

I loved the tie-in with Medusa, particularly the ending. I have heard and read many variations on Medussa's story at this point, and it has become so clear to me that she was not the monster in her tale. I am so thankful to all the strong people out there, including this author, writing these stories and helping everyone no matter where they are in life with a problem that is so much more common than what I believe many people think.