This is a powerful story of a teenager girl, Alicia, whose entire world is shifted out of focus after being sexually assaulted by a popular teacher. This story is so important and I think it will resonate deeply with my students. As a novel in verse, it works better the second half of the novel than the first; the poetry doesn’t flow as well, which makes sense considering it follows Alicia’s journey to healing and justice.

This novel in verse was extremely well written. It covers some very tough issues such as sexual assault and abuse. For this reason I may not be for everyone, but I think it portrays a very powerful message in an easy to digest way.

I would definitely recommend this one, but highly advise checking trigger warnings and reading with care.

I received a copy from NetGalley for review.

So I really enjoyed the way that this is set up. Dear Medusa follows Alicia, a high school girl, who is trying to navigate life after she was sexually assaulted by a faculty member of the high school she goes to, loses her (what I can only assume is evangelical) best friend Sarah, and has to process her parents going through a pretty bad divorce. Throughout the story, which is told entirely in verse through Alicia's poetry, we learn about her life prior to the event and the fallout afterward with her entire being changing from no longer doing track, ending up in ISAP, and generally being destructive,

Throughout, we get this constant disparagement of men outside commenting about Alicia's body and the shame Alicia feels while telling Sarah about her experiences due to the extreme religious views that Sarah has was really hard to read through. As a woman, having gone through similar experiences with men growing up just really hit home while reading this book. I enjoyed that Deja and Geneva really play a huge role in getting Alicia out of her downward spiral and coming to terms with some of the things she's dealing with mentally.

This novel in verse portrays a 16 year old teens perspective of living through the trauma of having been sexually abused by an adult in her school. A very intense, read that details the thought journey of Alicia as she is forced to face her fears, ridicule and the bumpy road to life preservation as her mind sears in the aftermath of such an emotionally raw experience.

Book in verse, with characters you fall for. Ultimately will not recommend this book for teenagers as it is just a lot. The progressive (and I'm progressive, but this book is progressive squared) nature of open sexuality in teenagers is not something I can in good conscience recommend to my students.

By the end of this is didn’t mind it. But for the first 50% I thought about stopping and not finishing it often.
I thought a lot of what it had to say was very well written and had a lot of very impactful things. But it definitely was not a plot driven book.
Because it was such a slow book that was really I think what held me back from liking it, or feeling particularly strongly about it.
I think the topics touched on in the book were really important and that the issues were handled and wrote about in a way that would impact the audience well. But I don’t feel like in my specific space and time this was a book that I connected too.
It’s a book I did go ahead and buy for a friend though

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing this eARC.

Dear Medusa is a novel in verse which follows sixteen year old Alicia as she copes with sexual abuse and rebuilding her identity after trauma.

This was a heavy book that tackled a lot of difficult and powerful topics that left me feeling a sort of bittersweet heartache in the end. As hard as it was to watch the more difficult parts of Alicia's journey, overall I felt like the way the book addressed sexual abuse, grooming, homophobia, etc. was really solid, and it was great to see Alicia grow in a very realistic way.

The one aspect I struggled with was the format. Usually I love a novel in verse, and I think there were parts where I was really vibing with this one, but all too often I found the verse format to feel a little more disjointed than I would expect, and occasionally also a little overwritten. This is all ultimately pretty forgivable for me, since I think this book had so many other good things going on, but I might have found it more disruptive if I didn't have other reasons for wanting to finish the book.

Overall, this is a solid, hard-hitting, and important read, and I really wish I'd had this kind of story alongside all the Ellen Hopkins I was reading as a teen.

How often do victims of sexual assault feel as though they have become the monsters? How often do the abusers get away with their actions while those they harm face the blame—for what they said (or didn’t say), for what they were wearing, and so on? This book explores this very issue.

After experiencing sexual assault from a teacher she trusted, Alicia changes. She loses parts of herself, her hobbies, her friends, and her family. She endured bullying from her classmates and is labeled a troublemaker by her teachers; however, she is simply trying to overcome the pain she feels and find moments in her life that she can control.

This novel in verse is heavy and full of pain as it follows Alicia’s journey towards finding her freedom and healing as she builds a supportive community around her and learns to love herself once again by speaking up against the wolves in her world.

Dear Medusa uses stunning verse to tell the story of a sixteen year old girl, Alicia, who struggles in the face of being sexually assaulted by one of her school's most beloved teachers. It's a captivating read, one that will tear you apart.

Everything about this book makes me glad that it will be a book out there in the world to read. Alicia is a bisexual teenager who acts out in the only ways she knows how. She's misunderstood and struggles to let people see all the parts of herself. Alicia sees herself as the Medusa of her story: she's been sexually assaulted and now has to fight against the world to simply exist, to be labeled as more than just a monster. She hides her real feelings behind a wall of anger and indifference; she has sex with random guys to have some agency in her life; she cusses out her teachers in the face of their blatant prejudice.

Alicia feels so alone in the world, and it's easy to feel that along with her as you read her thoughts. Even when she makes friends with Deja, she closes off vital parts of herself. And really, that's probably one of the most real parts of the story — the fact that she has these people there for her, but she can't break free from her cycle of fear and hurt just because they exist.

There was also commentary on intersectional feminism throughout. There was discussion of race, of trans and queer women, of slut-shaming. Alicia approached every instance with such a strong will to accept her own privilege and apply the situations to her own life.

This is a book to be felt. It's hopeless and painful most of the time, but it's also a story of sexuality and finding yourself in the face of trauma. If you come into it with an open mind and really listen to Alicia, I think you'll be glad you read Dear Medusa.

Trigger Warnings: slut shaming, rape, grooming, racism, d-slur, lesbophobia, biphobia, sexual assault, harmful religious rhetoric, drug references, parental divorce

Alicia was sexually assaulted by her teacher, and has a lot of trauma and anger to process. This verse novel is a really effective representation of her coping mechanisms and thought process and the way she avoids parts of that trauma. It's also about finding new friends after the loss of her uber-religious best friend who she never told what happened. It's about finding strength in others and learning how to fight back against the men who are wolves. This was hard to read at times, but so well-written. I loved how Cole used texts as a way to let other characters voices come through in a narrative that is otherwise very tightly focused on its main character. I think the hardest thing about this book for me is that it felt like something I would have read in high school and it sucks how little the world has changed since then.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House/Labyrinth Road for the advanced reader copy.

This week’s headline? Everyone needs a friend or two

Why this book? Need something short to get out of a reading slump

Which book format? ARC

Primary reading environment? Train rides

Any preconceived notions? No

Identify most with? Alicia

Three little words? “one clean slice”

Goes well with? Curly fries, cruel notes left in lockers, ex-friendships

Recommend this to? People who are feeling isolated and alone

Other cultural accompaniments: https://thenerddaily.com/olivia-a-cole-author-interview/

Grade: 4.25/5

I leave you with this: “because sometimes in this place where I am it feels good to refuse help, because saying yes … feels like saying yes to to everything else when my whole life has become a pipe bomb full of pieces that explode in a furious no”

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Dear Medusa has such powerful storytelling and an interesting verse format to go with it. Wanting to reclaim her self-worth and strength, Alicia struggles with being s*xually assaulted by a teacher and being ostracized by her peers.

Not to knock YA novels, but this one snuck up on me and surprised me with how good it is. The way Cole writes allows the reader so much insight into Alicia’s feelings and experiences in such a short novel. I think this might be an interesting novel to add to a high school curriculum. Definitely recommend this one.

Dear Medusa will be available on March 14, 2023.

*Check content and trigger warnings!

I'm a sucker for novels in verse, but Dear Medusa was even more powerful than I expected. A heart-wrenching and gorgeous story of a young girl and her journey back to herself. Because what do you do after a wolf takes your body, your life, and your soul? How do you walk through life when your narrative feels like it wasn't written by you? You bring on the Medusa vibes.

This story centers around sexual abuse and sexuality, but also shows true friendship--specifically who to let in when the world has shown you to shut people out.

Searing and powerful, the language of this book does not let one breathe until the very end. It's a brilliant book.

Just... just give me a minute.

Wow.

I wish I had this book when <i>I</i> was in highschool. This showed the rage and confusion and pain a young individual feels when an adult, a predator, preys on them, steals their childhood, turns them into an object. It shows the way you can't accept love and you lose trust and your heart aches for something softer but the walls you put up are so hard and so thick that it feels impossible. But it's not. It's almost impossible and it is such an unfair struggle, but it can be done.

I feel so grateful and so lucky that I was give this book to read. It reminded me of when I was a kid, of the things that I lost, and that it's never too late to try and get them back.

TW: dyke used as a slur, sexual assault, racism.

“I am tired of salting the wound—I am ready to salt the earth.”
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Alicia Rivers is sixteen-years-old and everyday she has to walk through the doors of the high school where the “cool” teacher sexually assaulted her last year. Alicia’s trauma causes her to turn to sex as a means to cope and her classmates have already decided she’s Medusa come to life. A girl who is the monster in her own life: the slut that asked for it. In the aftermath Alicia quit running track, lost her best friend and has grown further and further apart from her parents and brother. She spends most of her days in detention at school and working her part-time fast food job at night, but when a fellow survivor starts slipping notes into Alicia’s locker, she realizes maybe she’s not as alone as she thought. With the help a new friend who might be something more, Alicia begins to take her power back.
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Happy international womens day. If you saw my stories about this YA feminist novel in verse then you know it’s going to end up one of my top reads of the year, if not ever. The beauty in which @rantingowl writes is unparalleled. The metaphors woven into the story were so well-done I had to pause and write them down. Some many amazing quotes on such an important topic that our kids need. Sexual assault survivors need to know they’re not alone. Alicia is the champion they need to see. I loved every word on every page and will be recommending this to my high school readers when it releases next Tuesday.

CW: sexual assault, sexual abuse, bullying, slut shaming, family issues, violence, racism, homophobia, slurs, grooming, drugs

This is a great book that tackles mental health, sexual assualt, and the lives of teenagers. The perspective is unique and it gets to the core of what it is like to live as a teenager in todays world.

I stayed up until 1 to finish this all in one sitting and cried.

16-year-old Alicia has become an outcast at school. She's quit the track team, her old friends won't talk to her, and everyone sees her as the school slut. But Alicia was sexually assaulted by a popular teacher at school, and her life has been spiraling ever since. As she tries to keep her head down and just survive the year, she starts receiving anonymous notes in her locker that make her realize that she's not the only victim. This extraordinarily powerful novel-in-verse is a coming of age story that follows the rocky, messy road of healing from trauma.

This feels like a spiritual successor to Laurie Halse Anderson's Speak. Raw and vulnerable, it's definitely character-driven. I think Olivia A. Cole perfectly captured the feeling of being sixteen, still a child but on the cusp of adulthood. Alicia's commentary on girlhood and "the wolves" who begin circling around far too early is razor-sharp and heartbreaking. Her arc was so satisfying to me - it doesn't have a conclusive, shut ending, but ends on a beautiful image of hope. I also loved the allusions to Medusa that are threaded through, the power in rewriting the myths and narratives that have been told to us.

The character diversity was great - Alicia is bi, she has a female love interest, her new friend Deja is asexual and explores that during the book, and there's also thoughtful commentary on the intersection of race and gender. Despite everything, Alicia finds some really, really good friends who model what it looks like to be there for someone in the middle of tough times.

I really, really loved this book.

CW for sexual assault and adult/minor relationship - not described in graphic detail on page, but a central part of the plot.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Dear Medusa was a firestorm of a book.

It was incredibly impactful and powerful, but was difficult at points to read because of the heavy subject matter. Novels in verse always have a heightened emotional element for me and this really hit home. The free verse felt like Alicia finally being able to take back her narrative, with very much a stream of consciousness style to it that I enjoyed. Verse for me is something I have to sit with and fully digest, with the emotional strands unravelling around me. It captures an emotional intensity unique to the form personally. Cole seems to register this and packs one hell of an emotional punch here.

Alicia as a character was someone I lost my whole heart to. She is raw, vulnerable and struggling. The entire book I was hoping someone would notice and offer her the support she desperately needed. Her anger and hurt sears every page. Unfortunately, her narrative is all too common and we have all seen or experienced similar stories. A lot of this book felt like releasing a long withheld scream. However, this is very much a story centering growth and the healing process, recognising trauma and its ramifications on your life.

I liked how by the end of the story, Alicia is not completely healed, but is learning to accept help and becoming more of who she wants to be. There is a strong element of hope and happiness woven in. It was also refreshing to see such brilliant representation for bisexuality, asexuality and characters of colour. I appreciated how much time Cole spent talking about intersectionality and how these issues affect different communities, intersecting with multiple marginalised identities.

Dear Medusa is a beautifully fractured story about coming to terms with trauma and beginning the healing process, while also confronting your own rage and using it to fuel yourself rather than becoming consumed by it.

Dear Medusa is a powerful novel in verse, containing some really beautiful and profound poems exploring trauma, sexuality, race, and girl/womanhood at large. The writing evokes vivid emotion, from rage and pain to the numbing depression that can result from trauma. I really liked the repeating elements (e.g. the wolf/rabbit metaphor, comparing real life to movies, the lists of names Alicia’s classmates have for her, etc.); to me, the repetition captured that tunnel vision-like preoccupation one can get when trying to make sense of the senseless.

I could not put this book down, but there were times I had to walk away. Dear Medusa powerfully gives voice to Alicia’s story and all of the stories we keep hidden. The power is in hearing each other.