Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Troika Books
Release Date: March 28th 2018
Topics: Sexual Abuse, Culture
Buy The Book: Book Depository
Jay's creative writing exercise is to write a fairy tale, to end with 'they lived happily ever after'. But the way her life is panning out she's not sure it will ever reach that stage. A powerful moving gripping story which explores themes of family, loyalty and culture clash but is ultimately about hope and understanding.
WARNING: Due to the
nature of the story, this review mentions the main character being a
victim of rape. Please feel free to skip out on this review if you
need to.
It's impossible to go
into this story expecting a light read. It deals with some seriously
tough subjects, and it doesn't shy away from the details. We're shown
from the very first chapter that this is going to be a difficult
journey, but it's such an important one.
The Girl in the
Broken Mirror deals with the rape of teenager Jay after she and
her mother, Neela, are left with no choice but to move in with
relatives who follow a much more strict Indian lifestyle than what
Jay is used to. Left with no other choice, Jay has to change the way
she acts when she's under her aunt's roof.
Jay is a perfect
example of how an ordinary girl with an ordinary life can be thrown
into such extreme circumstances. Her life is so seemingly normal
until suddenly, it isn't. There was nothing she and her mother could
have done to change their circumstances, and I understand why her
mother made the decision to live with family members. She thought she
was doing what was best for her daughter and had no way of knowing
what the outcome would be. Like a lot of horrible things in life, it
progressed too quickly and silently to be stopped by those around it.
The relationship
between Jay and her mother was a complex one that was tested many
times over the course of the story. There was a chapter towards the
end in which we got a bit more insight from Neela's point of view,
and it was important that we got to see her thought process leading
up to her finding out about the attack.
Although Sita was a
character who only appeared in the final quarter of the book, she was
one of my favourites. Her character was necessary for reminding us of
the goodness we can find in the people around us. Something we needed
after the harsh occurrences earlier in the story.
The thing that really
stuck out to me about this book was how it covered so much of the
story. We were shown the build up to the attack, as well as the
aftermath. The YA books I've read in the past that contained the rape
of a main character tend not to show as much of the aftermath as I'd
like to see. I love it when a story shows that there is a life after
horrible attacks like this one, that there is hope for those people
to take control of their situation again. Whilst some of the scenes
with Jay after the attack were heartbreaking and difficult to read, I
love that this book showed us that she had a new chapter in her life
beyond the final pages.
This is such a powerful
story and an example of some of the horrible situations young women
can actually find themselves in. At the start of the book, Jay would
never have been able to imagine the attack she was about to be faced
with, and yet it happened regardless. It was also an important look
into culture and a male orientated world. I'm so grateful to Savita
for writing this story because it very much needed to be told.
Royal Rating:
Rape scenes in movies and in books churns my stomach. But I know it's necessary to discuss such sensitive matters. This sounds like a good book, but I would need to fortify my heart and my stomach should I pick it up.
ReplyDelete