Book Reviews with Talyn

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson

Hello, and welcome to Book Reviews with Talyn! Today I'm here to talk to you about the book Shout, by Laurie Halse Anderson.

I would like to start this by giving a HUUUUUUGE trigger warning. So here it is. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK AND/OR BOOK REVIEW IF YOU ARE TRIGGERED BY ABUSE, SEXUAL ASSAULT OR DEPRESSION!!!!

Okay. Now, you're gonna need some background.
I have been sexually abused 4 times in my life. The first time, I was 5 years old. The perpetrator was a part of my family's church. The second time, I was 10. My abuser was a 13 year old girl who I thought I loved. I was wrong. The third time, I was 14. It was carried out by a member of my class in JROTC. The school did nothing to discipline him. The fourth time happened this year, after I turned 16, and I have a very hard time talking about it. All I will say is that I thought I could trust him. Again, I was wrong.

That being said, this book details is a memoir of Mrs. Halse Anderson's life. It starts when she is very young, detailing the abuse that her mother suffered at the hands of her veteran father. It then goes on to tell the story of the time that she was raped by an older boy, and how she told no one. She beautifully explains the pain of keeping this secret, how it felt like poison in her memories, how she was afraid of becoming pregnant. She talks about how, during high school, she used weed to numb the pain of the rape. How she learned to breathe through poetry, and how she became an athlete to try something new, and how it gave her a new start. Laurie really bleeds onto the pages in this first section.

The second section talks about her struggles as an adult, finding love and going through community college then transferring to a university. This section details how she was nearly assaulted twice by her professors, and how she overcame her struggles and started writing. She talks about her new-found family, her first marriage, her daughters and so much more. And then we get transferred into the life of disappointment and wonder that is trying to publish a book. We really get to witness her struggles and triumphs in getting Speak published, and how liberating it was to get to talk to students about her struggles and the importance of consent. She talks about sexism in such a beautiful way, through her poetry, that I almost cried during some parts of this section.

In the third section, she talks about the deaths of her parents and the woes of her book being banned in schools nation-wide because of their contents. This section is much smaller than the other two, but it is my favorite section. Most of my bookmarks and annotations are in this section, and at the end of the second.

And now, a special treat. I will share with you my favorite excerpt from Shout.

Page 69:
untreated pain
is a cancer of the soul
that can kill you

Out of 10, I give this book a solid 6! It's a must-read for all my fellow children who were victimized by someone we thought we could trust. It's emotional, tear-jerking and hard to read sometimes, but this book taught me a lot about healing and self-love. I hope that whoever needs these things finds this book.

Thank you for reading this chapter of Book Reviews with Talyn! Don't forget to comment, share and vote! I'll see y'all when I read another book.