**Trigger Warning: Assault, R*pe, Violence**
Hello everyone! So about a week ago I was part of a blog tour for Vigilante* by Kady Cross and, for it, I listed my top ten vigilantes! In it I had said that I’d already read the book so y’all should stay tuned for my review and, well, here it is! Before I begin the (non–spoilery) review, though, let me share with you some book details from Goodreads:
Vigilante* by Kady Cross
Release Date: March 28, 2017A brutally honest, uncompromising story about a teen girl who decides to take matters into her own hands.
It’s senior year, and Hadley and her best friend, Magda, should be starting the year together. Instead, Magda is dead and Hadley is alone. Raped at a party the year before and humiliated, Magda was driven to take her own life and Hadley is forced to see her friend’s attackers in the classroom every day. Devastated, enraged and needing an outlet for her grief, Hadley decides to get a little justice of her own.
Donning a pink ski mask and fueled by anger, Hadley goes after each of the guys one by one, planning to strip them of their dignity and social status the way they did to Magda. As the legend of the pink-masked Vigilante begins to take on a life of its own, Hadley’s revenge takes a turn for the dangerous. Could her need for vengeance lead her down a path she can’t turn back from?
Gots it? Okay now for the review:
- Plot/Message (A FREAKING PLUS): Okay so let’s start with the obvious thought that this could have gone wrong in soooooooo many ways. It could have diminished the seriousness of the situation or been very cliche or anything in between but thank God it wasn’t (at least from what I know).
Note: I have not been a victim of r*pe or assault (ALHLA) nor do I know of someone close to me who has so I’m not going to pretend I understand much of the situation that Hadley (the MC) is going through, nor will I belittle it. I’m just reviewing the book based off of what I read in the book and my general knowledge of similar situations. If I say something wrong in my review, feel free to let me know either in the comments below, the contact form on the blog or via email and I will gladly listen to you and change what I said. Back to the review…..
- From what I read, it seemed like Hadley’s actions and feelings and experiences were realistic and true, as well as the thoughts/actions/feelings/experiences of the other characters in the book. For the sake of not spoiling anything, I won’t talk about any specific things she did but I was happy that the book didn’t hold back nor did it make light of anything. It felt similar to What We Saw* by Aaron Hartzler, except more intimate and raw. Additionally, some of Hadley’s actions in the book follow some ways I’ve heard of to help prevent assault/rape from happening. As well, the (possible) repercussions of her general actions are always discussed which I found was a more honest approach to the topic.
- Characters (A+): Like I said above, I think Hadley and all the characters felt very honest and real and raw. They weren’t made to be cliches and when someone said something or did something, the actually reacted how I would think to react. That is probably very vague but I don’t want to spoil you nor, as you can imagine, do I want to write specific examples of some of the good or bad things people say/do in the book.
Overall, I very much enjoyed reading Vigilante* and felt I learned something from the book and the topics/experiences discussed. I highly suggest you read it too, however, if you do, I want to stress that it can be a bit emotional to read, especially if you or someone you know has gone through the same or similar situation(s) in the book.
Thank you, I hope you have a great day/night and tata for now!
*this post includes affiliate links I have with Amazon
