Wednesday, February 5, 2020

My review of Dear Ava by Ilsa Madden-Mills

Ava Harris has just returned to Camden Prep after being gone for 10 months after being raped at a bonfire and not knowing who was responsible but now being subject to the hatred of most of the school population.

Yet when she receives an anonymous letter from a "Shark", one of the mos popular boys in the school she must figure out which of them may actually care for her or if it is all part of a greater plan to get back at her for the past.

Will Ava be able to figure out who is truly on her side before she loses everything?

This was such an amazing book and I have been eagerly waiting for it since I read the novella inside of an anthology!

I loved Ava so much and I admired for her having the guts to come back and overcome everything that had been against her for so long! I admired her dedication to her brother and how she was willing to sacrifice everything to get him a better education. She was surprised with the first anonymous note she received and was super worried as it could have been a trick but gradually she discovered her secret admirer was the real deal.

There were a few characters initially that you thought it could be but soon enough the reader hopes they are right with their guess of who it actually is. The author does an incredible job of really showing the "stress" of high school with following the "bro code" and also trying to balance family with a girlfriend.

I loved the Secret Admirer and how he slowly found a way to prove to Ava that he was genuine and how much he cared. He definitely went above and beyond and my heart was cheering for him again and again.

I truly respected the author for how she dealt with the rape incident. Ava did everything that she needed to do but there were so many obstacles and I can only imagine how something like that happens in school today but people are so afraid to talk about it for fear of being victimized. The author did an amazing job and really showed the importance of telling the truth and speaking up so it doesn't keep happening.

The author also does an amazing job with approaching mental illness with what happened in the past with Dane's mom and what he himself was going through. I loved how Knox knew he needed to be there for him but their dad was away so much that he was really missing that Dane was falling apart.

I was proud of Chance for turning around in this book and owning his past mistakes and growing from them.

Knox was amazing and was a huge part of my heart in this book yet my heart also broke for him and everything he had been through in the past and how much guilt he felt over his own actions at the bonfire!

The end made my heart do fireworks and I can't wait for another book by his author!!

5 Stars

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