What We Saw Review

What We Saw

Aaron Hartzler

Harper Teen

September 22nd, 2015

Source: Edelweiss

Disclaimer: I received this book for free from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

"Nothing is exactly as it appears. The closer you look, the more you see."

The Steubenville rape case hit home for me. My grandma lives just across the bridge from the town. I remember when the case happened, all I could feel was sadness for the girl involved because her life had to be changed forever from this. It also felt personal to me because this is something that could easily happen at my own high school. It made me ask myself if I would be one of the few who spoke up on behalf of the victim.

Kate was at the star basketball players party the night that something happened to Stacey. Kate knows that she drank more than she probably should have that night, but she was lucky enough to have gotten home safely while Stacey wasn't so lucky. The school is flipped upside down when Stacey presses charges against four of the basketball players and suddenly the whole school automatically jumps to blame her. The events that happened that night can all be seen on social media sites. Kate is one of the only people who sees things from Stacey's point of view. What if she really is telling the truth and everyone is choosing not to believe her?

Kate was an extremely strong character and I adored her. I loved that she didn't back down from figuring out the truth about what happened that night. She could have taken the easy way out like Ben and all her friends by just letting the situation go, but she looked at from a different angle. She knew that she easily could have been in the same position as Stacey because Kate was drinking too. [ Yes, she was a little bit blinded by Ben at times but she also had no problem distinguishing between what was wrong and what was right. (hide spoiler)] Kate's friends were absolutely unbelievable. I hated that they instantly took the star basketball players side and rushed to judge Stacey because basically, "she asked for it." However, that way of thinking is very similar to how the Steubenville students (and any others when these types of cases happen) responded. I remember how angry I was when the verdict for Steubenville was reached and CNN had a whole story dedicated to how tragic it was that these boys with such a bright future were going to have their lives forever changed. All I could think of was what about the victim? The boys being put away for a couple of years and maybe registering as sex offenders doesn't make up for all the horrible things that she had to hear.

The book has such beautiful writing that unapologetically hits you right in the gut. It flowed in such a poetic way and I felt like the voice of Kate couldn't have been better. I'm beyond glad that I read this one and recommend it for absolutely everyone. It's about a topic that needs to be talked about and this was handled in such a sensitive way. It's an important read for high schoolers, parents, and everyone in between. While I know that different books appeal to different people for whatever reason, but I feel like this one is a book that anyone of any age should read. It's one that I won't be forgetting for a long time.