The Mockingbirds by Daisy Whitney (@DaisyWhitney)

There are a lot of strong reactions to this book because it’s a topic that provokes strong opinions. Does a person have to actively say no in order for it to count as rape? Especially when it’s date rape.

The Mockingbirds starts by throwing us right into the middle of this question. Alex wakes up, naked, in the bed of a strange boy at her exclusive boarding school. She is shaky and sick and doesn’t remember anything about the night before. Slowly her memory starts to come back and she realizes that she’s had sex with this boy. Sex for the first time. And she can’t remember it. She knows she was drinking. She knows she ended up here. So it must be her fault, right? That’s what she thinks. That’s what she’s sure of. Because she can’t remember saying no.

It isn’t until she tells her roommate what happened that rape is even considered. So, now we get to the age old question – does drinking cancel out the things that happen to you when you’re drunk? Does being really drunk mean it’s okay for a man to have sex with a woman because she’s clearly asking for it? Does going back to someone’s place mean you‘re obligated to have sex with that person? Does kissing someone when you’re drunk mean you’re not allowed to not want to sleep with them? Let me be super, duper clear about this – NO. Hell no.

Top Ten Tuesday – Winter TBR

Winter technically doesn’t roll in until the end of December but really, who believes that? When we’re living in inches-to-feet of snow with the constant threat of more to come, it’s winter, calendar be damned. With the new season comes a review of the TBR list. What was on my previous list? What did I get finished? What did I skip? Is there anything I want to carry forward? What’s sitting on my Goodreads list that I want to actually get around to reading?

I went into this list with only one book I knew I want to read, but when I started looking at my option, I realized there are a lot of books I want to read. I’m excited about this list. It keeps up with my super depressing book trend, but adds a couple injections of humour. Here’s my Winter TBR. What’s on yours?

Fiendish by Brenna Yovanoff

When Clementine was a child, dangerous and inexplicable things started happening in New South Bend. The townsfolk blamed the fiendish people out in the Willows and burned their homes to the ground. But magic kept Clementine alive, walled up in the cellar for ten years, until a boy named Fisher sets her free. Back in the world, Clementine sets out to discover what happened all those years ago. But the truth gets muddled in her dangerous attraction to Fisher, the politics of New South Bend, and the Hollow, a fickle and terrifying place that seems increasingly temperamental ever since Clementine reemerged.