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Wednesday, August 7, 2013

Stained by Cheryl Rainfield



WARNING: This book contained mature scenes and language.  There is a disturbing rape scene and a lot of disturbing violence.
 
This took awhile to get going, but once it did I could not put it down. There were some chapters that could have been eliminated in the middle or condensed, but overall it was a fantastic book. This book had so many angles to it. I can really see it being used in a book club for older teens or for victims of abuse. There is a lot of mature content that is disturbing - needed for the story, but disturbing. But this books tackles abuse, psychological trauma, and bullying in a real and honest way. Sarah's reactions and feelings were fully fleshed out and struck a cord. It was no surprise to see that the author had experienced a similar situation because the emotions conveyed seemed so genuine.

I found the writing to be solid, the plot made me sit on the edge of my seat. You know when you have a good book, and you can't turn the pages fast enough to see how it is all gonna end? Yeah, this was that book.

One of favorite parts was the portrayal of Charlene turning on Sarah just to fit in. Sometimes we all get caught up in trying to be cool (I know I did in high school) that we forget who are the real people in our lives versus the fake ones. I think that is an important lesson to learn, and not just for teens, but for adults too.

But Nick was, by far, the best part of this book. His unflagging devotion to Sarah and her family was heart wrenching. I hope he gets his happy ending because he certainly earned it.

All in all, a very good book - extremely well written, exciting and great characters. I will be looking for more books by this author. 
 
This book will be released October 1, 2013.