What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler
What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
Kate Weston wakes up hungover and trying to recall details of the party she had attended the night before at a fellow classmates house. She vaguely recalls her childhood friend and crush taking away her keys and seeing that she got home safely and it quite thankful.
Unfortunately, not everyone at the party had someone looking out for them. A photo shows up of online of Stacey passed out over Deacon’s shoulder the next morning and then Stacey is accusing several members of the basketball team of rape. But with so many people there why isn’t anyone stepping up to back up Stacey’s story? The boys claim innocence but Kate is determined to find out the truth.
What We Saw by Aaron Hartzler is a young adult contemporary read based on true events. A young girl is raped at a party but no one wants to speak up against their friends and fellow classmates. It even goes as far as some blaming the victim for how she dressed and how she acted instead of those accused of a crime.
What the author has done extremely well in this story is tell such a horrific event through the eyes of the teenagers involved. The story has the feel of the kids questioning what was right, what was wrong and who is to blame or when should one speak up. They go about their lives as the media circus surrounds them and the law is investigating what had happened.
I did feel this one had a tad bit of a slow start to it though but only took off a half star. Later in the story the details at the beginning made a bit more sense but it still started feeling more of a romance read which this is far from with rape being involved.
Overall, 4.5 stars. I would almost suggest that any young woman should be reading this and seeing just what could happen out there so perhaps they can be a bit more vigilant in their lives. Not that rape is ever the victim’s fault no matter the situation but this book shows on a young adult level that the world can be a scary place even when you least expect it.
Carries Book Reviews 
This is quite timely given all the news lately.
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This one being based on real events is simply cringe worthy with what when on. I just kept thinking what the heck were all those kids thinking? Why hadn’t anyone taught any of them any better. 😦
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Sadly it seems to happen more and more often.😢
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Yes, and sadly a lot of girls found in this position in this story may go home and try to cover it up and never seek justice. 😦
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😢😢😢😢
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I totally agree with you about how powerful this book is and how every young woman should read it. I also think every young MAN should read it because young men today need to see this perspective!
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Very true too. The incident in here was simply horrible and it’s hard to imagine that kids would do the things they did but it happens which is really a terrible shame.
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