The Opposite of Innocent - Review

The Opposite of Innocent

By: Sonya Sones

Publication: September 4th 2018 by HarperTeen

272 pages

Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Verse

Source: Publisher via Edelweiss (Thank you!!)

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Goodreads description--Heartrending and chilling by turns, The Opposite of Innocent is Sonya Sones’s most gripping novel in verse yet—the story of a girl who finds herself trapped in an abusive relationship with a man twice her age.

Lily has been crushing on Luke, a friend of her parents’, ever since she can remember. He’s been away for two endless years, but he’s finally returning today. Lily was only twelve when he left. But now, at fourteen, she feels transformed. She can’t wait to see how Luke will react when he sees the new her. And when her mother tells her that Luke will be staying with them for a while, in the bedroom right next to hers, her heart nearly stops.

Having Luke back is better than Lily could have ever dreamed. His lingering looks set Lily on fire. Is she just imagining them? But then, when they’re alone, he kisses her. Then he kisses her again. At first, the secrecy and danger of their relationship thrills Lily. But soon Luke begins to expect, then demand much more than kissing. He won’t stop pressuring her to do things she doesn’t want to do. Lily wishes she had never flirted with Luke. She feels imprisoned in a situation that’s all her fault. How will she escape?

In this powerful tale of a terrifying leap into young adulthood, readers will accompany Lily on her harrowing journey from hopelessness to hope.

I literally just finished The Opposite of Innocent moments ago and I feel like a fish with my mouth gaping open...words wanting to spill out of my mouth and closing with none escaping.

I don't know what I was thinking when I read the description of this book and thought it sounded like one I needed to read... Because I did. Read the description. And it was totally accurate. But once I started reading this I just kept thinking "why did I want to read this?" The topic is so utterly uncomfortable. I literally feel sick to my stomach right now. I just don't know what I was thinking. Truthfully I thought about DNFing this multiple times. The subject content, Taylor, etc. The ONLY reason I kept reading was because of how quickly I was making progress. And that was only due to the book being written in prose.

I've always wanted to read a book written in poem form. I can't say any of these "poems" struck me as beautiful in content, structure, or anything else that poems usually make me feel. Yet they contributed to being easy and quick to read.

Speaking of quick... Everything happened quickly in this book. The inappropriate relationship, the abuse, the ending especially.

I was so frustrated with Lily. I mean my husband and I are 12 years apart in our ages. We met when I was 18 and he was turning 30 but didn't date until about 3 years later and got married about 2 years after that. And even though I was only 4 years older than Lily when my husband and I met, there is a huge difference in the maturity of a 14 year old and an 18 year old. I can talk all day about what she should have known, but what I was really frustrated with her for is how often she acted one way even though she felt a completely different way. Very early in the relationship she feels wrong about things but continues to move forward.

I was frustrated with her friends. Assuming they're also 14 years old, the sexual experience they talked about and had was just worrisome even if today's youth is regularly this experienced by this age--which just makes me so sad if that's true. But Lily tells them about being interested in an older guy. They're not supportive which is great, but they still know she's continuing her path. When her physical appearance started showing signs of depression, showing signs that something is really wrong with her, why didn't they go to someone for help? Step up friends.

Which brings me to me next point, so many people began to be able to see on the outside that Lily was going through something. They reached out to her. Yet no one can help if they don't know what's wrong and what the problem is.

I truly don't know how to rate this book. I read it quickly which usually falls into the good category, but everything about this book made me feel nauseated. While the subject isn't supposed to be appealing, I can't say I enjoyed the reading experience. This was my first novel written in prose, but that wasn't overly impressive either except for making the book short and fast. I didn't like any of the characters. The book literally ended. I felt like the last ten chapters were missing. It stopped in the middle of a thought almost. I just want my two days of reading back to put them into a different book...a much happier book. Ultimately, The Opposite of Innocent gets 2 Stars from me. Have you read The Opposite of Innocent? What did you think? Let me know!