I Stop Somewhere Review

Title: I Stop Somewhere
Author: T.E. Carter
Series: Not Applicable
Publisher: Simon & Schuster UK
Publication Date: 19 April 2018
Source: Jonathan Ball Publishers
Format: Paperback
Pages: 310
Rating: 4.75 Stars
Reading Timeline: 05 September 2018

TRIGGER WARNING: RAPE AND DISCUSSION THEREOF

Goodreads Synopsis:

Ellie Frias has never wanted to be popular, she just wants to blend in, to be accepted. But then Caleb Breward tells her she’s beautiful and makes her believe it.

Ellie loves Caleb, but sometimes she’s not sure she likes him - the possessive way he touches her, his harsh tone, how he ignores her one minute and can't get enough the next. And one black night, she discovers the monster her boyfriend really is. 

Ellie wasn’t the first girl Caleb raped. But she was the first he murdered. 

Now, trapped, she witnesses him shatter the lives of other girls. Powerless and alone, Ellie tries to keep hold of happier memories, always waiting – hoping – that someone will find her. 

Book Review:

Pre-reading Thoughts:

This topic will forever be an important one. This is something that I am personally quite interested in because I believe that these people, who have had the worse thing happen to them, deserve to be heard.

Thank you so much to Jonathan Ball Publishers for providing me with a copy of this book. Just a small disclaimer for those reading this review. I have received this book for free. Please note that this does not affect my opinion in any way. All thoughts are my own.

Writing Thoughts:

I think the most interesting things about the writing was the perspective it was written from. The perspective is written from Ellie's point of view. She narrates the story as a fly on the wall and allows not only the story to be told but for her own personal opinions to come through. It allows the writing to carry emotions as well as allowing the plot to have a little more depth to it. I really enjoyed how the dialogues were charged with emotion because it assisted how the story was told.

Plot Thoughts:

The plot was done incredibly well. The switch from the present to the past is done extremely well and allows that plot to have more depth and more background to it. It also allows the reader to form their own opinion on the characters who are sold to us in a certain way. I liked how the author focused on more than one person's case. This allowed a stronger message to come across. The plot made me both sad, angry and perhaps, even in the slightest way, hopeful.

Character Thoughts:

The side characters were perhaps a little bit of a let down as they felt more as a means to an end or parts of the machinery than as actual characters. They played their roles quite convincingly but Ellie really stood out for me. As the reader, you kind of get sucked into this world and you forget that Ellie is actually the narrator but she does this amazing thing where she breaks the flow of things so that you don't get too involved with the story but instead focus on the details. Ellie was the best character to narrate the book because she embodied her personality quite well.

Final Thoughts:

Overall, this story was heartbreaking and devastating because it felt way too real. The book, in my personal opinion, embodies rape culture quite well. It plays the role of proving how ludicrous the phrase "I am a boy, it was just a mistake" is. The writing wasn't particularly special but the choice of narrator made this book was it is. The plot switches masterfully between the past and the present quite well and paints two separate but interesting pictures. The side characters lacked believability sometimes so they felt as if they were simply part of the machinery but Ellie played her role so well that she felt as if she was a real person. This book is phenomenal and a huge must read. Thank you so much to Jonathan Ball Publishers for providing me with a copy of this book.

Yours in Reading,

Melleny