Daisy Whitney

I read a lot of YA, and every so often, I come across a book that makes me really wish it had been around for me to read when I was in the target demographic. Because, hot damn, it's good, and it could have really affected me as a teenager.

The Mockingbirds is a book about justice, and of finding yourself again after a personal tragedy. After being date-raped, Alex turns to The Mockingbirds, Themis Academy's underground judicial court run by the students without any knowledge of the show more administration. I admit that when I first heard the premise, it sounded a little hokey. But Whitney really made the plot work. Her characters were very believable and real. Her Mockingbirds was incredibly thought out, and after reading the afterword, I found the story that much deeper and richer because it was Whitney's story, and personal. show less

The Mockingbirds is about date rape. The story begins with Alex waking up naked in Carter’s room with no memory of what happened the previous night. With her friends’ help, she goes to The Mockingbirds, a secret student run police force. The Mockingbirds are The Law amongst the students. In addition to taking Alex’s case on, they help protect her from Carter.
Alex begins the story a victim of a terrible crime. Over the course of the book, she slowly regains power over her life. She show more even acknowledges the fact that she’s letting the rape take over her life. Her schedule, eating habits, and personal life were all dictated by Carter. The Mockingbirds helped her get over all of that.
Martin, a member of the Mockingbirds, really helped Alex. Even though he somewhat blamed himself for what happened to Alex. Actually, many of Alex’s friends blamed themselves for what happened to her, even though it was no one’s fault but Carter’s. Martin was so sweet. I really liked how the romance in this book wasn’t overpowering. The rape and Alex’s transformation were the main points in the plot. The romance was more of a compliment to the story; it wasn’t necessary but at the same time it was much appreciated. Of course, their relationship wasn’t easy. Alex was raped, so its only natural for her to be hesitant about having a relationship with a guy. However, since Martin and Alex were good friends before she was raped, it wasn’t as difficult as it could have been if he was just some guy that asked her out.
The Mockingbirds was so wonderfully written! The dialogue was never awkward or choppy; it flowed nicely. The plot was well developed and it too was well paced. My favorite part, though, was not the plot but the actual writing. Ms. Whitney’s own experience clearly influenced her writing. By writing The Mockingbirds through Alex’s point of view, the reader can feel what Alex feels on a much more personal level than if she had written it in 3rd person. Ms. Whitney also uses quotes and draws inspiration from To Kill a Mockingbird. After reading The Mockingbirds, I want to go back and re-read To Kill a Mockingbird.
The Mockingbirds is a thought provoking novel involving rape and a girl’s decision to take a stand. I was reluctant to read it at first, mostly because I’m not a huge fan of serious books. I read to get away from all that. But I couldn’t help the fact that almost every review I read praised the book to the point where I said, “I might as well…” So far I’ve read the book twice, and loved it both times. show less

This review originally appeared on Book.Blog.Bake.

This book was both sad and beautiful, but it felt different than most of the other grief books I’ve read.

I was surprised by how much I liked Danny as a narrator. At the beginning, he’s quite angry, and while I understand why, it’s hard to sympathize with someone who can do things like hit cars and get away with it because the insurance and money can just take care of it all. At the beginning of the story, Danny is parent-less soon after show more turning eighteen, legally an adult, but because of his family’s moderate wealth he doesn’t have to worry about the type of things a lot of teenagers in his situation would. I thought this would alienate me from the story, but this plot line is handled well. Danny realizes his unique position, even when he’s being a jerk at times, so while I can’t say I always liked him, I definitely felt him.

And as the story went on, I did grow to like Danny a lot. I felt a lot of his pain in my own experience, and I understood the feeling of wanting to get away. I liked that there was actually a reason for Danny to go to Japan–it was impulsive, yes, but it had a reasoning behind it. And I really loved the Japan setting. Whitney really utilized the setting of most of this book to it’s fullest potential.

This book was just filled with little things that made me love it even more. When You Were Here just had such heart behind it, which is the kind of thing that’s hard to pinpoint in books but also can really make a book special. Once again, the setting was so well-done, and I loved the mutual friendship in this book. Also, Sandy Koufax, the dog in this book, just made me so happy. I love when main characters are pet owners.

As much as I loved this book, there was one subplot I thought really distracted from the main story. It deals with Holland, Danny’s ex-girlfriend, who comes back into his life after his mother dies. Throughout the book, Danny learns the truth, and why I understand why this subplot was included, I just felt it wrapped up too quickly and either needed to be completely cut or explored better. There’s more to the story than that, but it’s quite spoilery. show less

This was a solidly decent read, it's a complex story and I think the author handled it well -- date rape at a prep school. The author takes the subject matter seriously, and presents the events and the aftermath in a very straightforward way. The premise of the situation is that at a school where the adult administrators and faculty are more interested in the school's reputation than in intervening in problem behavior, the investigation and judgment are handled by a secret society of fellow show more students.

My biggest issue, which no amount of good writing or empathetic characters could make me overcome, is my very fundamental fear of vigilante justice. The most dangerous thing about it is that it works so well ... until it doesn't. It would be possible, and believable, to rewrite this book switching up the guilt and innocence of the parties, with the same results to show what a terrible idea this is (which, because it's my opinion, I think would make for a more interesting book -- what happens when the kids get it wrong). I wonder/hope this will be addressed in future books. One character does express something similar to this view in the book, although I think his point is undermined because his suggestion of a more appropriate response is to go beat the up the perp.

I also found the willful cluelessness of the faculty unbelievable, it felt like a lot of mixed messages -- are they concerned about the reputation, in which case, swift and appropriate judicial action enhances a prep school's reputation -- it doesn't make a lot of sense. There's also a weird incident involving a teacher assigning an inappropriate drama scene, I could not for the life of me figure out whether it was intended to support the notion that the school administration is concerned, or weirdly unconcerned.

And my other quibble is that when the students speak about the Mockingbirds, the secret society in the business of meting out peer discipline, it feels like a very established thing steeped in tradition -- but it's like two years old. show less