You Against Me

A well-written and compelling story of a boy who seeks to avenge the sexual assault of his sister by meeting and extracting information from the 15-year-old sister of the perpetrator...only a problem develops...he is attracted to her and she to him. Ellie, the sister of the perpetrator is forced to make difficult decisions involving family loyalty, the truth, and her burgeoning love for the brother of "the enemy". It sounds like the book shouldn't work, but the story is in skillful hands and is well and movingly told. Recommended for readers 14+ Many adult women would enjoy the book also.

This book packs a punch. It makes you ask all kinds of questions. Where do you draw the line between right and wrong? How well can you ever really know a person? How much deception are you willing to overlook for family? What do you do when the one person you feel like you can trust, is kind of your enemy?

We start out the book with Mikey. His sister won't leave their home, because she says she was raped and doesn't want to face the world or chance running into her rapist. All Mikey wants to do is find the guy and bash his face in, because what kind of brother would he be if he didn't? And maybe that's the only way he knows how to help.

On the other side we have Ellie. Her brother is the one who is accused of the rape, but he swears he is show more innocent. Ellie knows her brother would never do something so horrible and wants to do whatever she can to support him.

When Mikey and Ellie first meet, he is crashing the "you got released on bail" party they are throwing for Ellie's brother. Ellie doesn't know Mikey is related to the girl accusing her brother and that's just how Mikey likes it. His plan is to get information out of her he can use to help his sister and then he doesn't have to ever see her again. Of course she's not anything like he expected and they start to form a sort of relationship. I was actually surprised the author had Ellie discover his real identity so soon into the story, but I definitely didn't expect the story to go where it did once she found out. This is a hard one, because picking sides in a situation like this isn't easy. You fell terrible for Mikey's sister and want the person who did this to her to pay, but you also want believe that Ellie's brother couldn't have done something so terrible. Obviously one of these two characters isn't telling the truth, but it's not an easy road figuring it out.

At it's core this is a truly hearbreaking story, nothing good ever comes from a rape accusation, whether true or false. The thing I admire most about it is that most of the characters come out better in the end and there is a definite feeling of hope as the story closes. I really loved the last line of the book, it was a perfect ending. show less

I'll state up front that You Against Me by Jenny Downham is not a book for everyone. As the summary suggests, it deals with content that will be difficult and inappropriate for some readers. However, if the content is not an issue, I strongly encourage you to pick up this book.

It's no secret I'm into psychology. I love thinking about how people handle difficult situations or looking at a situation from an alternative perspective. You Against Me does that. At the heart of the book is an alleged sexual assault. The readers don't know exactly what happened in the beginning of the book and neither do the main characters. What Mikey and Ellie do know is that this event has completely altered their lives and the lives of their family. Each show more character struggles through a different side of the situation.

Did Ellie's brother assault Mikey's sister? If so, how can Ellie live with that knowledge? Her brother would never do anything like that, right?

Was Mikey's sister really assaulted or make poor decisions? Either way, she's closed herself off from the world. Can he help her open herself back up? How does he make sure Ellie's brother gets what he deserves?

These are the types of questions that each character explores. On top of that, the two meet each other. Their interactions together are just as confusing as the situation with their siblings.

What I loved about You Against Me is the exploration of all these questions in a realistic way. When people think of sexual assault, they often only think of the two people involved. However, there's a lot more than two people effected. This story explores the family of these characters and how people respond to each other. What would you do to protect your family? I think that's one of the main questions in this book and it is explored fully for both characters. Both Mikey and Ellie have many decisions to make and they have to decide what's right, what's wrong, what's in the best interest of their sibling, and what should they be doing for themselves.

You Against Me is the perfect book for readers who like introspective reads with realistic characters. There is no happily ever after in this situation, but there is moving on and making the best possible decisions with what you've got to work with. The novel reflects this.

Final thoughts: Borrow or buy. show less

I LOVED the premise of You Against Me. It just seemed so angsty and so "Oh NO they DIDN'T", you know, start dating. But, oh, they DID! You Against Me just had the potential to have those wonderful "that just blew up in your face, didn't it?" moments. And it did. Very unique premise that hasn't ever been done before, I think. We usually get a persepective from the alleged victim when there's a book about rape. But You Against Me gives you the persepctive from the alleged victim's brother and the alleged rapist's sister. And they decide to date to get information from the enemy's lair. Now do you understand how this can blow up in every character's face? Especially when they truly start falling for each other?

I liked You Against Me show more because we're showed the other side of the spectrum, so to speak. Everyone tends to know that rape affects the victim and her family in atrocious ways, but we sometimes overlook the impact in can have on the alleged rapist's family. Most of the time, these people believe with all their hearts that their son, brother, grandson, etc., would never do something like what they're accused of doing. Meanwhile, most of us think that they must have known and don't understand why they're still standing behind the alleged rapist. And we tend to persecute the family just because they're realted to the alleged rapist even if it does seem a bit unfair.

Intriguing Premise? Check. Now, I liked most of the characters. Sure, Mikey was clueless more often than not, but he does seem to want to do the right thing. Ellie, on the other hand, I could never warm to. She just did things that I would NEVER agree with, brother or no brother. So, I just couldn't like her. Another thing that I didn't like is that we're never shown more than a few glimpses of Mikey's sister, the rape victim. I understand that You Against Me was supposed to showcase the siblings feelings, but I feel that so much of the story was based on Karyn yet we never get insight into her feelings. We get more insight into Tom's, the alleged rapist, feeligns.

So, I found You Against Me to be a pretty good novel. It was intriguing and it was a page-turner. Read it in about a day while my power was out due to Hurricane Irene. It's good enough for me to want to check out Before I Die, which people seem to prefer to You Against Me. show less

Det blev en positiv överraskning! Älskar- Hatar är en ungdomsbok men den funkade hur bra som helst att läsa som vuxen, kanske t om får man mer ut av den. Författaren skildrar relationer mellan människor att det känns äkta. Tyckte mycket om Mikey, den äldre brodern som inte bara är en äldre bror utan en skildring av medberoende och att vara ett vuxet barn. Mamman i familjen är ingen pålitlig vuxen, det är inte hon som tar hand om familjen, utan när hon behövs som mest försvinner hon.
Mikeys desperation och längtan bort var starkt påtaglig, och det var många känslor som väcktes inom mig.

Handling & Tema : 4/5
Karaktärerna: 4/5
Miljöbeskrivning: 3/5
Språk och berättarkonst 3/5

4/5 i helhetsbetyg

You Against Me is the second novel of Jenny Downham, whose first offering Before I Die I couldn't connect with. Though I found it well written, there was something missing that just didn't make it work for me. I did not have that problem with You Against Me.

I was drawn straight into the very different worlds of Ellie and Mikey from the start. At that point, I could understand both of them and what they were fighting for - Mikey to protect his sister, Ellie to save her brother. I couldn't imagine a worse position to be in and I questioned everything as I was reading - what would I do in the same position? With Mikey and Ellie so clearly attracted to one another, how on Earth do you make that work with the shadow of what happened hanging show more over you? I wanted them to work through it somehow, I cheered for them, but once more of the truth came out it was hard to feel for Ellie.

Family ties are very important in this novel, and for Ellie to fight them must have been so hard, I realised more as I thought of it. Especially with parents so adamant their son was right, and Ellie questioning everything she thought she knew about the brother who had always loved and protected her. The moment she found herself scared of him, I thought, was the moment she should have told the truth. But reality is a lot more complicated and people don't always do what you think they should. Downham showed this in her novel, as well as how the event impacted the people involved, in a realistic and believable manner. The ending was quite sweet and I liked it, yet I'm still dying to know what happened next and am worried that Tom gets off. Still, the ending leaves you with the hope that what's good and right will prevail. I don't feel sorry for him at all and I don't believe he's realised what he has done to the people around him and to the girl he hurt. That's frustrating.

Still, a fantastic novel that will leave you thinking, I am looking forward to more from Downham. show less

This is the story of Mikey and Ellie. Mikey's sister has accused Ellie's brother of a serious offence against her. Although Mikey and Ellie didn't know each other before, when they meet they find themselves attracted to each other.

The blurb for this book is very simple but very appealing, and I was pleased to be able to get hold of a copy after loving Jenny Downham's first book, Before I Die.

You Against Me is very moving as it examines the feelings that Mikey and Ellie encounter, and also those of their families and how they deal with the fallout from the crime. I thought the author described perfectly the feelings that the two teenagers had when they thought about or saw each other and I found it to be a beautifully written book in show more that respect. I also thought that she captured very well the feelings of being torn between loyalty to family and doing the right thing.

I believe it's classed as a young adult novel, but it's actually an excellent example of a crossover novel, a book that can be read by both teenagers and adults without being too grown up or too dumbed down respectively. Excellent read - highly recommended. show less