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Fallout
It was too late to move. He'd almost reached her. It was like that moment that's supposed to happen just before you die, when everything comes rushing back, your life flashing before you. Only this wasn't her whole life, just the worst part.
The music pulses, lights flash, and raised voices echo in Hannah's head. Her parents are away and her impromptu house-party has gotten completely out of hand. But when Hannah wakes up the next morning with her head throbbing and the house wrecked, she realizes these are the least of her problems. From the fallout of the party emerges an accusation of rape that tears friends apart, divides opinions, and shatters lives. The perfect book for fans of Skins, from an award-winning author known for psychologically gripping mysteries that explore identity and trauma in thought-provoking prose.
The music pulses, lights flash, and raised voices echo in Hannah's head. Her parents are away and her impromptu house-party has gotten completely out of hand. But when Hannah wakes up the next morning with her head throbbing and the house wrecked, she realizes these are the least of her problems. From the fallout of the party emerges an accusation of rape that tears friends apart, divides opinions, and shatters lives. The perfect book for fans of Skins, from an award-winning author known for psychologically gripping mysteries that explore identity and trauma in thought-provoking prose.
252 pages, Paperback
First published February 7, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 24, 2015
SPOILER WARNING - I could try to review this without spoiling anything, but it's much more difficult to talk about the issues within*
There's no ambiguity when it comes to consent and rape: if someone says 'no', and you carry on, then it's rape. So what happens when the victim believes they've said 'no', but the other party doesn't think they did? Especially if there's copious amounts of alcohol clouding everyone's memories?
That's the question that everyone's asking in Fallout, where an accusation of rape is made following an alcohol-fuelled teen party. The story itself explores the points of view of both parties involved, as well as the views of several friends (one from POV), and overall is a fantastic portrayal of the difficulty surrounding accusations of rape, particularly where alcohol is involved. It kept me hooked right from the beginning, sending little twists to the story when I was sure we were about to uncover a truth, and leaving me in no doubt that I've got a story to recommend to anyone who wants to warn their children about getting too drunk at a party.
Neither Hannah nor Shane stand out as being anything except ordinary, but that isn't a negative; it makes the story stronger in my view, because it shows that these things can happen to ordinary people. Zak on the other hand has a much darker character, though with reasons that are quickly explained, which works well for his role in the story as the more likely suspect in the crime (at least initially).
Throughout the book, we see both Hannah and Shane's sides of the story (along with the truthful fact that in cases such as this, people will take their own sides and form opinions without necessarily having any of the facts straight), with Hannah having a very hazy memory but certain that she said 'no', and Shane being far more with it but convinced that Hannah initiated everything and didn't tell him to stop. It makes for an almost impossible situation, and in fact Hannah's mother sums it up best towards the end when she realises that they could both look her in the eye and swear they were telling the truth. Ultimately though, within Shane's thoughts we realise that Hannah did indeed say 'no', though he dismissed this as her not really meaning it, which turns him immediately into an actual villain. Part of me wonders whether keeping him as truly believing he'd never actually heard the word 'no' would have made for a more powerful ending, showing the tragedy of two parties being badly affected by a lack of evidence either way, but then again the fact that he doesn't recognise the 'no' is tragic enough in itself.
There was another storyline that I was expecting it to go with at one point, though I'm willing to admit that I've got completely the wrong end of the stick here - I swear that at one point Shane mentions someone hearing someone else in the house before he slept with Hannah, and that this person isn't explained - I was expecting the story to be that Shane and Hannah had sex (or he left beforehand), and then another person came in and raped her afterwards, and the alcohol was blurring her memories. That would also have been interesting and could have dealt with the issue of false rape allegations without making Hannah's story any less tragic, though that takes nothing away from how good the storyline actually written is.
It's always good to come across a YA book that you can read in a session or two and that raises some excellent moral and ethical questions, and Fallout is definitely one of those. I'm certainly going to be on the lookout for more books by Sandra Glover.
5/5
There's no ambiguity when it comes to consent and rape: if someone says 'no', and you carry on, then it's rape. So what happens when the victim believes they've said 'no', but the other party doesn't think they did? Especially if there's copious amounts of alcohol clouding everyone's memories?
That's the question that everyone's asking in Fallout, where an accusation of rape is made following an alcohol-fuelled teen party. The story itself explores the points of view of both parties involved, as well as the views of several friends (one from POV), and overall is a fantastic portrayal of the difficulty surrounding accusations of rape, particularly where alcohol is involved. It kept me hooked right from the beginning, sending little twists to the story when I was sure we were about to uncover a truth, and leaving me in no doubt that I've got a story to recommend to anyone who wants to warn their children about getting too drunk at a party.
Neither Hannah nor Shane stand out as being anything except ordinary, but that isn't a negative; it makes the story stronger in my view, because it shows that these things can happen to ordinary people. Zak on the other hand has a much darker character, though with reasons that are quickly explained, which works well for his role in the story as the more likely suspect in the crime (at least initially).
Throughout the book, we see both Hannah and Shane's sides of the story (along with the truthful fact that in cases such as this, people will take their own sides and form opinions without necessarily having any of the facts straight), with Hannah having a very hazy memory but certain that she said 'no', and Shane being far more with it but convinced that Hannah initiated everything and didn't tell him to stop. It makes for an almost impossible situation, and in fact Hannah's mother sums it up best towards the end when she realises that they could both look her in the eye and swear they were telling the truth. Ultimately though, within Shane's thoughts we realise that Hannah did indeed say 'no', though he dismissed this as her not really meaning it, which turns him immediately into an actual villain. Part of me wonders whether keeping him as truly believing he'd never actually heard the word 'no' would have made for a more powerful ending, showing the tragedy of two parties being badly affected by a lack of evidence either way, but then again the fact that he doesn't recognise the 'no' is tragic enough in itself.
There was another storyline that I was expecting it to go with at one point, though I'm willing to admit that I've got completely the wrong end of the stick here - I swear that at one point Shane mentions someone hearing someone else in the house before he slept with Hannah, and that this person isn't explained - I was expecting the story to be that Shane and Hannah had sex (or he left beforehand), and then another person came in and raped her afterwards, and the alcohol was blurring her memories. That would also have been interesting and could have dealt with the issue of false rape allegations without making Hannah's story any less tragic, though that takes nothing away from how good the storyline actually written is.
It's always good to come across a YA book that you can read in a session or two and that raises some excellent moral and ethical questions, and Fallout is definitely one of those. I'm certainly going to be on the lookout for more books by Sandra Glover.
5/5
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 10, 2015
More of a 3.5 stars.
I surprised myself by picking up this YA novel from the library, because it looked like it was a story that would be read by girls instead of teenagers in general. However, it deals with a subject that I think both young men and young women should take time to consider.
It is told from several points of view, Hannah, Shane, and Zak, and focuses on the “fallout” that occurs after an unorganized party takes place at Hannah’s parents’ house when they leave her alone while they take a weekend break.
So, instead of all future dystopia and heroism, the teenagers get down to doing what teenagers do best – getting drunk, getting stoned, getting noisy, getting frisky, and getting…..raped?
I was pretty impressed with how the writer dealt with such a sensitive issue. Through the eyes of three different characters, Sandra Glover gave a compelling exploration of how one drunken encounter can have so much fallout, and turn lives upside down. Before a charge or even a clear accusation has been made, many people who know Hannah, Shane, and Zac, have made up their minds. This results in opinions, threats, and insults, flying through cyberspace.
POSSIBLE SPOILER: I don’t really want to spoil this for anyone, but after reading the book, I the reader, am left none the wiser as to whether a rape took place or not. And I think that is often the end result in a lot of these cases.
This novel would make for a very good teenage TV drama.
I surprised myself by picking up this YA novel from the library, because it looked like it was a story that would be read by girls instead of teenagers in general. However, it deals with a subject that I think both young men and young women should take time to consider.
It is told from several points of view, Hannah, Shane, and Zak, and focuses on the “fallout” that occurs after an unorganized party takes place at Hannah’s parents’ house when they leave her alone while they take a weekend break.
So, instead of all future dystopia and heroism, the teenagers get down to doing what teenagers do best – getting drunk, getting stoned, getting noisy, getting frisky, and getting…..raped?
I was pretty impressed with how the writer dealt with such a sensitive issue. Through the eyes of three different characters, Sandra Glover gave a compelling exploration of how one drunken encounter can have so much fallout, and turn lives upside down. Before a charge or even a clear accusation has been made, many people who know Hannah, Shane, and Zac, have made up their minds. This results in opinions, threats, and insults, flying through cyberspace.
POSSIBLE SPOILER: I don’t really want to spoil this for anyone, but after reading the book, I the reader, am left none the wiser as to whether a rape took place or not. And I think that is often the end result in a lot of these cases.
This novel would make for a very good teenage TV drama.
June 2, 2013
I thought this book was very good and the story wasn't to long and I thought the Characters were pretty good in the book it was also a very fast paced read I really like the front cover of the book it's colourful and stands out well. But I enjoyed reading this book. :)
July 12, 2011
So predictable.
March 8, 2013
this book was always changing my mind (especially zach and shane) but it was fantastic
August 6, 2013
excellent book
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews