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A Postcard Would Be Nice
"A courageous and daring look into the complicated issue of sexual assault and culpability. This smart novel asks difficult questions about who we are, what we believe, and how to carve out an identity in the face of grief. I was riveted from the first page." - Christa Desir, Author of FAULT LINE and OTHER BROKEN THINGS
"A Postcard Would Be Nice is a brutally honest, unflinchingly brave coming-of-age story with a wicked sense of humor. Oliver's journey from affable shy guy to wary assault victim is nuanced and achingly believable, and the sense of self he's ultimately able to achieve with the help of a rich cast of friends is satisfying without ever veering into sentimental territory. This authors sparse, striking prose is a perfect complement to a story made all the more gorgeous because it refuses to smooth out the rough edges of pain and confusion. " -Liz Reinhardt, Author of REBELS LIKE US
Oliver remembers four things about Saturday night.
1. He remembers going to the party and seeing Paloma, the girl he’s had a crush on for years.
2. He remembers the disappointment he felt when Paloma left early, just when he was sure his bravery had paid off.
3. He remembers the room spinning and someone helping him up the stairs.
4. He remembers waking up next to Tarryn, a girl he barely knows, with his clothes on the floor.
There’s just one notable memory missing.
Oliver doesn’t remember saying yes.
When Tarryn laughs off Oliver’s panic and tells him he should take her out for breakfast, he doesn’t say no. He stops himself from saying no to Tarryn for weeks because he’s waiting for what never comes—an honest answer about what happened that night. With his friends shutting him out, and the rumors swirling, Oliver is turning into himself and just trying to make it through the rest of his senior year with his head down. But the one person that Oliver wants to hide the truth from more than himself, Paloma, is the one person who won’t back down and accept his changed behavior. Oliver opening up to Paloma not only means facing what happened that night—it means airing a truth that could easily rip Paloma’s world wide open, too.
"A Postcard Would Be Nice is a brutally honest, unflinchingly brave coming-of-age story with a wicked sense of humor. Oliver's journey from affable shy guy to wary assault victim is nuanced and achingly believable, and the sense of self he's ultimately able to achieve with the help of a rich cast of friends is satisfying without ever veering into sentimental territory. This authors sparse, striking prose is a perfect complement to a story made all the more gorgeous because it refuses to smooth out the rough edges of pain and confusion. " -Liz Reinhardt, Author of REBELS LIKE US
Oliver remembers four things about Saturday night.
1. He remembers going to the party and seeing Paloma, the girl he’s had a crush on for years.
2. He remembers the disappointment he felt when Paloma left early, just when he was sure his bravery had paid off.
3. He remembers the room spinning and someone helping him up the stairs.
4. He remembers waking up next to Tarryn, a girl he barely knows, with his clothes on the floor.
There’s just one notable memory missing.
Oliver doesn’t remember saying yes.
When Tarryn laughs off Oliver’s panic and tells him he should take her out for breakfast, he doesn’t say no. He stops himself from saying no to Tarryn for weeks because he’s waiting for what never comes—an honest answer about what happened that night. With his friends shutting him out, and the rumors swirling, Oliver is turning into himself and just trying to make it through the rest of his senior year with his head down. But the one person that Oliver wants to hide the truth from more than himself, Paloma, is the one person who won’t back down and accept his changed behavior. Oliver opening up to Paloma not only means facing what happened that night—it means airing a truth that could easily rip Paloma’s world wide open, too.
- GenresYoung AdultAbuse
332 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 21, 2016
6 people are currently reading
79 people want to read
About the author
Steph Campbell
34 books1,139 followersMom.
Wife.
YA Author.
So Cal Native.
Bayou Transplant.
Reluctant Texan.
I hate shows with laugh tracks.
Wife.
YA Author.
So Cal Native.
Bayou Transplant.
Reluctant Texan.
I hate shows with laugh tracks.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 14, 2016
In the United States, every two minutes someone is sexually assaulted. Two minutes! Steph Campbell brings awareness to the issue of sexual assault in her newest young adult novel, A POSTCARD WOULD BE NICE. But she talks about it in a way that isn't as widely discussed—sexual assault of a male. Through the characters, she poses questions to the reader, taking readers through the eyes of a teenage boy trying to come to terms with what happened to him.
Oliver Wu and his friends have a pact to not drink, smoke, or have sex. They're pretty straight-laced guys. After his band performs at a party, he walks Paloma home—a girl he's been pining over since middle school—and goes back to the party to wait for his friends. But unbeknownst to Oliver, the water he drank at the party was laced. He wakes in bed with a random girl who was either confused as he was or a terrible person. He doesn't know which. Already introverted, Oliver retreats into himself after rumors spread at school and starts to get to know Paloma, the girl who just may be as messed up as he is.
There is so much discussion over sexual assault media, but most of the discussions revolve around female sexual assault survivors. I appreciated that Campbell used this novel to highlight male sexual assault. The way Campbell portrayed the immediate aftermath of Oliver's assault was moving for me and I felt it.
The romantic subplot was difficult for me to completely believe and connect to. Paloma is a girl that Oliver has known since middle school but she transferred to a different school after their 8th-grade year. It's been four years since they've really spoken, aside from their two-word conversations when she comes to the museum where he works. In the beginning, Oliver is telling the audience about how he's pined over her for so long, but I wasn't really able to feel or connect to their love story. Because of that, much of the book with Paloma and Oliver hanging out getting to know each other didn't really resonate with me.
I also had a hard time truly believing that a group of teenage boys would make a pact to not drink, smoke, or have sex for no reason. That's not to say that things like that don't happen, as I'm sure there are religious reasons or just boys who make choices not to do those things. But the idea of a group of boys making a pact wasn't completely believable.
It was really hard for me to completely understand why, in the midst of emotional trauma, Oliver continued to respond to Tarryn's text messages and accept her invitations to meet-up after what happened. From their brief encounter the next morning he could tell that she didn't feel the weight of what she took from him. He wasn't going to get an answer from her. I am not Oliver, so perhaps that's where I'm having the issue, but I would have told her to get lost. In the end, he was able to piece together what had happened to him without talking with Tarryn.
I wish that there had been more exploration and delving into psychological effects following the rape. Like I said earlier, I really felt Oliver's confusion and hollowness in the days following the assault. After that, Oliver's feelings weren't really mentioned much aside from him refusing to talk to Paloma about it. Maybe that was the point, though. The book was written in first person, so maybe Oliver didn't want to talk to the reader about it either.
The revelation into Paloma's deep dark secret was something think the story could have done without. It almost felt like this was added to bring more depth and brokenness to the story. To me, this felt superfluous and unnecessary.
Overall, I liked some moments in this book. I thought the use of postcards was a cute touch and therapeutic way for the characters to work through their feelings without the pressures of face-to-face discussions. Even though the book didn't work for me completely, I really liked that this novel discusses a less-talked about side of sexual assault.
* Thank you to the author for providing me with an advance copy for review.
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November 19, 2016
As you know, I’m not one for reading blurbs. I tend to stick to my favorite authors and if I try a new one it’s only because my friends tell me I should. But for some reason, I felt as though this blurb needed to be read before I preordered it. But from the very first sentence, I had a feeling I was going to need this book. And when I finished reading the blurb, I knew I was going to need this book. I knew this story was going open lots of eyes and bring forth a lot of emotions.
Well, the blurb has nothing on this story. I was in a constant state of angst. My heart was in my stomach the entire time. This is real. This happens more than we care to think about. I have teens and this scares me. I am buying this book and having them read it. It will be uncomfortable, but I feel that they need to see. I realize this is fiction, but I’m willing to bet that this has happened to someone. I want my kids to know what to look for and how to help.
To be honest, I never think of the guys. I just don’t. But I am now.
Well, the blurb has nothing on this story. I was in a constant state of angst. My heart was in my stomach the entire time. This is real. This happens more than we care to think about. I have teens and this scares me. I am buying this book and having them read it. It will be uncomfortable, but I feel that they need to see. I realize this is fiction, but I’m willing to bet that this has happened to someone. I want my kids to know what to look for and how to help.
To be honest, I never think of the guys. I just don’t. But I am now.
December 2, 2016
I was impressed with how light this book felt when it dealt with such dark topics. Topics that are rarely tackled in any sort of literature. I have read books that didn’t cover nearly as tragic of circumstances with the grace Steph Campbell demonstrated in this book.
When I first saw the synopsis for A Postcard Would be Nice I was intrigued. While I’ve read several books that have dealt with sexual assault never was the survivor a male or if it was the story wasn’t his and he was only a supporting character. Oliver was a fresh face for an issue I feel very passionately about. Though he is a fictional character I still felt a certain sense of bravery in having those words, his story in print for the world to read. This book shed a much-needed light on male victims of sexual assault in a way that felt real.
My only wish for this book was that it was a little heavier. While the overarching theme of the book was extremely heavy and uncomfortable for the masses, I would have loved more darkness. In actuality, the book was nearly perfect and moments of levity helped to being more life, believability, and relatability to Oliver’s story. My personal preferences always lean toward the darker, heavier, more painful storylines and that is the only reason I would ask for more of a walk down that lane.
I have previously read and loved Steph Campbell’s books and have loved every one for different reasons. She has the ability to make her books widely relatable while still dealing with very specific themes and I appreciate that about her writing. Her books feel like they are, or could be, a person’s true life story. In a time when often stories tend toward the unbelievable (or at the very least highly unrelatable) Ms. Campbell always lends a voice of truth to her stories and that is what keeps me returning to her books time and again.
When I first saw the synopsis for A Postcard Would be Nice I was intrigued. While I’ve read several books that have dealt with sexual assault never was the survivor a male or if it was the story wasn’t his and he was only a supporting character. Oliver was a fresh face for an issue I feel very passionately about. Though he is a fictional character I still felt a certain sense of bravery in having those words, his story in print for the world to read. This book shed a much-needed light on male victims of sexual assault in a way that felt real.
My only wish for this book was that it was a little heavier. While the overarching theme of the book was extremely heavy and uncomfortable for the masses, I would have loved more darkness. In actuality, the book was nearly perfect and moments of levity helped to being more life, believability, and relatability to Oliver’s story. My personal preferences always lean toward the darker, heavier, more painful storylines and that is the only reason I would ask for more of a walk down that lane.
I have previously read and loved Steph Campbell’s books and have loved every one for different reasons. She has the ability to make her books widely relatable while still dealing with very specific themes and I appreciate that about her writing. Her books feel like they are, or could be, a person’s true life story. In a time when often stories tend toward the unbelievable (or at the very least highly unrelatable) Ms. Campbell always lends a voice of truth to her stories and that is what keeps me returning to her books time and again.
November 16, 2016
Review to post on release day.
November 27, 2016
This and more reviews at The Book Bar.co
Rating: House/Well
Steph Campbell has a fantastic way of making you feel the story. You get lost in the emotions the characters feel as they traverse the ups and downs of their encounters. A Postcard Would Be Nice has a lovely "first romance" that gets all twisted up in a nightmare situation for the male character, Oliver Wu.
This fantastic Young Adult read has very realistic situations that a young or older reader can relate to, and it adds an element that probably no reader has experienced before; except 1 out of 6 males can empathize with. The story, like Oliver, circles around this horrible, life altering moment. It reaches out to friends and wants to develop a relationship with a crush, but it always comes back to the crushing weight of the fact that Oliver was grossly violated and it's just something he doesn't want to address.
If not for the amazing supporting characters, like Oliver Wu's boss, Colm, and Oliver's young love, Paloma, Oliver would probably have spiraled into something more depressing, trying to constantly run away from being raped. The loving pressure from Paloma, knowing that something was wrong and he needs to open up to her, was perfectly balanced to Oliver's overwhelming sense of fear and hate he presented after his rape.
I really hope young readers can get their hands on this book before it's too late. That they can know there is always someone to help them out of the dark and that they need to be persistent when they know a friend is in need of help.
Rating: House/Well
Steph Campbell has a fantastic way of making you feel the story. You get lost in the emotions the characters feel as they traverse the ups and downs of their encounters. A Postcard Would Be Nice has a lovely "first romance" that gets all twisted up in a nightmare situation for the male character, Oliver Wu.
This fantastic Young Adult read has very realistic situations that a young or older reader can relate to, and it adds an element that probably no reader has experienced before; except 1 out of 6 males can empathize with. The story, like Oliver, circles around this horrible, life altering moment. It reaches out to friends and wants to develop a relationship with a crush, but it always comes back to the crushing weight of the fact that Oliver was grossly violated and it's just something he doesn't want to address.
If not for the amazing supporting characters, like Oliver Wu's boss, Colm, and Oliver's young love, Paloma, Oliver would probably have spiraled into something more depressing, trying to constantly run away from being raped. The loving pressure from Paloma, knowing that something was wrong and he needs to open up to her, was perfectly balanced to Oliver's overwhelming sense of fear and hate he presented after his rape.
I really hope young readers can get their hands on this book before it's too late. That they can know there is always someone to help them out of the dark and that they need to be persistent when they know a friend is in need of help.
July 7, 2017
Oliver Wu is half Chinese and half American. He's a senior in high school, in a band and works in a museum. He's secretly in love with a girl he knew in middle school. She disappeared after 8th grade graduation but he's discovered she loves the museum and comes in just about every day to sketch. He watches her from behind his coat check counter and has quiet conversations in his head with her. Her name is Paloma and he wishes he could ask her out for real. But he's to shy.
The band members have taken an oath. No drinking, No drugs and No sex. He writes the lyrics and plays bass. Through Ryan's sister they are invited to play a gig. He's not sure he wants to be in the band anymore. His life seems to be under someone else's control he just wants to graduate and get the heck out of town.
They play the gig and lucky for him Paloma is there. They talk and he walks her home. Earlier in the evening they had discussed postcards. Nobody sends hand written mail anymore.
He goes back to the party and from here out things are blurry. There's a girl, there are rumors going around school. He doesn't know what happened. He blacked out. He's afraid Paloma will hear something before he can remember. The other girl is being sketchy she won't tell him what happened. He loses his friends. The band kicks him out. He's become a loner.
In all honesty I didn't like the way it ended. I enjoyed the book and I know not every one can be an HEA but it left to many unopened questions.
The band members have taken an oath. No drinking, No drugs and No sex. He writes the lyrics and plays bass. Through Ryan's sister they are invited to play a gig. He's not sure he wants to be in the band anymore. His life seems to be under someone else's control he just wants to graduate and get the heck out of town.
They play the gig and lucky for him Paloma is there. They talk and he walks her home. Earlier in the evening they had discussed postcards. Nobody sends hand written mail anymore.
He goes back to the party and from here out things are blurry. There's a girl, there are rumors going around school. He doesn't know what happened. He blacked out. He's afraid Paloma will hear something before he can remember. The other girl is being sketchy she won't tell him what happened. He loses his friends. The band kicks him out. He's become a loner.
In all honesty I didn't like the way it ended. I enjoyed the book and I know not every one can be an HEA but it left to many unopened questions.
March 16, 2020
This book did a good job in addressing rape of male victims. I appreciated the compassion it had for Oliver's story and it pulled no punches in showing the ways that others treated him and that those ways weren't okay. It did bother me, though, how Oliver thought he was "protecting" the girl he liked while really he was putting her at risk.
November 28, 2016
4.5 stars
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December 21, 2016Unfortunately this one just did not work for me. I have read Steph Campbell's books before and loved everything that I have read but this one just wasn't for me
January 20, 2017
Loved this book so much. Not sure about the ending.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews