The Fall of Innocence is a tragic young adult novel with strong psychological aspects dealing with t h trauma from sexual assault on an eight year old. As new insights about her attacker are revealed when she is in her teens, Emilia is forced to relive the tragedy once again and face the reality of her situation. It is a haunting story, sad and unfortunately realistic. A definitely worthy teenage and adult read.

Heartbreaking book that should appeal to many YA readers. I will be recommending in our high school library.

I'm not sure how I would describe this book or in what genre I would place it. I went into it thinking it would be a thriller/suspense, but I didn't find it to be either. It didn't flow very well and seemed choppy. There were also times that I was thoroughly confused as to what was going on.

A teenage girl is still suffering from the effects of a horrible, violent attack she suffered eight years ago and cannot seem to move on with her life--much to the concern of her family and boyfriend. The situation was so sad and the author did a good job of showing how devastating something like can be to everyone involved, but the book itself was kinda boring and repetitive.

The Fall of Innocence by Jenny Torres Sanchez is about life after a horrific and brutal attack on a young girl. Emilia DeJesus just 8 years old disappeared for a few hours and was found in the woods behind her school. At 16 Emilia is sure she knows her attacker and that he is behind bars but a confession from a dying man changes that reality. It challenges her memory and brings up a past she is trying to leave behind.

This novel deals with the rape or abuse of a young girl and how it not only affects her but her family. It also shows how it impacts her relationships as a teenager. This book might be a little dark but it depends on how you view the characters and the ending. Sanchez’s writing captures a time and place beautifully. She uses the 1986 Challenger disaster as part of the narrative. It gives you a sense of foreboding from the beginning. Emilia’s life was forever changed that same year. I think this novel is well written and portrays a realistic version of a family after something traumatic like this occurs.

This book is a little too dark for what I would recommend to students, even in high school. I also think the brother's issues are completely contrived.

Emilia suffered through a terrible attack in grade school, and she is suffering from PTSD in high school, when the reader joins her. Through a view different view points, we see Emilia coming face to face with her past, all while trying to live a normal teenage life.

I truly appreciate the story and characters here. Emilia's PTSD made sense, and it felt realistic. I think that her brother's story was way too skimmed over; it may be would have made for a different story/book completely. I liked being able to get into the head of Jeremy Lance's mother and Emilia's mother, but, once again, it just felt too skimmed over. Not a lot happened.

This is one of the most depressing books I have read. There is some redeeming factor in the loving relationships of brother/sister and mother/children. The father, Sam, has run away from the problems but does come back for a while in the end. Emilia, 16, seems to be dealing with life after being beaten and left for dead at age 8 but the detective receives a call from the actual perpetrator and Emilia is forced to keep reliving the beating. So, a very dysfunctional family, throw in an older brother who's having trouble with this gender and no one is happy in this story. Would have been better to have left the brother's situation out. Had nothing to do with Emilia's struggles.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. This review contains spoilers. This book is dark and gets darker. If you thought 13 Reasons Why was difficult, this is even harder. At least 13 Reasons Why seemed to have lessons for the other characters. I felt like this book should come with a warning label. It was very emotionally painful to get through and did not leave you feeling good at any point in the story.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book (from NetGalley). All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This was a very intricate perspective into the mind of a young trauma victim. I throroughly enjoyed/appreciated depth of this book. The thoughts and feelings of the characters were so vivid and authentic. Though I have never been in a situation like most of what occurs in this novel, I could clearly imagine it happening in the exact way it was written. A very tragic, but extremely well written novel.

Emilia DeJesus is trying so hard to live a normal life again. She’s in high school now, and has a steady boyfriend. But things are just not the same since she was assaulted on the playground of her elementary school when she was eight years old. The events of that day have had a lasting effect on Emilia and her family as well. Flashbacks and a deep sadness often overcome her. Her mother and brother continually worry about her state of mind, and panic if Emilia is late coming home. Her father, devastated by Emilia’s attack, has left the family and moved away in an attempt to try to deal with the helpless feelings he experiences as a result of his daughter’s assault.

This story is hard to put down. With well drawn characters and a compelling plot, I found myself reading late into the night to see how the novel would end.
Author Jenny Torres Sanchez successfully gives readers a feeling of how the victims of sexual assault try to cope with their injuries both physical and mental as well as the devastating effect of such crimes on families of victims. It’s not an upbeat story, but it is well worth reading.

Thank you to Net Galley, Philomel Books, and author Jenny Torres Sanchez for giving me the opportunity to read the ARC of this novel.

This is definitely a book for mature readers who will appreciate all of the literary elements that are embedded throughout the story. Jenny Torres Sanchez carefully chose her words, and the result is a captivating story. Through her descriptions of the main character', Emilia's, thoughts and actions, the reader is left feeling as if he/she is suffering the results of a devastating event right along with her. Any young adult who has suffered through a traumatic event will relate to the internal chaos that Emilia fights to control each day.

I’m not sure what drew me to this book. Since picking it up, it’s been like watching a train wreak. You know something terrible is going to happen, has happened, but you feel the need to find out how it ends. Throughout reading this book, I felt the strong need to lock my children up in the house and never let them go outside yet knowing if I did so, it would smother them and worse would happen. There were no good feelings associated with this book. The worst fears a parent can have are realized in this book. Reader beware.

I wanted to love this book but something kept me from doing so. The story goes back and forth from past to present which at times made it a bit hard to follow. I felt for Emilia and her mother but not strongly enough. I was disgusted by her father--he's pathetic. His story could have been left out and it wouldn't have made any difference to the story. I really wanted to learn more about Tomas. His character seemed interesting and tortured in a different way than Emilia's demons. At times the writing seemed juvenile, even for YA, but at other times so beautifully eloquent.

An incredibly haunting story. In the same vein as Lovely Bones had Susie lived.

Emilia was assaulted six years ago. She was dragged into the woods behind her elementary school, stripped naked and brutally beaten. Emilia knew who committed the assault, she identified him by name. But the detective resurfaces with new information plunging Emilia into disappear. Was she wrong about the whole thing?