There are a lot of trigger warnings with this book, so look into those if you need to. This story was powerful, heartbreaking, and beautiful.

I loved this book a lot. It's devastating and beautiful and incredibly well-written. It made me cry on the subway.

Wow! This books hits you right in the guts. It's a YA contemporary that isn't scared of being true. The author do not shy away from the tough subjects so you should check out the trigger warnings. I felt for the characters and they stayed with me for a long time after.

Thank you Netgalley and Rocky Pond Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Virginia is seventeen. Just typing that out made me do a double take because she lived a hard life in those 17 years. Alena Bruzas takes delicate subject matter, the story of Virginia’s life, to new heights in Ever Since. Virginia has given herself the label of “that girl”. We all know one. The promiscuous girl, the party girl, the girl who cheats with her friend’s boyfriend. Virginia only does those things because she doesn’t realize she can say no. She wishes she could. She’s used to being used. She just plays along like she always has. Ever since.

It could go on like this forever but Virginia befriends the sister of her friend’s boyfriend, Lyra. Lyra is 11. Lyra loves soccer, is being tutored by Virginia and, unfortunately, is also being groomed for abuse. Virginia notices the signs immediately. She knows she should tell but she really doesn’t want to get involved. However, as she starts to care for Lyra she realizes she needs to get involved and that means facing her own harsh reality.

This story is a book for survivors, a book for their supporters, a book for friends. A book for people who haven’t lived it but could use an insider’s view. It shines light on the reality of life after abuse and how it stays with you for a long time.

Cannot recommend it enough, get your hands on this one!

I would like to thank the author, Rocky Pond Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book for review!

Virginia is known as “that kind of girl”, the one who will be with anyone, but people don’t know the true story. Virginia is a victim, her dad is an abusive drunk and her mom is a constant victim of her dad’s abuse. No one knows that Virginia has been continuously victimized by people in her life, but when she starts spending time with Rumi. The only problem is Rumi is her best friend Poppy’s boyfriend. Poppy abruptly left town for the summer with no warning, and in her absence Rumi, and Virginia have been spending a lot of time together. When Virginia stars tutoring Rumi’s little sister Lyra, Virginia and Lyra start to form a bond. The more time Virginia spends with Lyram Virginia notices that Lyra might be being groomed by the same person who harmed Virginia. With Lyra possibly in danger Virginia may have to reveal all her secrets to keep Lyra safe, no matter what the cost.

With this book initially I was a bit frustrated with the main character Virginia and I almost DNF’d this one. I took the time to read some reviews and gave it another chance, and I am glad I did. When I took a step back and thought about what Virginia went through I had to relapse she was a victim and her actions may not always be reasonable. I ultimately really enjoyed this book.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

This is a powerful story that does a great job of providing an honest look into the emotions and mental space of a teen girl who's suffered abuse. The main character isn't always likeable but you gain an understanding of her choices as you realize what she's gone through. Some of her actions can be frustrating, but I felt they were also realistic. I believe this will speak to teens in my library who have similar experiences and provide some insight to those who don't.

I didnt get a chance to leave a full review before the publication date, however I did read this one and gave it 5 stars

Incredible. This story realistically relates trauma from sexual abuse as a child, sexual assault, the difficulties these things bring to a teenage girl's life and her view of herself.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

This was heartbreaking and beautiful. It was an intense read about trauma, being in highschool and so much more.

This is a very powerful and gripping YA novel about trauma. It was very gut wrenching and heartbreaking while also being breathtakingly beautiful.

This was such a heart-wrenching, emotional read about a teen girl struggling under the weight of childhood sexual abuse--abuse she's kept a secret from everyone around her. But during a life-changing summer, she'll be forced to confront her past. Virginia felt like such a real, authentic depiction of a teen dealing with trauma; she made lots of terrible choices and was messy, and as she falls in love, she begins to address her trauma and take steps towards healing.

I really appreciated the theme of women/girls fighting to protect each other. Virginia isn't ready to confront her abuse until she discovers that the younger sister of the boy she's in love with is being groomed. This book really brought me to tears and I think it would be good to pair with a book like Speak to spark a conversation on how survivorship doesn't just look one way.

There is one big reason why I didn't rate this higher: the BIPOC characters were not fully fleshed out, and many of them were just vaguely described as "caramel" or other euphemisms for brown without any cultural details. It felt like they were maybe added in as an afterthought to make a mostly white book feel more diverse, without the actual work being put in to make them three-dimensional, nuanced characters. I just with more thought had been put in to the representation.

Overall, a solid book that I know many teens will relate to, though I wish they didn't.

I did not have time to download and read this book before it was archived, so I'm unable to leave a review.

Trigger warnings galore.

But honestly, this harrowing, heart wrenching read is honestly a topic that maybe needs to be explored more. Sexual assualt, child sexual abuse....these are real issues and they destroy real girls silently every single day - long into their adult lives. Some of the most "put together" people are secretly falling apart at the seems.

Be ready to be broken. The honesty of this writing is raw and beautiful. Heartbreaking and devastating.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read an ARC copy of the book. It was a great book, with a beautiful cover and a killer writing style. Can't wait to see more books from this author in the future.

Ever Since by Alena Bruzas

Virginia is lost after her best friend Poppy suddenly leaves town without a word to stay with her grandparents. While Poppy is away she starts to get closer to Poppy’s boyfriend Rumi… and now someone who previously got close to Virginia is trying to get close to Rumi’s younger sister Lyra who is 11, the same age Virginia was. Things begin to unravel further and further.

This book is powerful! It hits a powerful topic slowly for me. It took me time to get into this story properly. And ooft! Worth every moment. This is heavy, heavy, heavy so if you’re not sure - beware trigger warnings. If you love heavy YA - look no further than here!

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin Group for this arc! I loved it! 😍😍

Such an amazing book! You begin with a character that is unlikeable, making choices most wouldn't agree with. But as you delve deeper into her and the past, you can see why things appear the way they do. It's such a powerful story about the impact of assault and trauma.

I was initially interested in this because of the stunning cover. I’m absolutely obsessed with it. When I saw this being compared to books by Nina LaCour, I was in.

This is the kind of dark, heartbreaking and trauma filled book that I love. It’s odd but books that I can relate to seem to help me process things that I never did.

This story was beautifully written. I liked that the author showed the aftermath of SA. Not everyone deals with it the same and showing some unhealthy coping mechanisms was genius.

I liked our MC Virginia. I just wanted to wrap her up in a hug.

Prepare to have your heart ripped to pieces. And please look up the triggers if you need to.

*thank you Penguin Randomhous for an eARC in exchange for an honest review*

This is a story that does have a likable main character. This story doesn’t hav many moments for mailing or laughing. It’s painful and hard to read. And Virginia does a lot of thing that are horrible because of the horrible things that were done to her.

Not every victim is the perfect victim. That doesn’t mean their story is any less important. A complicated person is a real person. Thank you Alena Bruzas for sharing your story in the author’s note and for sharing a ficionalized version of too many stories out here.

*content warnings*
- sexual abuse, vividly deceive on the page
- alcohol and drug abuse
- partner violence
- child sexual abuse & grooming
- child neglect
- sexual assault
- online abuse
- explicit language
- verbal assault regarding being transgender
And regarding promiscuity

I really love Nina LaCour so I decided to give this book a try. This is exactly the kind of dark, trauma-filled, hard hitting book I love. Yes, call me weird but I had a rough childhood so reading these kinds of books actually helps me process things. I loved the story, the writing wasn't as flowing as I was hoping but all the other positives made up for it.