The Way It Hurts
by Patty Blount
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Pub Date Aug 01 2017 | Archive Date Aug 31 2017
SOURCEBOOKS Fire | Sourcebooks Fire
Description
From the award-winning author of Some Boys comes a new ripped-from-the-headlines story about the unthinking backlash of Twitter culture
There may be two sides to every story, but sometimes there’s only one way to set things right…
Music is Elijah’s life. His band plays loud and hard, and he’ll do anything to get them a big break. He needs that success to help take care of his sister, who has special needs. So he’d rather be practicing when his friends drag him to a musical in the next town…until the lead starts to sing.
Kristen dreams of a career on stage like her grandmother’s. She knows she needs an edge to get into a competitive theater program—and being the star in her high school musical isn’t going to cut it. The applause and the attention only encourage her to work harder.
Elijah can’t take his eyes off of Kristen’s performance, and his swooning face is captured on camera and posted with an out-of-context comment. It goes viral. Suddenly, Elijah and Kristen are in a new spotlight as the online backlash spins out of control. And the consequences are bigger than they both could have ever imagined because these threats don’t stay online…they follow them into real life.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781492632788 |
| PRICE | $10.99 (USD) |
| PAGES | 352 |
Featured Reviews
Amy F, Reviewer
**Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary cops of THE WAY IT HURTS in exchange for my honest review.**
Eli maintains a rock star attitude to keep up appearances for his band. Underneath his cool exterior, he worries his parents want to send his social needs sister, Anna, to a residential home. Kristen is broadway bound hoping to follow in her grandmother Etta's footsteps. She has no time for heavy metal music or sexist players like Eli. But when Kristen joins his band, sparks fly setting in motion a series of viral posts, trolls and threats on and offline which bring the stressors in both their families to a crescendo.
Because of the way Patty Blount handles social issues with subtlety and purpose, she is a must read for me so I was thrilled to receive an ARC of THE WAY IT HURTS. Both Eli and Kristen have interesting, complex families and backstories. I loved her devotion to Etta and his to Anna. Anna's storyline with both profound autism and a chromosomal disorder and the severity of her conditions with a residential facility a real possibility is not often found in YA literature and was realistically portrayed, except the availability of centers and no mention of funds to pay for such a costly facility. I appreciated how Blount dealt with the more severe side of the spectrum with no easy answers. Eli's devotion to Anna was incredibly sweet.
Plotwise, THE WAY IT HURTS started slow with band and music details setting up the important second half of the story. I couldn't put the book down during the last 50%.
THEMES:
-Miscommunication on and offline filled the story, with both characters often making assumptions without checking for the source.
-Internet bullies and trolling
-Danger of giving location online
-The importance of family
-Special needs siblings
-Misogyny
THE WAY IT HURTS has broad appeal to male and female audiences including reluctant readers. She delivers social commentary subtly without beating readers over the head with her important points.
Bookseller 399586
I really enjoyed this read.
I have a slight fascination with how social media affects our lives. That's shown here, in this story when one small action is taken out of context and it spirals out of control. The reality is, that's it very real, and it's scary.
I gave this a 4 star rating, as the first half of the book was a rather slow build up. The second half, however, was really enjoyable.
I haven't read any other books by this author, but plan on doing so as she seems to cover some social media issues in her other stories as well
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