Live Through This [Paperback]

Mindi Scott (Author)

Book Description

Release date: October 2, 2012

When a relationship trespasses the boundaries of trust, the consequences are complex in this nuanced page-turner from “a formidable talent” (Booklist).

If Coley Sterling’s best friend would stop hating her, if her dance-team captains would lighten up, if her friends would stop asking her about Reece, the geeky sax player she’s crushing on—then her life would be perfect. Right? After all, Coley’s stepdad is a successful attorney who gives Coley and her siblings everything, and her mother will stop at nothing to keep them all happy and safe—including having escaped ten years ago from the abuse of Coley’s real father.

     But Coley is keeping a lot of secrets. She won’t admit—not even to herself—that her almost-perfect life is her own carefully crafted façade. Now, Coley and Reece are getting closer, and a decade’s worth of Coley’s lies are on the verge of unraveling—along with the life she thought she knew.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up-Despite the chaos of a busy life (dance team, friend squabbles, a new boyfriend) and family life (a strict stepfather, younger siblings, and an older brother, Bryan, who is floundering), Coley, 15, is working hard to act like everything is normal. What others can't see is that for years, Bryan has been molesting her. While the teen is confused and tormented by her relationship with him, she also feels protective of their friendship. Only Coley and Bryan, who feel like outsiders in their stepfather's home, know what it felt like to escape their abusive father and move from New Zealand to the United States. Her shame over not hating her brother and the resulting emotional complications in her relationship with her crush finally prove too much for her to handle. Coley takes tentative steps toward healing, reaching out to friends and family to help her. Scott does not reduce the complexity of the situation and Coley's emotions to a simple solution. Dramatic without melodrama, this title respectfully examines incest and sexual abuse.-Jennifer Miskec, Longwood University, Farmville, VAα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Review

"Live Through This is by turns harrowing, sad, funny, and romantic. I couldn't put it down."

--Stephanie Perkins, author of Anna and the French Kiss

"Intensely emotional and beautifully crafted, I savored every word."

--Amanda Grace, author of In Too Deep

"An honest and realistic portrayal of what it is to live with secrets and shame." –Jo Knowles, author of Lessons From a Dead Girl

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Simon Pulse (October 2, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1442440600
• ISBN-13: 978-1442440609
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,699,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Avid lover of sun and hater of rain, Mindi Scott has somehow managed to reside in the Pacific Northwest corner of the U.S. all her life. She currently lives with her drummer husband and four cats near Seattle, Washington. Please visit her online at MindiScott.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hobbitsies Reviews: Stunning October 10, 2012

By Tara Gonzalez

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

Live Through This by Mindi Scott is an unbelievably stunning, heartbreaking story. I am amazed by Mindi Scott's storytelling capabilities - I can't even imagine writing a story like this and still being able to include the beautiful, fun, light moments in such a perfect way.

Because Live Through This is an important and upsetting book. Sexual abuse is something that happens entirely too often, and the way Mindi Scott tells Coley's story is just...perfect. We have moments where we're giddy with Coley over the dorky and cute Reese, or we're laughing with Coley and her best friend Noah (who I love to death, FYI), but there's also this heavy feeling while reading Live Through This that we realize Coley must feel all the time because of what's happening to her.

I was so tense while reading Live Through This - I loved the way Mindi Scott kept the identity of Coley's abuser under wraps for a bit. I was tense and nervous and accusatory and my heart just broke when everything was revealed.

It's really hard for me to write a full review of Live Through This. Mindi Scott delivers a heart wrenching book that made me laugh and cry and want to curl up under the bed and hide from everyone. Live Through This is a beautiful contemporary that portrays an issue that ought to be brought to light more often.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Big questions. Sad answers. Good book. February 12, 2013

By ShannonT

Format:Paperback

I blame my curiosity gene for drawing me to issue books such as Live Through This. This book takes on the issue of sexual abuse and it's resultant emotional scars. We're shown 16 year old Coley (short for Nicole), a girl who has suffered from sexual abuse for several years. No one on the outside or even on the inside of her nuclear family can tell anything is wrong. She's involved in activities at school, has a boyfriend, and hangs out (and fights) with her friends. She carries on like her relationship with a certain person in her life isn't totally warped, and even displays affectionate and genuine acts of love to that person despite it all. This is all a façade because deep down she doesn't know what to think of herself and she doesn't want to admit that all of those nights in her bed were and are real.

While this story isn't overly heavy in actual acts of abuse, the ripple effects of being manipulated by someone close occur throughout the book as Coley's self-perceptions are revealed. She's jaded, but doesn't realize how much so until she gets her first real boyfriend. It's only then that she'll allow herself to really think about what's gone on for the past several years of her life and to admit that it has to stop. All of her confusion and revulsion eventually reaches a boiling point and the fit hits the shan. This is where the book abruptly stops and, although I would have liked to have seen the outcome of exposing the truth, it worked.

I've never been in Coley's situation and therefore can't say how I would have reacted. However, I get why she felt the way she did and I understand why she didn't speak out sooner. How could she without compromising her relationship with someone she cherished and who should always have her back? How could she see just how messed up the situation was until she had a boyfriend and unearthed the realization that only one person should be allowed to kiss her? How do you speak that kind of thing out loud thereby making the situation a real thing vs. refusing to acknowledge it altogether? Big questions. Sad answers. Good book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreaking, honest, sweet December 26, 2012

By Hannah @ Paperback Treasures

Format:Hardcover

Live Through This is subtle but stunning, raw and heart-wrenching. I don't even know what to say about it; the more I think about it, the more I realize how amazing this book truly is.

I loved Coley's character; she's so real, her feelings about the abuse are so heartbreakingly honest. I felt her pain and her shame, and how this relationship goes back and forth between pain and hatred and love and loyalty. This concept is something I hadn't read about before, and this different kind of abuse was eye-opening to read about. Live Through This was a shocking read, but it also makes me so happy that Mindi Scott found the strength to write about this topic, which couldn't have been easy, given her own experiences with abuse.

While reading, I didn't like how late we find out about the book's main issue, but the more I think about it, the more I like how the novel is structured. I liked the suspense in the beginning of not knowing who the abuser is, how it made us feel Coley's confusion about the whole situation. I saw it coming, but I kept hoping it wouldn't be him, and when we finally found out, I wanted to hold on to Coley and never let her go. I like how this set-up allowed the reader to also have some happy, light scenes, like when we got to read about the innocent romance between Coley and Reece; Mindi Scott really impressed me with how she layered this dark issue with lighter sub-plots and sweet, fun scenes. Still, I wish we'd gotten some more time at the end to explore the main issue, but maybe that's just because I wanted the book to go on longer.

The secondary characters added a lot to the novel; each of them is fully fleshed-out and has their own story. I loved the cute romance with Reese, the sweet friendship between Coley and Noah, and Alejandra's story as well.

As a huge fan of Mindi Scott's debut, it also made me happy to find out that Live Through This is set in the same town as Freefall, and to see some of Freefall's characters again.

I still can't put my finger on what it is that makes this book so special; it's everything. It's heartbreaking and raw, honest feeling, but at the same time, it's sweet and funny. Mindi Scott tells a stunningly beautiful and powerful story that I know I won't soon forget.