It’s half first person narrative, and half verse.

We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire is an incredibly well written story within a story. Trigger Warning - rape, bullying, trauma discussion, gore But they also make things so beautiful they break your heart, you know?” NOTE: if alternating prose/verse isnt your kind of thing, or maybe you prefer a nonfiction perspective on this topic, i would highly recommend reading ‘know my name,’ which i feel discusses this subject more effectively and honestly. However, these things dont negate the importance of the message of this story, which is why i cant give this less than 3 stars. so im not quite sure why it didnt work for me here.

i also found myself skimming through the sections told in verse, which is surprising because i loved JMs ‘blood water paint,’ which is told completely in verse. it just made a serious situation feel insincere. it feels like JM was trying to be too politically correct and forward thinking, thus the characters come across as caricatures. While the necessity of the content and the relatability of certain character situations are praise-worthy, i did find the execution to be lacking. i have no doubt readers will see themselves in nora, knowing how it feels to be attacked, or in em, knowing someone who has been attacked and needs help. Just know that the topic of this book is very important to me. Violence against women, victim shaming, and unaccountability are intertwined topics that i could stand on my soap box and preach about until my last breath. ‘a woman broken, rebuilt, can conquer any sword.’ We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire is a searing and nuanced portrait of a young woman torn between a persistent desire for revenge and a burning need for hope. To make matters worse, a news clip of her saying that the sentence “makes me want to use a fucking sword” goes viral.įrom this low point, Em must find a new reason to go on and help her family heal, and she finds it in the unlikely form of the story of a 15th-century French noblewoman, Marguerite de Bressieux, who is legendary as an avenging knight for rape victims. While her family is stunned, Em is literally sick with rage and guilt. In a matter of minutes, justice vanishes as the judge turns the Morales family’s world upside down again by sentencing the rapist to no prison time. Em’s family would have real justice.īut the victory is short-lived. Her passion and outspokenness helped dissuade the DA from settling for a plea deal. A jury eventually found the rapist guilty on all counts–a remarkable verdict that Em felt more than a little responsible for, since she was her sister’s strongest advocate on social media during the trial. Em Morales’s older sister was raped by another student after a frat party.

Blood water paint joy mccullough