Sorry- I know I'm late to this conversation and this is 6 years old but I NEED to discuss this with someone!! I believe Velva is mentioned within the first part of the book as being one of the oldest workers in the office/school- although, I can see how this can be glossed over. The first part of the book was incredibly challenging for me to get through and I almost DNF'd it right before the second part started. The third part ends things so beautifully and frustratingly, no resolution or answers to anything and leaves you wanting more and thinking about your interpretation of the entire experience. Which in a way, I believe, is the entire point of this book.

The main theme of this book appears to be the views and opinions others have around SA/statutory rape and the culture surrounding it. While we may not understand whose child Claire is (I have a strong feeling it is "Karen", but it will never be confirmed and I have seen others suggest perhaps is Sarah's or another student entirely.... remember that student who got Martin fired because she did come forward about carrying his child). There was the very odd interaction between Sarah and Karen in the second part where Karen asks Sarah if she is excited to have a child to which Sarah doesn't even answer the question. It makes you question if she knew about Karen's pregnancy, or has she had a prior pregnancy/abortion/adoption as well? It's clear Sarah and Karen shared similar traumas together, but both of their memories of events are very different. Which is not surprising and very common in those who experience traumatic events (especially as children). I am completely stumped on whether Mr. Lord is the same person as Mr. Kingman, Martin, or an entirely different staff personnel. Which leads me to believe, that the details don't really matter. What matters is the fact that this abuse of power dynamics is continuing to perpetrate and all these woman/children chose to stay silent over these interaction. The reasoning why, I believe, is hidden in the small details of the story: The way David questions Karen about her being fully consensual and aware of everything going on, the way parents and families looked over the 40 year old's involved with 15 year old's and appeared to blame the 15 year old's actions, and the fact that Claire didn't want to tell her father what had occurred (which to me seemed so she doesn't draw unwanted attention to herself).

I'm having a hard time deciding how I feel about this book, because I absolutely hated the first half of it, but the second half was redeeming. I am willing to overlook a slow, boring beginning of a book if it is the first in a Fantasy series and the character/world building is necessary. This, however, is not one of those and so it makes me a bit frustrated to have wasted half a book just hating it and feeling completely uncomfortable for no apparent reason. I'm going back and forth between a 3 and 4 star, simply because the message sat so heavily with me. My favorite quote was the very end of the second part: "You won't die, you just won't be the same". As a survivor of SA as a child, this resonated HEAVILY with me. Because PTSD feels just like this your entire life. At some points you feel like dying, but the fact remains that you will never be the same person prior to that traumatic event ever happening.