Exit, Pursued by a Bear

E.K. Johnston’s EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR is a powerful, emotional, tough yet positive story that is exceptionally well-written. It’s not easy reading a story about rape. It’s challenging, difficult, angry-making, heartbreaking. But the author presents it in a way that let’s you see beyond that violent act and get to know her character, connect with her, see her for who she is and was and not just as a victim. It is a moving and engaging story that, while it puts you through the ringer, allows you to feel hope.Hermione is strong, but not unrealistically so. She has a great support structure in her parents, her friends, her coach, the police officer assigned to her case, her therapist, yet not one that feels as if she’s too fortunate to have it. She refuses to be labeled as a victim, act like one, or be treated like one. But she’s not afraid to rely on her supports to help her through the day-to-day.EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR lets you get to know Hermione both before her attack and after – flaws and all. It lets you share in her recovery process. It focuses on the positive – healing, strength, resilience, goals, choices, power – but keeps things believable. It tells Hermione’s story in a way that is as helpful and informative as it is compelling. And while it doesn’t shy away from the subject matter, it doesn’t feel exploitative.While the topic may be one that is too mature, too personal, or too sensitive for some readers, it is not one that should dissuade other readers from picking up this incredibly amazing book. EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR is not too dark, too depressing, too weighty. The author struck just the right balance between seriousness and entertainment. It is uplifting. It is heart-rending. It is hopeful. It is beautifully written. Hermione Winters is inspiring.And it is one of those extraordinary stories that might just help one reader find a way through the darkness or find a way to help someone they know through it. I cannot recommend this enough.

I'm having a lot of emotions right now, so bear with me here.(Pun not totally intended.)In the last four years, I have mostly avoided anything that was about rape. It's a huge trigger for me and I never really know if it's gonna happen or how. I know that reading about it can do it (as happened reading SPEAK in the semester after I was raped). So I've mostly avoided it.I knew what EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR was about when I bought it. I knew what I was getting into. It's the first time I've actively chosen to read a book like this. I'd heard so much good, and its title is my favorite stage direction ever, and the cover is mindblowingly gorgeous, so I had to give it a try.I'm glad I did, because it's beautiful. It's real, and honest, and while the emotions are intense, I never felt unsafe while I was reading it. (That being the difference between this book and, say, Game of Thrones. Here, rape and the victim are being treated with care, knowledge, love. They are not being treated like spectacles or entertainment.)I almost wish I'd had this four years ago. I think it could have helped me a lot in the aftermath of my attacks. But in any case, I have it now, and so do many others.

This book is a heartbreaking example of perfection.What makes it clearly so is the character development. Each character is exquisitely crafted and impacts the story in an exact and satisfying way. I love so many...the therapist, the cheerleading coach, the parents, the nurses....Hermione is brave in the least patronizing way you can imagine. She's a rape victim that refuses to mold to the stereotypes of victims often depicted in literature, especially YA literature.She's firm and frustrated and forthcoming and confused. She's real and she drew me in from her first word.Even more triumphant than Hermione is her best friend Polly, who is flawless and fierce and you'll want to know her.I love this book because it's everything other stories try to be. It's not a political statement. It's not very dramatic.It's just the terrible of real life, told beautifully.

It started out really good but the ending was not good

SO powerful. So beautiful. So intense. I enjoyed the character dynamics in the opening, but then from the moment the crisis hit (about 50 pages in), I suddenly COULD NOT STOP READING from then until the end of the book.I love the heroine, Hermione, so much. I love her wonderful friends and family and support system so much. I cheered for her SO fiercely. And this book made me care desperately about cheerleading, too! Hermione is an intensely committed athlete, and I was ALL in as she fought to win and NOT be defined by what had happened to her.I can't remember the last time any book made me cry so much, but it was fiercely - FIERCELY - uplifting, too.I'm so glad I read it.

I think it takes a lot of courage to write a book about a controversial topic for a high school girl. I think the author does an exceptional job writing an honest story about what happens in high school. While reading, I was transported back and imagined what would have happened in my own high school. You sympathize, you empathize, and you realize this is something we as parents, teachers, students, and just people need to handle better. I highly recommend it.

This is definitely the authors political platform. So at times the story is flat. However, for the most part it is entertaining and she makes you care about her characters. Some of what she said in her final words does not apply in the USA. We have victim advocate groups and rape crisis centers whose aim is to make the court process as easy as possible for the traumatized and to place them on the road to recovery.

(Review originally posted on Bloggers Heart Books)My thoughts on this book are kind of all over the place, but I think they're mostly positive. And I apologize in advance for how long this review will probably be...Here's what I loved about it:-It had parents who are both alive and very much present in the story. Parents who actually, well, parent. Which is kind of annoyingly rare in most of the YA books I read.-It has LGBTQ+ characters. One of which has a big role in the story that doesn't revolve entirely around their sexuality because it's just a part of who they are and not their whole story.-SO much positive female friendships/relationships. I loved that. On that level, it was exactly the kind of book I've been looking for recently. It didn't turn them into unnecessary rivals or have them be catty, it just had them care about each other fiercely and I love that.-It captures that senior year feeling so well. That "this is the end of something, but also the beginning of something and I'm happy and sad and excited and scared" kind of feeling.-The way it tackles choices Hermione has to make in the story.-I also loved that the rape in the story wasn't being used as a plot device in a romance to give the character a tragic back story. It upsets me so much when it's used that way because it's so disrespectful. I loved that romance barely played a part in the story (and this is coming from someone who loves romances).Now, here's where it gets more complicated for me. The story is about a rape survivor -- what happened to her, the aftermath of it, how she copes with it and I have kind of mixed feelings on it.On one hand, I appreciated that it was different to the other stories that tackle this subject matter. It did it in a more...positive way? less angsty way?...I'm not sure the correct way to phrase it. But what I mean is this: so many stories that deal with the issue of rape have victims that are so broken and traumatised by what happened to them and have the characters react in the same sort of ways and have the same handful of coping mechanisms.And that? That's fine. More often than not, it's realistic. And those stories are so important -- but I appreciated that this one showed the character dealing with it in a different way because I have seen way too many ignorant people say that they think a girl is lying about being raped because she doesn't react or behave the way they think a rape victim should act. They have such a limited view of what rapists should be like, what victims should be like, what does and does not count as rape -- so when someone's story doesn't fit in with that limited view they have, they think it's a lie.So yeah...I loved that it showed a different reaction to the ones we normally see in fiction, because the truth is people deal with trauma in their own way and there is no wrong way of reacting -- harmful ways, self destructive ways? Yes, but not wrong. Not any that invalidate their experiences.The only things I didn't love about the book while reading was that the way the beginning of the story plays out comes across as really contrived and the way it portrays the aftermath of rape.I mean -- I've said all the things I did like about the way the subject matter was handled, but there were aspects of it that I didn't like. It portrays the aftermath in very Lifetime movie sort of way that kind of perpetuates some of the harmful misconceptions about rape (that victims are supported by nearly everyone, that the justice system is totally on their side, etc.).I think maybe that just bothered me because of some conversations I'd had just before reading the book, with people who were saying a girl was lying about her attack because she didn't go to the police -- and the reason they think that, is because they think the way it's portrayed in this book will be the reality for most victims when it isn't.The author does acknowledge that not many victims have the support system Hermione does in the book but it's in the author note which not everyone reads. So yeah, I had mixed feelings about the portrayal (but that's a totally subjective thing on my part).There was so much that I loved about the book really, and I can't quite pinpoint what it was about it that stopped it from wowing me. When I finished the book, my thoughts were mostly positive but the book hadn't gotten under my skin. It hadn't pulled me so thoroughly into the story that I was wrecked by the low points or smiling with the high points. It didn't linger with me, the story didn't haunt me for days--or even hours--after finishing. It's not a favourite, although it feels like it should've been.I'd rate it 4 stars out of 5, but I can easily see it being a 5 star read for so many people.

Warning: spoilers aheadWhen I read the reviews of this book, I was delighted that a story centered around sexual abuse existed without the usual "victimization" of the survivor. Though I loved the concept, the execution could have been so much better.I appreciate the author bringing in a strong support system for our survivor protagonist but it was too far fetched. Her parents, coach, best friend, team mates, and even the church reverend- all of them were on the protagonist's side immediately, which is never the case. As a result, it felt as if the author was underplaying the protagonist's pain as a survivor.The character I disliked the most was the therapist who was too sarcastic. In an attempt to be funny (which is unnecessary in such books), the therapist was insensitive and bossy toward the protagonist. Besides, therapists don't advice their patients. They approach issues through a completely unbiased perspective.Further, I wanted to like the protagonists' relationships with the people around her more. Other than Polly, I didn't care about anyone at all. I found it hard to believe that her parents didn't rush to the camp when the crime happened. Even later, their involvement was hardly there.The most far-fetched part of this book was the way the rapist was caught. A criminal who took so much effort to wipe all evidence would never be so careless. The whole thing seemed too inconvenient.I really wish I had liked this story more because I am passionate about this subject - abuse survivors overcoming their trauma and moving ahead.

This is different than other YA books I’ve read that deal with the subject of r***. Other books tend to focus on the victim falling apart, becoming depressed and suicidal and that sort of thing. This book stands out because Hermione is not what you expect from a teenage victim. This is a book about rebuilding and pulling yourself back up after something terrible happens. Hermione is incredibly brave. She refuses to let what happened define her or destroy her. Maybe her experience is different because she was part of the popular crowd and other books I’ve read have the victim as an outsider? One of the best bits about the book is Hermione’s friends who rally fiercely around her. Yay to female friendship and empowerment. This is a terrific read.

I would not have pick up "Exit, Pursued by a Bear" if I was not already a fan of the author. Having finished it with tears in my eyes and a smile on my face, I feel changed. What E.K. Johnston was able to do with a story about a cheerleader who is raped is nothing short of brilliant. She tells this story by drawing smart and subtle parallels to Shakespeare while simultaneously winking at Star Wars. I won't go into specifics, because you'll have to see for yourself. Reading this book was a gift.

A thoughtful, pointed novel that carefully avoids all the traps of cliche and issue fiction. Highly recommended.