Do you?
*although most details are left out this post warrants a spoiler alert*
Everyone has that book that touches in a way they never knew literature could. Doesn’t matter if it’s romance, mystery, sci-fi, action or chick-lit this particular story sticks with you for months, years even. They latch on to our emotions and stick there, some bring emotions you never knew you had. If you haven’t run into a book like this I hope you find one soon.
For me that book was The Undoing of Ryder Burke, a Wattpad story about a high school girl who gets raped by her two best friends at a party. She grew up with them, siblings Georgia and Mason Brenner and Ryan Morgan but after the rape she obviously doesn’t want anything to do with the two guys but, like everyone else, Georgia doesn’t believe her and the three bully her every day. The word got out after Ryder went to the hospital and the nurse, who was Ryan’s sister, texted him, telling him that Ryder was accusing him and Mason of rape and it spread from there.
The author places little bits and pieces from that night sporadically throughout the story always starting at the same part but every time it pops up another piece is added. It adds a suspense element to the story that I absolutely love and drew me more in to it. During the story the only friend she has is the new kid Weston Stark. Who is with her through nearly all of it, helping her through panic attacks, cyber attacks, and so much more. He harbors his own secrets but they are revealed eventually.
Another thing that has stuck with me since I read the story nearly two years ago is a reoccurring line, “Do you know of all the ways to kill someone without stopping their heart?”. With the author detailing every thing Ryder is feeling through a third person narrative makes the words mean that much more. They stabbed at my heart in a way no book had before and, in my opinion, they depict the thoughts of a sexual assault victim accurately bringing on emotions and feeling Id never had.
The story goes all the way to the trial with the surprising twist of Weston’s lawyer father defending Ryan and Mason. But the one twist I’m sure everyone who’s read the book was hoping for didn’t happen, Mason and Ryan walked away as free men. Nothing happens too them but as I grew mad at this fact it hit me that this happens in real life. It’s a slim chance a rapist will face any consequences for his or her actions, another aspect of the story that is relatable to so many people. The Undoing of Ryder Burke is undoubtedly one of the most heart wrenching, truthful and emotionally damaging books I’ve ever read and that makes it the one book that has managed to shift something in me. I still cry when I think about Ryder because I know that she is so many other men and women who have gone through this terrible act of violence and have received no justice at all. Easily making it my favorite book.
Do you know of all the ways you can kill someone without stopping their heart?
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