The Mockingbirds: Review

Title: The Mockingbirds
Author: Daisy Whitney
Release Date: November 2010
Published By: Little, Brown
Genre: Contemporary
Pages: 332 pages
Goodreads Rating: 3.91 stars

Review: One morning, Alex wakes up next to a boy. Problem is, she doesn't remember anything about the night before except that she had too much to drink. But as the day wears on, she starts to remember disturbing things - and soon realizes that she was date raped. Except at Themis Academy, the adults don't step in when crimes happen. No, the students have to rely on themselves; specifically, The Mockingbirds, a not-so-secret society that administers justice. Alex's only choice is to turn to them, but will the trial go in her favor? And was she really date raped in the first place?

I thought the whole concept of this was original and fascinating. I've always loved secret societies, and even almost everyone knew about The Mockingbirds, there was still an air of secrecy about it. They had rather complicated processes when it came to trials, and it was all very legitimate, complete with court summonings and the like. I loved reading about it, and it was definitely one of the highlights of the book! Possibly most intriguing of all was the idea that as punishment, they take away what you love most. At Themis Academy, everyone has something they're into, be it photography, music, writing, football, etc., so you're no longer allowed to do that if the court rules against you.

Quite a few reviews I read mentioned that it disturbed them how the adults were never aware of the problem. Only one, Alex's music teacher, wanted to talk to her about it, but she wasn't really involved with the whole thing. While I see where those reviewers are coming from, it didn't disturb me too much. In non-fictional life, it's important to tell someone when something that bad happens to you, but I think one of the points of this book was to show a different, imagined way of dealing with it.

One thing I really appreciated about this book was Alex's attitude. Being date raped is such a horrifying experience because your most basic right, the right to your own body, is violated. While Alex definitely had the emotions that come with something like that, she wasn't a broken shell of a person. She remained strong and was even able to laugh with her friends at times despite her fear and worry. This stopped the book from becoming overly depressing.

All in all, this was a wonderful book that I really enjoyed! I didn't find it as powerful as it could have been, but I liked it reading it. Alex was such an awesome, strong character, and the whole concept of The Mockingbirds was fascinating. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to read a non-depressing book that still deals with tough subjects.