QUIET NO MORE

The sequel to The Quiet You Carry (2019) explores what happens to now–college freshman Victoria after she told the truth about her father’s sexual abuse.

Victoria’s father is in jail awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty, and she has aged out of foster care, tentatively reconnected with her stepmother and stepsister, gotten her own apartment, and enrolled in community college. There, Victoria joins Students Against Sexual Assault and Harassment and begins to make new friends. Disturbing revelations and a request from an aunt she never previously knew existed force Victoria to agonize anew over her victim impact statement. Her many drafts reveal how challenging this statement is for her to write. Victoria faces other dilemmas as well. Is she still in love with her high school boyfriend? What should SASAH do about the student government leader who wants to shut them down? This volume stands on its own, and Victoria’s first-person voice remains as strong and appealing as it was in the previous book. Occasionally the characters’ dialogue can feel stilted as they talk about sexual assault statistics and the emotional impact of abuse. But the plot moves quickly—and believably—as Victoria sorts through her options and acts with the help of friends old and new. Except for two relatively prominent secondary characters, all characters are White.

A sensitive and satisfying story of surviving sexual abuse.