Review: Wrecked by Maria Padian

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley for an honest review. 

Genre: Contemporary
Publication: October, 4/2016 by Algonquin Young Readers
Pages: 368 Pages
Format: eARC
Rating: 3 out of 5 Stars
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Goodreads Summary
Everyone on campus has a different version of what happened that night.

Haley saw Jenny return from the party, shell-shocked.

Richard heard Jordan brag about the cute freshman he hooked up with.


When Jenny accuses Jordan of rape, Haley and Richard are pushed to opposite sides of the school’s investigation. Now conflicting versions of the story may make bringing the truth to light nearly impossible—especially when reputations, relationships, and whole futures are riding on the verdict.

My Thoughts
I feel I like I start a lot of reviews saying this, but I don't know where I stand with this book. It handles a very important topic, sexual assault. These are important stories to tell but this wasn't my favourite book. I found most of the characters were quite flat, and stereotypes of different types of university students. Especially, the character Carrie. She was offended by everything and was the activist trope to a T. Every scene she was in, she rubbed me the wrong way.

However, I felt the actual sexual assault was handled well. I found the proceedings to be the most interesting part of the story and trying to piece together what really happened to Jenny. I liked that you were shown small bits of the night in question between Haley and Richard's chapters. I did like that the story was told from Haley and Richard's POV's. It gave a different perspective to the whole situation. I felt like their reactions were both very realistic. Sometimes standing by your friends is exhausting and hard and to what extent can you trust your friends?

I think this covers really important topics and it's an interesting way to tell the story. However, it's not the most impactful story. It got a little lost in the romance and the problems of the other students. It's still a good novel addressing the problem of sexual assault and what is consent. It helps to spread awareness and adds to the conversation which is important.