I bounced back into some more young adult fare with Laura Tims’ Please Don’t Tell. I saw this sitting on my shelf not long after finishing the second, and sadly last, season of One of Us is Lying, and the cover of this book just screamed that it was going to be something similar.
Yes and no, I suppose. Yes, the perspectives of the chapters switch back and forth between twins Joy and Grace, but the time period also switches. We spend a lot more time with Joy’s guilt-ridden self in the fall of present day, while we go back to the summertime and the promise of new opportunities, but eventually tragedy with Grace. I like how this book makes a point that even though they are twins, they still don’t know every single thing about each other. They are their people, but it takes some seriously messed up things for the two of them to even realize that they can’t co-exist forever.
The book starts with the death of a classmate, Adam. From both Joy and Grace’s perspective: good riddance. He raped Grace over the summer, and even though she’s saying she’s fine, it is very, very clear that she’s not. Joy is distraught because as the older twin, she was supposed to be the protector of her sister, but instead feels that she all but threw Grace into his path. To make matters worse for Joy, she starts getting blackmailed, saying that they know she killed Adam. Given that she was blackout drunk, she has no clue if that’s actually true or not, but believes she was totally capable of it. The rage she felt on behalf of her sister was that intense.
Thus, the rest of the book is these two sisters at total odds with each other. Joy wants things to be how they used to be, but how could Grace ever trust her again? From Grace’s perspective, how could anyone from the male species ever be trusted again? The book balances some delicate subject matter, but I don’t think it’s anything out of the realm from what’s actually going on in teenage girls’ lives. Luckily, I never had to endure either of these characters’ fates, but I do know the life of being a twin, and I could not imagine that uncommunicative grief.
This was an interesting read and one that I think most could enjoy. Again, it’s for the young adult and could be triggering at times, but very topical, sadly.