Hello everyone,

As many of you know, my third novel “Behind Broken Glass Walls” will be releasing November 1, and I have my first ARC review in!  I hope you enjoy, and that it helps you to understand more about what I am trying to accomplish with this novel.

“This poignant novel tells the story of Oceana, her teenage daughter, Drachea, and the unraveling of their lives when Drachea takes a gun to school and unloads on her classmates. Even though Oceana knows her daughter is a killer, she can’t help but love her, still. She can’t help but feel at fault. What could she have done differently?

Learn what it means to love a child when everyone else sees her as a murderer, and experience what it feels like to love someone who you no longer understand.

‘Behind Broken Glass Walls’ tests the limits of love, friendship, and delves deeply into the psyche of a school shooter and bullying in a truly beautiful and heartbreaking way. It makes you think about these controversial and rather tricky subjects in a way that you might not have thought of them before and will pull at your heartstrings. The people we perceive as villains aren’t always what they seem.

I read this book as part of my #yearofindiewomen. I was given an advanced reader copy (paperback ARC) in exchange for an honest review.

Guh, this is a truly beautiful novel. It made me cry at several parts, and that’s a really hard thing to do. I devoured it in one sitting. I simply couldn’t put it down. Aaroones has told a story here that, I think, really needs to be told.

Bullying is a serious problem in our society, as we all know, and the rise in school shootings is a downright horrifying thing. The amount of kids who believe they need to resort to some sort of violence to save/redeem themselves from the torture they endure every day, either by committing suicide or by hurting those who hurt them, is downright scary and tragic. I don’t claim to know what the solution is. I wish I did, but I don’t. But I do think talking about the problem is a step in the right direction, and stories like this one is a way to do it.

What I liked most about ‘Behind Broken Glass Walls’ is how it humanized Drachea even though she did something so horrible. Now, I know I’m probably going to get a lot of backlash for this, but we so often see the kids who make a choice like Drachea’s as nothing but pure evil. As Satan incarnate. And yes, they did something so unforgivable, so awful, but they are still children. They were hurting so badly, and they weren’t in a stable state of mind. I’m not justifying killing in the least, please don’t take it that way, but I just wish people would take a moment to think about why these kids make such a terrible decision. Most of the time, these kids weren’t born bad. They were pushed and pushed and pushed to do something so heinous. Just like Drachea. And I appreciated how Aaroones told her story.

I felt the same way about the way she portrayed Oceana’s heartbreak. I can’t imagine what it must be like to be the parent of a child who does something like that. What could you have done differently? What signs did you miss? Why didn’t they talk to you? Everyone blames you. You can never escape it, and as much as you know how wrong what they did was, you can never stop loving your baby. Oceana’s heartbreak is so raw and real that it broke me. I cried with her. And I found strength with her.

Finally, the relationship between Drachea and Emmalynne was so important. I found myself cheering that it would save her even though I knew it wouldn’t.

I think Aaroones is brave for writing this book. I think there are going to be people who won’t like the way Drachea’s story is told, and that’s okay. Sometimes the most important books are hard to swallow, but they have the biggest impact.”

~Roxie, Goodreads

If you are interested in providing me with an honest, ARC review of Behind Broken Glass Walls, please email me at peachykeenreviews@gmail.com.