[REVIEW] My life as a rat

My Life as a Rat by Joyce Carol Oates
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This was my first Joyce Carol Oates and I have to say I was impressed with her writing... it pulled me completely into the story!
And the story itself is super powerful, a 12 year old girl sees the brothers she adores hiding something, which she later understands to be a murder weapon. JCO manages to turn this girl into a woman through so much pain and abuse... at some point I was shocked to realize that some of the harassment she suffers was very common in the 80’s and 90’s (almost every woman I know has a story to tell about harassment...).
The main character grows up always looking above her shoulders, and this is described in such a way that I started doing it too in real life!!
The reason I don’t give it 5 stars is the ending, there is something missing there... but it is really worth your time!

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