BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS: Her, Too by Bonnie Kistler

Kelly McCann is a fighter. She's fought to build a successful legal career, fought for the special needs of her family, and tirelessly fought for her clients. Her specialty is defending men accused of sex crimes--falsely accused, she always maintains. Her detractors call her a traitor to her gender, but she doesn't care. Badass and brilliant, Kelly simply loves to win, and as the story opens, she's done it again, securing an acquittal for a renowned scientist accused of sexually assaulting his female employees.

But the thrill of her victory is short-lived. That very night she, too, falls victim of a brutal sexual assault. And almost as horrific as the attack is the fact that she can't tell anyone it happened--not without destroying her career in the process.

Kelly has never backed down from a fight and she's not about to start pulling her punches now. Joining forces with her rapist's other victims, the shrewd lawyer plans to turn the tables on him. It's not only about justice--these wronged women are out for revenge.

But someone, it seems, is out for them, and one by one, they find themselves facing even greater danger.

Her, Too is a searing and timely exploration into the pitfalls and dangers of a corrupt justice system and the lasting damage of sexual abuse. I’ll just say first off that this was a difficult read, and I’m sure many other readers might find something the themes in this hard as well, but if you’re feeling up to it I’d definitely recommend trying because it captures the zeitgeist of the misogynistic culture we live in with startling clarity and is so compelling.

Our main character is a complicated one, extremely unlikable at the start and hypocritical but complex and showing us the deep inner workings of a corrupted system, and how someone could end up becoming as detached and bitter as she seems at first. She spent so long defending abusers because she wanted to win her cases, but now is coming to terms with the dire consequences of what she’s done, realising the pain and devastation these men have caused. As she begins her quest for revenge with the women she’s wronged, it’s clear she struggles to reconcile the things she’s done with the pain she’s feeling and what she has to lose — it takes a while to find something human in her, but her complexity and duality is what makes her so real when we start to see the vulnerabilities she’s been fighting to disguise.

Our story moves slowly, with gritty and uncomfortable settings that creeps along until it explodes into what can only be described as utter chaos — it’s set in a strange familiar world, where everything is so close to reality but shifted so slightly that you could almost question if it really happened and you somehow missed it.

Kelly acts as our main narrator with occasional recollections from the other women as they relive their horrific experiences and I immediately found connection and fury with their stories. Her storytelling was cold, clinical at first but slowly develops personality as the tension grows to a suffocating level while she continues to go to greater lengths to enact her final revenge as the secrets and lies of everyone around her start to finally come to light in something that seems ripped from the front page of a tabloid.

A striking, painfully relevant story with a cutting edge that holds a mirror to the women who have been made accessories to their own victimisation.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review. Thank you to Bonnie Kistler and Anne from Random Things Tours for inviting me to take part in this tour.

Please check content warnings before reading as this title contains subjects that may be upsetting; including implied transphobia, graphic violence, sexual assault, suicide, and domestic abuse.