THE ONES WHO GOT AWAY
Roni Loren
Sourcebooks Casablanca
March 12, 2024
354 pages
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Before the book starts, I encounter this warning on one of the preface pages:
The Ones Who Got Away contains flashback scenes of a school shooting and gun violence. It also includes depictions of depression, anxiety, panic attacks, and PTSD.
Kudos to the author and/or publisher for inserting this right at the beginning of the book. This should be the norm. I’m not a triggered reader but many are and to be forewarned is a good thing.
The story is about an all too common occurrence, a school shooting. In this case, a documentary is being made 12 years after the shooting. The original school has been torn down and rebuilt. The documentary is being filmed in the new school and several of the survivors have returned for interviews with the film makers.
It is sad and distressing to read about the after effects of the shooting. The survivors are have not and will not escape thoughts and flashbacks of that day. They are forever wondering how differently their lives might have turned out. And, they are suffering survivors guilt. But there is also hope.
Reading about the survivors was interesting. Eye-opening. But, 2 of the survivors revive a teenage crush and in my mind, this was not a necessary part of the story. It did not need to be as central to the story as it was. It could have been alluded to but I did not need the detailed description that was provided. It was not the time and place.
I did enjoy the friendship and healing that was evident throughout.
Note: this is a re-release, originally published in January, 2018.
Thank you to NetGalley and the Publisher for the Advance Readers Copy.
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