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After the Ink Dries

by Cassie Gustafson

A betrayal examined from both sides

Regular price $15.44 USD
Regular price $25.74 USD Sale price $15.44 USD
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AlbakiReads Editorial

A betrayal examined from both sides

Erica’s experience after a party becomes the center of a story about consent, trust, and the social pressures surrounding a humiliating act. The narrative alternates between Erica, who tries to establish what happened while containing the spread of the evidence, and Thomas, whose account confronts his actions and self-image. Erica’s webcomic work also shapes the book’s structure: illustrated passages featuring her superhero alter ego, Erica Strange, run alongside the main story. Together, these elements connect the immediate fallout at an affluent new high school with questions of accountability, friendship, and finding the courage to face painful truths.

Good fit for readers who enjoy

  • Teen and young adult readers interested in fiction addressing sexual abuse and its aftermath
  • Readers who appreciate stories told through alternating viewpoints
  • Readers interested in graphic-novel elements alongside prose fiction

Themes

Consent and accountabilityBetrayed trustHumiliation and privacyFriendship and social pressureCourage and self-understanding

Based on publisher information and book metadata.

Book overview

Courtney Summers meets Deb Caletti in this "all too believable" (Publishers Weekly) page-turning suspense story about a teen girl--reeling in the wake of betrayed trust--who learns what it is to face hard truths about yourself and others, and how to find strength when you need it most.

Sixteen-year-old Erica Walker is a webcomic artist who wants to fit in at her affluent new high school. Seventeen-year-old Thomas VanBrackel is an aspiring songwriter and reluctant lacrosse goalie who wants out from under his father's thumb. After their electric first kiss at Saturday's lacrosse match, Erica and Thomas both want to see where their new relationship could take them.

The next morning, however, following a drunken house party, Erica wakes up half-clothed, and discovers words and names drawn in Sharpie in intimate places on her body--names belonging to Thomas's lacrosse friends, including the boyfriend of Erica's best friend. Devastated, Erica convinces herself Thomas wasn't involved in this horrific so-called prank...until she discovers Thomas's name on her skin, too.

Told in alternating viewpoints, Erica seeks to uncover what happened while battling to keep evidence of her humiliation from leaking out, as Thomas grapples with his actions and who he thought he was. Woven throughout, illustrated graphic novel interstitials depict Erica's alter ego superhero, Erica Strange, whose courage just might help Erica come through to the other side.
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