I’ve mentioned this many times. I am harshly critical when it comes to books and movies about bullying. They tend to over play the bullies, or underplay the bullying. In real life bullying isn’t just calling someone a loser, its going after that person, and knowing you can still get a rise out of him or her because of it. Most authors don’t get that right. Sue Mayfield did though, when she wrote Drowning Anna. I was actually a bit skeptical when I approached this book considering how mixed the reviews on this book were. I’ll get to that later.
The book starts off with Anna Goldsmith who just overdosed herself on pills and vodka, luckily her mother came home in time and she is in intensive care throughout the book. One of the things found along with her, are three envelopes, and her diary. The book alternates between the first and third person perspective. Being told from the point of view of Melanie, a friend of Anna’s and Anna’s diary entries. While the third person is focused on Anna’s parents. Melanie's role is more of an observer than an actual friend in Anna's decent into depression, and the bullying she experiences. While she does befriend Anna, there are times she hangs out wih Hayley, giving her a level of guilt, and somewhat of an antagonistic relationship with Anna. Then there is Anna. Anna is a perfect kind of girl. Very pretty, very smart, and very talented. She earns straight A’s in class, and she is a star athlete, and a prodigy at the violin. Why would someone pick on her? Well that’s when we learn about Hayley Parkins. Hayley is a popular girl in school, everyone wants to be her friend, and no one dares challenge her. Melanie talks about how Hayley and Anna were initially friends and how, for no apparent reason, Hayley starts hating her. Spoiler, we never find out why it happens. It starts out subtle, going from just ignoring her in the halls, to the spreading of rumors, to outright physical assault. Hayley was so malicious I personally found myself wanting to punch her in the face so many times. Having been bullied in high school, I found myself relating to the emotions Anna was going through. In her diary entries, we watch how the bullying escalates as the story progresses. The bullying being depicted in the book was very realistic, possible more realistic than any book I’ve read. It didn’t only capture how bullying effects their victims, it also captured the claustrophobic nature of isolation a bully victim goes through and how it effects the victim’s life outside of school. Sometimes the scenes got so intense I had really harsh flashbacks to my days in middle and high school as I read it.
Now I mentioned earlier, the book received mixed reviews. Well I can see why. The writing style was a little too simplistic for my taste. And the narrative was seemingly rushed in places. Aside of Anna, and Hayley we don’t really get embellishments of many of the other characters. Melanie didn’t have much of a personality in the book, other than being a silent observer and guilty of being an innocent bystander through all the bullying Anna goes through. But I think she was deliberately left blank so the reader can implant herself as her, and that’s what I found myself doing. There were also some terms and words used that I didn't understand, but that's probably because of my lack of knowledge of English culture. Yes, this book was originally published in England.
From many of the reviews I read involving this book. One that kept popping up was how much drama was in it. People said there were too much intense moments in the book, that it comes to the point where the reader becomes desensitized by it. I don't agree with that. One of the things I remember when being bullied in school was how constant it was. Bullying occurs for most of us daily, and at times it can be so repetitive that we grow used to it. I certainly wasn't desensitized by the book, it was more relatable to me than anything else.
The book was pretty good. Some may enjoy it, other may not, but I enjoyed it.
But these are just my opinions. Have you read the book? If so, do you want to read it now. Comment below and have a fun week.