![We Can't Be Friends: A True Story by [Etler, Cyndy]](https://images-fe.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51Dsht0LhpL._SY346_.jpg)
A brave book. I received a free copy of this book, and did not know what to expect. It is a brutal and horrific memoir, and there are no doubt many trigger warnings attached to it. I have read through some of the reviews, and many talk about the horrific cult-like 'rehab' program. The takeaway for me was victim-blaming. This happens to Cyndy throughout - by her mother, her 'friends', her mentors, strangers. She is labelled (incorrectly), forced into rehab because her mother (who seems mentally ill) can't deal with her attempted suicide, brainwashed, and then shamed and blamed for every single thing that happens to her, including being raped repeatedly when she was a child.
This is not a story simply about survival or designed to shock. It is a critical examination of our society, and what we STILL perceive as normal and acceptable. What happened to Cyndy was in NO WAY her fault. Victim-blaming needs to end.
Review
"Etler's gutsy present-tense narration of her feelings of insecurity and isolation is interwoven with the sublime moments of joy she experiences in music, in writing, and in her relationships; her prose dazzles with infectious verve. A powerful story of a survivor whose irrepressible personality shines throughout even her darkest moments.
" - Kirkus
"This is a gritty, hard-hitting, and, for many readers, unfortunately necessary exploration of what's really behind the lures of self-destructive behaviors, and what real recovery is and isn't.
" - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
" - Kirkus
"This is a gritty, hard-hitting, and, for many readers, unfortunately necessary exploration of what's really behind the lures of self-destructive behaviors, and what real recovery is and isn't.
" - Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Product Description
The companion to The Dead Inside, "[An] unnerving and heartrending memoir" (Publishers Weekly)
This is the story of my return to high school. This is the true story of how I didn't die.
High school sucks for a lot of people. High school extra sucks when you believe, deep in your soul, that every kid in the school is out to get you. I wasn't popular before I got locked up in Straight Inc., the notorious "tough love" program for troubled teens. So it's not like I was walking around thinking everyone liked me.
But when you're psychologically beaten for sixteen months, you start to absorb the lessons. The lessons in Straight were: You are evil. Your peers are evil. Everything is evil except Straight, Inc.
Before long, you're a true believer.
And when you're finally released, sent back into the world, you crave safety. Crave being back in the warehouse. And if you can't be there, you'd rather be dead.
