Do Not Mistake This For A Love Story.
If you’ve ever come across “The Places I’ve Cried in Public” by Holly Bourne, feeling assured it’s a typical chick flick with a narrative to help you get over your ex, then STOP.
Trigger warnings; mentions of emotional and physical abuse
It starts like any other romance novel. Amelie is moping over her ex Rhys and decides to create a memory map of all the places she cried because of him.
Their relationship starts like any other romance novel. It’s a cliche and a half: new girl on the block and popular boy in a band meet. Rhys is sexy and assertive, charming and passionate. Amelie can hardly catch her breath when he takes an interest in her. It seemed exciting and adorable at first — this can’t be the guy that breaks her heart? But that was where I was wrong. Written in a series of flashbacks, you begin to understand why Amelie is shedding so many tears. Rhys isn’t who you or she ever dreamed of.
It’s a lot to handle, especially when, as a reader, you notice the abuse way before Amelie does. I was not prepared for the intensity of emotions I’d feel turning every page. It’s been a long time since I screamed with frustration at a protagonist. At some points, I even HATED the protagonist. Rhys guilt trips and undermines Amelie and then showers her with love. He brings out the silent treatment and then whisks her away to London. Every account of his abuse stabbed another part of my heart. I got through all my tissues AND had to move onto toilet roll.
Amongst the pain and frustration however, what this book does do is teach you what love SHOULD be. It highlights the safety and warmth relationships should give you. The gooey feelings, not anxiety or confusion. It reflects how misguided media and other books are with the concept of love; the twisted games people play and the heartache that it results in.
“What is love?
Maybe it’s something else. Maybe it’s not what we’ve been told it is.”
It’s the book we needed to tackle abusive relationships in a way which shows how hard they are to escape. I came away understanding the severity of emotional abuse and with a stronger sympathy for victims. Read it for the education or read it for a cathartic breakdown. Just read it.
