Looking for an unforgettable collection of books you’ll love if you enjoyed Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson? As an award-winning author and veteran blogger for YA books, I’ve spent over a decade analyzing and recommending the most emotionally honest stories about difficult topics, such as sexual assault and self-harm.
You’ll find detailed reviews of more than a dozen favorites in the roundup below. These characters, their stories, their strength, and their scars are beautiful and inspiring. I’m confident you’ll find something new to read for Sexual Assault Awareness Month. The books in this roundup will break your heart, and all of them come with trigger warnings. These stories are disturbing, explicit, difficult to read, terrible—and important.
The Cutting Edge of Friendship by Khristina Chess
Why it’s like Speak
Impact of trauma, recovery, & friendship
What it’s about
Two best friends hide dangerous secrets—one about sexual assault and self-harm, and the other unknowingly walking into the predator’s trap.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Sometimes my inside hurts so bad that I need to make the outside hurt worse so the inside will stop.” ― Khristina Chess from The Cutting Edge of Friendship
Absolutely gripping! For readers drawn to the emotional scars of Laurie Halse Anderson’s bestseller Speak, The Cutting Edge of Friendship is for you. This realistic novel explores the wounds of self-harm, shame, and redemption following a sexual assault. Sadie’s resilience is fierce and unforgettable, and the book’s raw, unfiltered pain hits hard. This story doesn’t shy away from the truth—it reveals, with painful honesty, how self-harm can become a desperate response to trauma.
From the very first page, it’s clear that although Sadie and Elana have always shared everything, now they’re keeping secrets that could destroy them. On the night of the fireworks, something terrible happened to Sadie—something she can’t even name. Instead, she turns to cutting, the only way she knows to cope.
But Elana has secrets too. She’s been texting Hunter, making plans to meet in secret, and never questioning why he insists on hiding their relationship.
As their lives spiral deeper into danger, Sadie must find the strength to fight back—not just for herself, but for Elana—before a predator can strike again.
Wonder When You’ll Miss Me by Amanda Davis
Why it’s like speak
Identity, trauma, & healing
What it’s about
After a sexual assault, a girl runs away to join the circus, takes a new name, gets a tattoo, and becomes a handler of elephants.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“I'd lost forty-eight pounds and my skin had mostly cleared up. I'd missed a whole semester of school and disappeared for seven months. It seemed like no one had even noticed I was gone.” ― Amanda Davis, quote from Wonder When You’ll Miss Me
In Wonder When You’ll Miss Me, sixteen-year-old Faith Duckle still talks to The Fat Girl. She sees her too. Usually The Fat Girl is eating something and offering snarky commentary or advice. Sometimes Faith tells her to go away. Sometimes she listens to her.
Faith was sexually assaulted by a group of boys who made sport of her as the fat girl, and then she tried to kill herself. Then she ended up in a hospital, where she lost the weight but not The Fat Girl. She’s still hanging around.
This is the beginning of the story.
The real story is Faith’s journey when she runs away to join the circus, takes a new name, gets a tattoo, and becomes a handler of elephants. The real story is how Faith and The Fat Girl found healing after such a terrible event.
I loved this book when I read it twenty years ago, and I love it still. Amanda Davis was a gifted author, and you don’t want to miss this YA book about a girl with low self esteem who finds a path through trauma to redemption. Sadly, this author died in a small plane crash at the age of 32, and Wonder When You’ll Miss Me was her only novel.
Scars by Cheryl Rainfield
Why it’s like Speak
Impact of trauma, recovery, & friendship
What it’s about
An emotional and heartbreaking novel about a self-harming girl who was raped at a very young age and now feels the man is stalking her again.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Other times, I look at my scars and see something else: a girl who was trying to cope with something horrible that she should never have had to live through at all. My scars show pain and suffering, but they also show my will to survive. They're part of my history that'll always be there.” ― Cheryl Rainfield from Scars
Wow! What a powerful, thrilling, emotional, heartbreaking book. Scars packs a real punch, touching on multiple tough topics, including cutting, sexual abuse, and relationships. Kendra was raped at a very young age by a man whose face she cannot remember. The story opens with her in therapy with a counselor who is helping her to cope with the painful memories that have started to surface, but the plot accelerates quickly as Kendra feels her abuser is stalking her. She copes with her pain through self-harming and also in her art, which is both beautiful and darkly disturbing. Descriptions of her art in this book are very vivid.
The revelation of her abuser is both a shock and a non-shock, and I was rooting for her to confront him and find a path to justice and healing. Scars is a great read if you’re looking for a YA book about rape and sexual assault.
The Way I Used to Be by Amber Smith
Why it’s like Speak
Impact of trauma & recovery
What it’s about
After her brother’s best friend sexually assaults her in her own bedroom, a girl descends into self-destructive drinking and other behaviors to cope with the trauma and secret she’s keeping.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“No, can’t cry. Because there’s nothing to cry about. Because it was just a dream. A bad dream. A nightmare. Not real. Not real. Not real. That’s what I keep thinking: NotRealNotRealNotReal. Repeat, repeat, repeat. Like a mantra. Like a prayer.”― Amber Smith from The Way I Used to Be
Fourteen-year-old Eden was raped by her brother’s best friend. In her own room. In her own bed.
Instead of telling anyone, she internalizes the trauma and begins a multi-year downward spiral of acting out, drinking, taking drugs, losing friends, and sleeping around. She’s no longer the “good girl” she used to be.
This book shows how a young girl can stay silent about rape for years, why it can be so hard to tell someone, and what it’s like to try to survive in silence.
The Way I Used to Be is an emotional YA novel about rape that can be hard to read because Eden’s pain makes her an unlikable character at times, but this story is worthwhile. If you loved Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, don’t miss this one.
Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake
Why it’s like Speak
Moral complexity, justice
What it’s about
A girl must choose between loyalty and justice after her twin brother is accused of raping her best friend.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“This. This is why I never said anything. Because no one ever believes the girl.”― Ashley Herring Blake from Girl Made of Stars
Mara and her twin brother Owen are as close as any twins can be. So when Owen says he is innocent and never raped his girlfriend, Mara is faced with a difficult decision. She’s friends with the victim. Who is telling the truth? Her brother, who she knows as well as she knows herself, or the girl?
In addition to Mara’s confusion about her twin brother’s role as an accused rapist, she’s also dealing with her own sexual identity and relationship with her best friend, a girl named Charlie. Her parents pressure her to support her brother, but why would the victim lie? And in wrestling with these conflicts, Mara can no longer ignore a secret trauma from her own past and what happened to her.
Fans of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak will enjoy this powerful YA book about rape, consent, teen relationships, and sexual identity.
The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis
Why it’s like Speak
Justice
What it’s about
An unflinching, painful, searing, riveting, brutal YA book about rape and sexual assault that will shock you to the core.
Why I Love It - Book Review
"I am vengeance."― Mindy McGinnis from The Female of the Species
I loved this book. Alex Craft is a unique female YA protagonist, and I had a hard time pinning her down. Sometimes I wanted to label her as a psychopath / sociopath based on her actions and reactions to things, but I don't think that's right.
She is a criminal. It's easy to forget that about her because she makes friends, takes care of kittens, shows compassion to other kids, and falls in love. But she also kills people. So there's that.
This is my third Mindy McGinnis novel, and I'm hooked on her. She writes compelling stories and tough, unflinching characters, and she’s one of the top authors in my list of the Best YA Authors to Binge on Kindle Unlimited. Alex Craft in The Female of the Species is definitely a five-star read! It is an unflinching, painful, searing, riveting, brutal YA book about rape and sexual assault that will shock you to the core. Fans of Speak will definitely like this one.
I wholeheartedly recommend this poignant YA book about rape and sexual assault. It’s definitely worth a look. In fact, this author is on my list of Best YA Authors to Binge on Kindle Unlimited because she tackles so many tough topics with heart.
Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
Why it’s like Speak
Consent, trauma, & resilience
What it’s about
A girl is kidnapped by a pedophile at age 10, and as a "too old" teen, she's forced to help him select his next victim to replace her.
Why I Love It - Book Review
Three life lessons:
1. No one will see you.
2. No one will say anything.
3. No one will save you. ― Elizabeth Scott from Living Dead Girl
Fifteen-year-old Alice is the kidnapping victim of a pedophile named Ray who took her at age ten. This haunting, horrifying, graphic, disturbing, and tragic book is about so much more than child rape, although that certainly happens. This novel shows how a person—a child—can lose their self-worth and believe their captor’s lies.
How someone can lose their own humanity.
This thin novel was a fast read, but Alice and her story have stayed with me long after I finished. It’s her voice. In her unflinching viewpoint, Alice shows us what happens to children who are taken and never found. She challenges us to look more closely at the people around us. To notice.
Like the Melinda in the novel Speak, Alice does not speak. And monsters prey on the mute. So pay attention. Speak.
Some Boys by Patty Blount
Why it’s like Speak
Victim-blaming, social stigma, & justice
What it’s about
After an assault, a girl fights back against those who would shame and ostracize her.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Brave. The word hangs in the air for a moment and then falls away, almost like it even knows it has no business being used to describe me.”― Patty Blount from Some Boys
In this book, Grace was raped by the “golden boy” student and star athlete at their school named Zac, and she does speak. But no one believes her. Instead she is bullied and ostracized for daring to accuse the prince of such a heinous crime.
Zac’s best friend is Ian. Although he has a major crush on Grace, he no longer feels he can follow-through on that because the whole school is slut-shaming her.
Grace sets on a plan to prove to everyone that Zac isn’t the perfect son everyone believes him to be, and she’s the kind of fighter to make that happen. Instead of a depressed and withdrawn rape survivor, this character is a middle-finger-in-your-face girl who goes after her rapist despite nearly everyone being against her.
This YA book about rape takes a look at how girls are labeled by how they dress or act.
Room by Emma Donoghue
Why it’s like Speak
Identity & survival
What it’s about
A teen girl is kidnapped, raped, and imprisoned in a shed, where she gives birth to a son who knows no world beyond “room.”
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Scared is what you're feeling. Brave is what you're doing.” ― Emma Donoghue from Room
Room is a story told by Jack, a 5-year-old boy who lives in “room.” In some ways his teen mother is a secondary character, a 19-year-old girl who has been kidnapped, imprisoned for years, and serially raped by her jailer until she gave birth to Jack. She is a fiercely protective mother, loving, courageous, and resilient in the face of incredible hardship and danger.
I couldn’t put this book down. It was a very compelling read with an intriguing and unusual narrator, and although Ma never has a choice about her pregnancy (she’s kidnapped and raped, remember), she does have a choice on how she raises her son under these horrific circumstances.
Their journey is unforgettable.
Read this book. Think about Ma’s story, not just Jack.
All the Rage by Courtney Summers
Why it’s like Speak
Justice, social stigma
What it’s about
After being raped by the powerful sheriff's son, a girl must deal with bullying from a community who supports the accused rather than the victim.
Why I Love It - Book Review
"What a stupid thing it is, to care about a girl." ― Courtney Summers from All the Rage
This book tells the story of a girl who was raped at a party by a boy she thought was beautiful. And then, she loses her best friend for telling about it. And everyone in the school begins bullying her about it. And she ends up at another party in the same situation, only this time her ex-best friend turns up missing.
The plot alternates between bewildering and breathtaking. Who was the rapist? What happened to Penny? Will there be justice? Is the girl going to be okay?
I felt sorry for Romy because of what happened to her and what continued to happen as she suffered bullying by the other girls. At times, she is a difficult protagonist to embrace because she's a person in deep pain. She's not always nice. She doesn't make good decisions. She hurts kind people who care about her.
Although this is a fast read, the ending wasn't what I expected or hoped. I felt things remained unresolved. Still, if you're looking for an emotional roller coaster about rape, victim blaming, and bullying, and if you enjoyed Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson, All the Rage is definitely worth checking out.
Elena Vanishing by Elena Dunkle and Clare B. Dunkle
Why it’s like Speak
Impact of trauma
What it’s about
After a sexual assault, a girl develops a dangerous eating disorder in response to her trauma.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Pity is the sea you drown in.” ― Elena Dunkle, quote from Elena Vanishing
Elana has anorexia. It's winning. Nothing her family does is able to turn the tide for long. She's like an addict who goes through the motions of recovery and rehab, but she's really just counting the seconds until she can return to old habits again.
Addiction is unlikable. Elana is unlikable. She'll lie and do anything to keep her anorexia going.
It's hard to join someone in a recovery journey like this one. It's ugly. Elana is often ugly in her thoughts and actions. There were many moments when I wished for more emotional connection and reflection, like when friends die or when she really thinks about the rape and how it changed her. Still, it was a fast read and presented new insights into the mind of someone struggling with this illness. Readers who enjoyed Speak and the impact of trauma will enjoy this memoir.
The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Why it’s like speak
Impact of violence, grief & loss
What it’s about
December 1973, a murdering rapist takes the life of a young girl, but she pursues justice from the afterlife.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.” ― Alice Sebold from The Lovely Bones
Susie Salmon is dead.
She was raped and murdered in a most gruesome fashion by a most gruesome man, and now she exists in an afterlife, observing her family and her killer.
The story is a bit disorienting, but I think that’s kind of the point. Most of the novel is about Susie’s struggle to come to terms with the fact that she’s dead and move on. The “why?” questions haunt her. Her family and former life haunts her. The desire for justice and vengeance haunts her.
It’s the disquiet that comes when a young person dies tragically, suddenly, whether or not by foul means. There is a profound unfairness. The soul cries out.
If you are looking for a poignant YA book about rape and sexual assault that you will never forget, this one is another must-read.
Cracked Up to Be by Courtney Summers
Why it’s like speak
Impact of trauma, recovery, & friendship
What it’s about
A golden girl abruptly self-destructs on her perfect life, and the reason is shocking.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“You get away with a lot, even after you're caught.” ― Courtney Summers, quote from Cracked Up to Be
Parker Fadley has a secret.
She used to be the captain of the cheerleading team, top student, queen B, perfect at everything, but something happened. Something she never told.
By the time we meet Parker, we’re in the middle of her “after,” when she’s busy wrecking her perfect life and torturing herself, so it takes a while to understand how deep this secret really goes.
It’s not what you think.
It’s worse.
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Why it’s like Speak
Consent & impact of trauma
What it’s about
A 15-year-old girl in a private boarding school is groomed into a multi-year sexual relationship with a middle-aged teacher.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“To be groomed is to be loved and handled like a precious, delicate thing.” ― Kate Elizabeth Russell from My Dark Vanessa
What a deeply disturbing book. I wondered what made 15-year-old Vanessa so malleable to Strane's grooming and manipulation. It seemed like more than just being a lonely kid in search of approval. Her confusion about what was happening in the early days of the relationship was clear. Did she imagine that? Was it real? And then, the first sexual encounter with them was so horrible. Even in that moment of being raped, she was confused and tried to explain what was happening to her.
It was sad that the adult Vanessa was so messed up. She couldn't break free of him and what he did to her. She even seemed bent on repeating the cycle with another teacher, and I'm not sure I really believe the hopeful notes at the end of the story. I'm not sure Vanessa will ever recover from Strane.
Also, I was confused about what actually happened with the other girls. Was she really the only one who was raped, or was that just something she told herself?
The psychological elements of this novel reminded me of The Kiss by Kathryn Harrison.
I know this review is all over the place, but it's a fitting reflection of this book. If you enjoyed Speak, this novel will also strike a chord.
Bonus Round: The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon
Why it’s like speak
Social stigma, victim-blaming, & justice
What it’s about
Set in New England during the early days of America, a midwife finds herself in the middle of solving a rape and murder.
Why I Love It - Book Review
“It’s an unimaginative accusation and one that I am frankly tired of hearing. Witchcraft. As though there is no other explanation for a woman who excels at her work.”― Ariel Lawhon, quote from The Frozen River
What a wonderful book! Historical fiction isn't my usual genre, but the cover and the accolades for "The Frozen River" made me give it a try.
On a high level, this mystery is about a midwife named Martha Ballard. The body of an accused rapist is found frozen in the river, and after examination, Martha says that the victim was murdered. She becomes a key witness in a trial for the woman who was raped because she treated the woman's wounds after the assault. The other accused man is a judge.
This novel has many layers. Beyond the mystery, there is the social commentary on women, family, sexual assault, and society during early days of America in New England. Paul Revere is mentioned as a friend of the family. The author depicts a rich setting of cold winter, warm homes and hearts, young love and pre-marital relationships, and the early court system. I couldn't put it down.
Although not a YA book, this historical mystery delves deep into rape and how women in the 1800s were treated by the court system about their accusations.
Other YA Books Similar to Speak
If you are looking other books similar to Speak, check out the Books Similar to Speak, Young Adult Books about Rape & Sexual Abuse (331 books), and Rape Book Lists on Goodreads.
You might also be interested in my post, Other Good Reads, which has a comprehensive list of reviews of YA books by type of tough topics.
Author Bio
Khristina Chess is an award-winning author of a dozen young adult novels, including The Cutting Edge of Friendship, The Delinquent Hero, and Junior Missing. Hollow Beauty, her book about eating disorders, was named a finalist in the Next Generation India Book Awards. She tackles tough teen topics and writes binge-worthy books across multiple genres, including contemporary, thriller, mystery, and adventure.
In a recent interview from her alma mater, she described how her experience in the creative writing program prepared her for success.
