Ever Since by Alena Bruzas is an intense, beautiful debut about the power of finding your voice and sharing your story after trauma. Perfect for fans of Nina LaCour and Kathleen Glasgow.

Scroll down to read more about Ever Since from debut author Alena Bruzas as she shares her inspiration and thoughts on writing Virginia’s story.

CONTENT NOTE: Please be advised that Ever Since contains depictions of sexual assault, CSA, and suicidal ideation. The essay letter from Alena below discusses sexual assault and CSA.

My name is Alena Bruzas and I’m the author of Ever Since.

Ever Since is about one girl, Virginia, who learns to tell her story. Virginia has trauma. When we meet her, she’s not dealing with it well. She doesn’t acknowledge it, she doesn’t talk about it, she doesn’t tell her friends. She acts out her trauma by making bad choices, drinking too much, hooking up with boys she doesn’t like. As the story goes on Virginia alienates her friends until she feels completely alone. She realizes that what happened to her is about to happen to another young girl, and she’s the only one who can stop it. But in order to stop it she has to talk about it.

Ever Since is a story about the power of female friendship. When Virginia shares her story with her friends, it turns out they have the same story. They’ve experienced something similar. And so in sharing their stories, not only does it ease their pain, but it takes power away from their abuser.

Throughout the story Virginia finds solace in folklore, especially the story of Medea. The interesting thing about Medea is that everybody knows Medea killed her kids. But the truth is, Medea is a victim of a smear campaign. For thousands of years people have told Medea’s story in the most sensationalist way possible. They change it to make it more interesting. Before Virginia can tell her story, other people tell it first. And they tell it wrong. They judge her. They victim blame her. Throughout Ever Since I draw parallels between Medea and Virginia. In the end, Medea takes her power back, and in telling her story, so does Virginia.

I wrote Ever Since because I was abused as a child. My whole life has been impacted by my abuse. As I got older, I found solace in sharing my story. I watched as brave women like Anita Hill and Chanel Miller shared their stories and gave women all over the world this incredible gift of knowing they weren’t alone. I wanted to be part of that conversation. I wrote Ever Since for people who feel alone, for people who have these stories hidden in their past, and for girls everywhere who deserve to be heard.

Ever Since is on shelves now.