Let's Talk About This

Let's Talk About This begins the morning after two young girls from two different cultural backgrounds, who have both suffered the trauma of rape and sexual assault, meet at the exclusive Angels of Mercy Girl's Crisis Centre in Nairobi. Let's Talk About This handles the issue of rape and sexual assault with sensitivity and comprises an engrossing read for young adults. Let's Talk About This is an engaging YA novella set in Kenya that recounts an end-of-the-year school party gone wrong. The book also focuses on forced child marriages, and highlights how the rape and sexual assault of minors is often treated in a trivial manner. Let's Talk About This attempts to handle the situation of rape by providing a vehicle for this sensitive conversation to take place. Yet, the novella isn't just a YA book about rape. It's a cautionary tale that prompts people to stop prejudice and stereotyping and change the way we define the truth in sexual assault cases. Several questions arise about consent and consistency; consistency is a common test of credibility in courts - should victims be judged on the consistency of their witness statements, even though they might have been drugged, experienced bouts of blackouts and memory loss? Let's Talk About This is written to fit into the current cultural landscape, and it tackles rape and sexual assault in a realistic way, shining a spotlight on the differences between Kenya's social classes and cultural practises. As the story unfolds, the reader is left wondering what has really gone wrong in our society today, when it comes to role models and the blind eye turned to vices such as rape culture and corruption-elements also addressed in the book via two sets of parents who encourage their children to lie and tamper with evidence.