Review: In the Ring
In the Ring by Sierra Isley The Little Press, 2023 Category: Young Adult Reviewer: Kathryn Hall Buy at Bookshop.org Rose Berman is back at school for the start of her senior year after missing a couple of months when she had a breakdown due to anxiety and panic attacks after her mother's suicide. She is on medication and is seeing a therapist, but she is bullied by classmates and haunted by the fear that she will suffer the same mental health issues as her mother. She is supported by her ineffectual father and her lesbian best friend, and boxing lessons help her feel less helpless. The bad boy living next door is also boxing at the same gym, as well as making money in an underground fight club. He and Rose begin to help each other, and a romance blooms. This interesting young adult novel is not suitable for younger readers due to the drugs, alcohol, tobacco, physical violence, and generally poor decision making by most of the characters. Rose's father is not Jewish, but Rose a...