The Disability Book Archive

[ID: Cover for the book “Bruised” by Tanya Boteju. The title is in the lower left quarter, in large black caps. The authors name is below it in smaller red writing. The background is a soft red and pink gradient. Large art centre left of the cover shows three feminine presenting people of colour sitting down, wearing roller skates. The person on the left has long silver hair, and is wearing a white t-shirt, red shorts, white knee high socks, red skates and red and black head bow. The person in the centre has short black hair with an undercut, and is wearing a green t-shirt, red shorts, white calf length socks with red stripes, and black skates. The person on the right has long green hair, and is wearing a black sideways caps, white tank top, grey shorts, red calf length socks with white stripes, and white skates. /end]

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Content Warning:

• Self-Harm
• Death of A Parent
• Mentions of Domestic Abuse
• Grief
• Bullying
• Homophobia
• Transphobia
• Violence
• Car Accident
• Teen Drinking

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Summary:

To Daya Wijesinghe, a bruise is a mixture of comfort and control. Since her parents died in an accident she survived, bruises have become a way to keep her pain on the surface of her skin so she doesn’t need to deal with the ache deep in her heart.

So when chance and circumstances bring her to a roller derby bout, Daya is hooked. Yes, the rules are confusing and the sport seems to require the kind of teamwork and human interaction Daya generally avoids. But the opportunities to bruise are countless, and Daya realizes that if she’s going to keep her emotional pain at bay, she’ll need all the opportunities she can get.

The deeper Daya immerses herself into the world of roller derby, though, the more she realizes it’s not the simple physical pain-fest she was hoping for. Her rough-and-tumble teammates and their fans push her limits in ways she never imagined, bringing Daya to big truths about love, loss, strength, and healing.

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Notes:

There is an audiobook.

There is a kindle edition.

Here is a link to the author’s website.

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Archivist Comments:

Queer roller derby!

People seem to quite like the MC’s love interest. I can’t find too much information about them at the moment, but I will update when I do.

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