Read about the inspiration behind Every Scar Tells a Story by Rayna York #YoungAdult

Every Scar Tells a Story
By Rayna York

Serena

It’s incredible how one moment can rewrite a person’s entire story in ways they never saw coming. In my life, there have been several, but nothing could have prepared me for Knox.

My goals were simple and resolute—graduate, start college, become a travel nurse. Falling for a troubled stranger was never part of the plan.

But here’s the thing… reason and logic don’t exist when it comes to what the heart wants, and it wasn’t just his demons keeping him in the shadows. Now they’ve found him—and me.

Captivating and soul-stirring, Every Scar Tells a Story is ideal for readers searching for:

Mature Young Adult Books

Love Stories With A Dark Past

Complex Emotional YA Characters

Contemporary Novels With Trauma/Healing

Dual POVs

Climactic Endings

Genres: Young Adult / Mental Health

Pages: 368

Grab a copy HERE!

This novel is free to read with #KindleUnlimited subscription.

Author's Inspiration

Like all of my novels so far, Every Scar Tells a Story started with a dream—one of those vivid, unsettling ones that stays with you long after you wake up. In the dream, I was walking the streets of New York at night, looking for a business that had vanished. Two guys started harassing me. I tried to fight them off, call for help, even ask strangers to intervene—but no one did. They followed me to a party, and one of them sat beside me on the couch, acting like nothing had happened. When I asked him his name, he said, “BJ—but my friends call me Beej.” He was attractive. And dangerous. And I woke up thinking: What the hell was that?

From there, it morphed. I started with a rough idea about a guy who stalks a girl because she seems familiar—like a clue to a past he can’t remember. But that didn’t stick. What did stick was the tension, the feeling of being watched, the sense that someone was following her not just out of obsession, but out of desperation. That led to Knox. And once I met him on the page, the entire story shifted.

Knox’s voice came through so loud and clear, it became impossible to tell this story without his perspective. Originally, it was only going to be Serena’s—but his trauma, his guilt, his anxiety—they demanded space. While I didn’t share his experiences, I knew from my own what it was like to live with debilitating anxiety—to feel like your body is betraying you when your mind is already a war zone.

Serena’s character took more time. I revised her again and again, trying to make sure she wasn’t just “the girl.” I needed her to have strength and flaws, to be interesting enough not to get lost next to Knox’s heavy story.

In the end, this book became something far more personal than I expected. It’s not just about trauma—it’s about what happens after. About survival, shame, trust, and what it means to be truly seen by someone who has every reason to look away. The title came from a tattoo I saw on a girl’s arm years ago: Every Scar Tells a Story. I remember thinking, Damn, that’s powerful.

Turns out, I was right.

Rayna York grew up with hippie parents that liked to adventure. Where change was the norm, books were her constant—a way to escape. As an adult, many careers came and went, but writing has always been her passion. Everything I knew to be true is her first published novel.

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