Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Post-Traumatic

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Post-Traumatic by Chantal V. Johnson

11 reviews

kimikreil's review

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challenging dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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chasinggrace's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Vivian is so relatable to the female psyche that you want to hate her, but you can’t, because staunchly hating her would ignore how much you have in common with her.

The writing is refreshingly modern without being cringey (which doesn’t mean that you won’t cringe at Vivian, but to her credit, she is funny).

I really think this book is a fantastic snapshot of the modern anxious woman and how she must navigate a world that is positively fucked.

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sneha_sarcar's review

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challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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stellahadz's review

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dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I loved the writing style of Post-Traumatic. Johnson articulates the main character Vivian's thoughts in a sharp and concise but also accessible and easily picturable way. Vivian has been through some shit, to put it mildly, but instead of focusing heavily on the traumatic events of her past, the book deals with the way they inform the present-day events of her life. There's something refreshing about Johnson choosing to focus on Vivian's development and how she learns to care for herself; it's an antidote to "trauma porn," which can sometimes feel overdone and somewhat voyeuristic. While Vivian's thoughts and behaviors are extreme, the way she relays her feelings and interactions with friends and romantic interests is deeply relatable. I especially loved the scenes where she and her best friend, Jane, discuss their lives and shared experiences. Post-Traumatic is a "slice-of-life" novel, but with a dark-humor twist. It's a fantastic debut novel and I look forward to reading more of Johnson's work.

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ebonyrose's review

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dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I have a soft spot for unlikeable, insane, wretched women characters in novels. I love them. Love when they are irredeemable, crass, and awful people. And, even so, the main character of this novel was almost too much for me. She was so...abhorrent. Judgemental, mean, vindictive, selfish beyond measure and very unpleasant. But Vivian was also sharp, funny, fierce and deeply traumatized. It was hard not to get pulled into the deepest and darkest recesses of her mind and not begin to root for her, just a little at first. And then a lot. Post-Traumatic has a meandering plot following Vivian's life as a psych ward lawyer, pothead and dating addict, but this is a character study first and foremost. The plot is really very secondary to the deep interiority of this novel.

I was struck by the writing in this novel. It is that distinctly millennial style - sharp and darkly funny, with such crystal clear and honest observations about people and relationships that it almost takes your breath away. So many moments in this novel where I'd stop and think I thought I was the only fucked up monster whose ever had a (weird/ violent/ bizarre/ scary/ devastaing etc etc) thought like that?! In the vein of Normal People, or Luster or Insatiable, reading this book was cathartic, frustrating, frightening, and illuminating all at once. I won't forget it any time soon.

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