Reviews with content warning for Drug abuse - My Dark Vanessa

Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

124 reviews

matildaesandell's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.25

This book is so fucked up, which is the whole point. Definitely read with caution and a lot of trigger warnings. This book had me feeling actually sick and making facial expressions of pure disgust in public. Please proceed with caution, this is a story of grooming, manipulation and trauma. This book honestly deserves 5 stars but I never want to read it again or recommend it to anyone because it is deeply traumatic, maybe an important one to read if you haven’t experienced these things, to help you better understand the lifelong damage and how hard it is for a victim to even grapple with the truth

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lorepanda's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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crinkledmochi's review against another edition

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dark slow-paced

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

i don’t even know how to rate this… this book was so disturbing

i feel like this book is going to haunt me for the rest of my life

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taylooney's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I only take off a 1/2 point because it was so dark that it put me in an aggressive reading slump. Fantastic writing though.

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unabashedlynat's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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theinkedpath's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

ES:
4,75 en realidad. Pero no puedo hablar de este libro ahora.

Este es un libro complejo y tremendamente duro sobre la relación entre Vanessa y su profesor de literatura del instituto. Pero es un libro sobre abuso y grooming muy claro, que incluye violencia física y psicológica y abuso de poder. Pero está tan bien contado y con una crudeza y un poder estilístico tremendo.
Me dejó destrozada pero aplaudiendo.
Eso sí, revisad si estáis preparados para leerlo sabiendo que trata estos temas.

EN:
4,75 if I’m honest...but it is hard to talk about right now

This books left me crying and shaking and clapping, all at once.
This is the story of Vanessa and how an event of her past marked as an adult. When Vanessa was a teen she was romantically and sexually involved with her English literature professor. But she does not consider herself a victim. Through this story Vanessa evaluates her teens years and you are able to see what happened to her and how it is possible to heal.
It is a story about grooming, sexual abuse and power abuse, and it is very graphic. Take this into account, please. It is hard to read at times. But it is also a story about regaining your voice and starting to heal.

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jodiej_'s review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

4.75

I don’t really write reviews so here goes. This book was so hard to get through but was absolutely necessary to read, I found myself having to put it down a few times because of how dark and intense it got.

I have to admit that I did find myself getting angry and frustrated at Vanessa and asking her why can’t you see what it was?? Why can’t you see what he did to you? Why can’t you see that it wasn’t love and he was an evil disgusting predator?? Then I would carry on reading again and understand that the brainwashing was so so deep that she genuinely believed it was love.

There was moments in the book where she seemed to realise that she was being manipulated but then convinced herself that he wasn’t manipulating her, he was just trying to make her understand.

This book tells a very realistic story of what it’s like to be groomed and raped. It’s not as simple as saying they was and coming forward it changes a victims whole life, thought process and feelings. They start believing that this is what love is supposed to feel like.

A dark heartbreaking but an absolute reality for victims.

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