Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Meine dunkle Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell, Ulrike Thiesmeyer

128 reviews

clo_l's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This was a really great book. It filled me with so many emotions from the very first page. It felt so incredibly real & I guess, in a way, it was.
Dark, beautiful, captivating, nauseating, intense. 
Amazing. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Suicide, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Rape, Drug use, Death of parent, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Cursing, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Eating disorder, Excrement, and Animal death

va1entine's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

a deeply complicated book, with a lot of pain in it. the author delivers every detail with familiarity and grace. not once did i feel vanessa’s defense of strane to be unnatural—it is hard to break from the safety of your abuse. a really good book, with ebbs and flows of speeding whirlwinds and slow meanders. 

i find it deliciously frustrating to not know and understand what goes on in strane’s head. we never know if she was the only one. we never know how far things went with others. 

i also find the depictions of vanessa’s dissociation from the sexual acts perfectly showcases what she experienced in this relationship. for strane, that was his priority—that’s why he forces so quickly to that point once they reached it the first time. but for vanessa, the parts she fixated on and remembered so deeply are the emotional moments. she remembers the moments they shared together that were emotionally intimate and vulnerable. at her core, vanessa wanted camaraderie and for people to be around her. strane took advantage of that, as a predator, to get what he wanted. 

it’s a haunting, chilling story. i found it hard to read and harder to put down. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Alcohol, Drug abuse, and Drug use

rebekka's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual content, Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Gaslighting, Drug use, Drug abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Misogyny, Vomit, Mental illness, Grief, Death, and Cursing

trishnasaha's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Grief

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Rape, Sexual assault, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Stalking and Suicide

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, Drug abuse, and Alcoholism

lorepanda's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide attempt, and Alcoholism

Minor: Drug abuse and Suicidal thoughts

crinkledmochi's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Toxic relationship, Violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Rape, and Sexual assault

taylooney's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

unabashedlynat's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Mental illness, Drug abuse, Drug use, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Minor: Vomit

theinkedpath's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, and Suicide