Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Moja mroczna Vanesso

this book should replace all copies of lolita, especially in classrooms/english lit syllabuses. this book is what lolita should have been imo sorry not sorry. how good can your book really be at being anti-p****phillia and anti-CSA if even TODAY let alone when it was written people read it and blame the girl child for her CSA and sympathise with the abuser?

if masses of people misinterpret your book for exactly the opposite message of what you as the author intended maybe it is not a good enough book to convey that message?

if society has not reached that level of collective consciousness where they would read lolita and automatically condemn the abuser and rally around the victim-survivor then maybe it needs to be more EXPLICITLY anti-CSA and supportive of the victim?

THIS book is that. By being from the perspective of the girl child (and later woman) and her being a complicated, 'imperfect' (whatever that and whatever 'perfect' is meant to be) victim-survivor it gives a real, grounded narrative and experience.

I felt sick reading this but I could not stop reading it constantly. It also made me angry.

I wanted the man to die and he did so that felt good.

men are so $%^$%&$^*"^%^$%^5 URGH like FUCK OFF YOU CREEP

Content Warnings

rebekka's review against another edition

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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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bookishchristiana's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

5.0

'“I can’t lose the thing I’ve held onto for so long, you know?” My face twists up from the pain of pushing it out. “I just really need it to be a love story, you know? I really, really need it to be that.” “I know,” she says. “Because if it isn’t a love story, then what is it”? I look to her glassy eyes, her face of wide open empathy. “It’s my life,” I say. “This has been my whole life.”' - Kate Elizabeth Russell, My Dark Vanessa.

This is a very sensitive book so I don't feel like I can give it my usual length or style of review. Essentially, this book is a modern kind-of Lolita except from the victim's perspective. It is very heavy and hard to get through; despite this I absolutely give it 5 stars. I finished this book I think about two weeks ago now but I had to sit with it a bit before writing a review. Although I am not a writer, I can see that writing this kind of book with sensitivity must be incredibly hard. There are so many parts of this book that had my skin crawling or full of anger. It's hard to put into words how exactly this book made me feel inside. It definitely elicited the feelings that Russell intended. DO NOT read this book if you cannot read about abuse, grooming, or non-consent. My Dark Vanessa seems to capture the feelings and experiences of a victim of grooming perfectly. Despite Vanessa's actions being endlessly frustrating and stress-inducing, I understood that this is how many people who have been groomed react (although I cannot speak for them as this is not my story to weigh in on). It is a very tough read and at times I hated it. Having to read the abuse was awful and, in some ways, I think parts could have been referred to rather than written so explicitly. I think there is a risk of certain explicit scenes that are written to depict the horrible actions of the groomer run the risk of being read by real-life groomers too. It makes me severely uncomfortable to think that someone may take the wrong things away from this book. At the same time though, perhaps such scenes needed to be written so as to properly demonstrate Vanessa's state as a character. I'm in two minds. Notwithstanding this, I still want to give this book 5 stars as I think it is something that will stick with me for the rest of my life. The writing and portrayal of a victim of grooming is impeccable. It is truly a much better portrayal of grooming (centring the victim's story) than Lolita ever could be. Do not read Lolita, read this (although, again, read the trigger warnings). It may have been hard, but I am thoroughly glad I read it. - C x

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mayarodriguez's review against another edition

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5.0

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itsdanibee's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I-

Content Warnings

anonymous_traveller's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective 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? It's complicated

4.5

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nora_pears's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

4.75

Content Warnings

ratrug's review against another edition

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challenging 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

4.5

It was very very good but also very very hard to read.
It definitely captured a lot of the feeling that the event permeates your whole life afterwards.

I sort of wish it further explored Taylor and Vanessa - maybe lingered a little longer on the conversation about how different experiences may or may not be ‘worse’ than each other.
Never felt more of a woman

Overall a very good book. I can see myself rereading it but definitely not for a long time. Don’t underestimate how hard it is to read.

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