Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Moja mroczna Vanesso by Kate Elizabeth Russell

97 reviews

schivakumaran's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is humbling. Its horrifying. I have literally no words to describe just how poinient this book. Its an important book. It shows the deep rooted effects abuse can have on you for years after even in you adulthood and how it can shape you as a person.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death of parent

ekmook's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Animal death, Drug use, and Death of parent

cammiem8's review against another edition

challenging 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? Yes

5.0

Wow. This book was so hard to read and yet hard to put down. I have so many thoughts I don’t know where to start. The best deconstruction of the teacher-student “romance” I’ve ever read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal cruelty and Animal death

miyothecat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Abandonment

lholmi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Sexual harassment

haileymartin's review against another edition

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment

utopiastateofmind's review against another edition

4.0

(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.) 

TW: grooming

Even days later, I'm not sure how to review My Dark Vanessa. It's a difficult book to read because I was split between empathizing, and relating, to Vanessa while also acknowledging her flaws and mistakes. This is very much Vanessa's story and her own narration. Her own journey full of mistakes we don't understand, excuses we make up for our own sake, and comments that simultaneously unsettle and confuse us. My Dark Vanessa tells the story of Vanessa, of her being groomed.

The recent allegations in 2017 by a former student of Strane causes Vanessa to re-visit her memories. Memories which, I'd argue, never left her. Which still very much live within her body, her self, and her present. The gestures and bodily habits that register without even realizing it. How it feels to be 'special' and how badly we, as teens, crave this feeling of being taken seriously and seen. Of how our society lives in this space of sexually objectifying girls and also rhetoric that puts the responsibility on them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

ioana00's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

samarakroeger's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional medium-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? Yes

5.0

Everyone who has struggled to understand why victims of abuse/SA can be reluctant to come forward should read this book, provided that they are in an appropriate headspace to do so.

This is a hard read.  I could not stomach more than a chapter or so at a time for the first half of the book because of how triggering and DARK the subject matter is. That being said, the prose is immensely readable; Kate Elizabeth Russell did an outstanding job, especially considering this is a debut.  I thought it struck a perfect balance between being "beautifully written" (a description I often think is just a euphemism for "flowery") and viscerally raw.  The narrative voice is so strong and so believable (yet also unreliable), and writing teen narrators that sound like actual, naive teenagers with real, (rational to them) thoughts is a feat that is nigh impossible to pull off.  

I'm not typically one for quotes, but this one from the end of the book really called out to me and sums up one of the main points of the book.

"The excuses we make for them [abusers] are outrageous, but they're nothing compared with the ones we make for ourselves." (360)

I'll be thinking about this book for a long time.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Stalking, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, and Infidelity

If you want to know what grooming can look like and how teenage girls can fall into that trap through excessive gaslighting, manipulation, and abuse, this is the perfect book for you! A harrowing portrait of why victims of abuse/trauma can sometimes really struggle to admit that they were victims and the ongoing trauma (PTSD, general struggles with mental health and addiction, memory loss) these events have on their lives.

bey_h's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Moderate: Sexism and Suicide