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hrvgrn's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Violence, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Physical abuse, Misogyny, and Suicide
Minor: Vomit and Alcohol
bookish_skies's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Vomit, Rape, Gaslighting, Medical content, and Sexual violence
ankita1996's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, and Vomit
emmyslovelylibrary's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Vomit
bedoyle's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Vomit, and Emotional abuse
hiraeth_'s review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Addiction, Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Drug use, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Gaslighting, and Adult/minor relationship
Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol
Minor: Bullying, Death of parent, Grief, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, and Animal death
_david_'s review against another edition
- 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
I've never before found such a good story which shows why to the grooming victim, it doesn't seem like an unbalanced relationship any more than if they were both adult. As an adult it is very easy to understand why grooming is disgusting, but this book uses its point of view to show how teenagers may experience it. More importantly, how careful you need to be with talking to a victim.
I really am thankful how the author made the sex scenes feel off, eventhough it wasn't necessary for the story itself. I would feel disgusted if instead I would read about a teenager having sex with an adult and enjoying it fully.
I could talk about this book for days, it's just so good. My only confusion at first was why the narrator didn't realise that the groomer was being manipulative, eventhough flashbacks revealed that she already had doubts in the moments themselves. However, this was explained by two moments. The first
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Animal death
Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, Toxic relationship, Alcoholism, Vomit, and Pedophilia
Minor: Death of parent, Stalking, Drug use, Grief, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Suicidal thoughts
Very graphic descriptions of physical child abuse are mentioned in the last few pages, around p. 351 in the text starting from "Bridget moves back to Rhode Island". You can skip to the next alinea (2 pages further) without missing anything.bynniereads's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Vomit, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Addiction, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual harassment, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexism, Trafficking, Self harm, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Toxic relationship
nineinchnails's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
i would not recommend reading this as a survivor of rape and especially of child sexual abuse, more because of how adamant vanessa is that she was not abused than how graphic the abuse is written. it can be very hard to stomach her constant romanticisation and denial of strane's abuse, despite how obvious it us to us as readers that he manipulated her. 'manipulate' does not feel like anywhere near as strong of a word to portray how he controlled and exploited her.
vanessa is not a 'perfect victim' and she struggles with this well into adulthood; the idea that a woman must be perfectly chaste, perfectly humble, perfectly innocent, and perfectly untouched by the world to be believed or taken seriously as a victim is one that permeates our society to this day. what was she wearing?, she lead him on, she was asking for it, she wanted it. this novel does an incredible job at giving a voice to the many survivors who (unsurprisingly) don't fit that mould and showing a different perspective.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Physical abuse, Death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Infidelity, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Classism, Drug abuse, Grief, Body horror, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Mass/school shootings, and Vomit
Grooming, Dissociation, Post traumatic stress disorder, Child sexual abuse, and Student/teacher relationshipbaylou73's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Vomit and Suicide