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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s not a book you read for fun. The tone stays the same throughout. But what I think is really unique about this book is that Vanessa, the narrator is not painted with a typical brush.
The story does a great job of communicating the ways in which a man can violate a child in a non standard way. When the experience of victim doesn’t conform to how people think a victim should look and think and act, their stories are even more invalidated by society than those who act perfectly.
It’s a delicate thing to write a person this way while being unequivocal about the responsibility and guilt the purple traitor has. And I suspect the author did a lot of research about how abusers justify their behaviour because this guy pulls out all the greatest hits. But i would say is even more insidious, the author depicting grooming and gaslighting very well.
I had read that the author actually had started writing this when she was a teenager but hadn’t finished it until she was almost 30. The text certainly seems very well thought out when Vanessa is both ages, so that makes sense.
Had I not listened to the audiobook (fantastic narrator, great job) I would have highlighted quite a few passages. There a lot of beautiful prose that I found very apt and poignant. keep in mind that I’m a man and have no history with abuse so I would look to other reviews to see other perspectives on how it’s handled. I thought it felt deeply considered and respectful while being unapologetic and unforgiving when required.
The story does a great job of communicating the ways in which a man can violate a child in a non standard way. When the experience of victim doesn’t conform to how people think a victim should look and think and act, their stories are even more invalidated by society than those who act perfectly.
It’s a delicate thing to write a person this way while being unequivocal about the responsibility and guilt the purple traitor has. And I suspect the author did a lot of research about how abusers justify their behaviour because this guy pulls out all the greatest hits. But i would say is even more insidious, the author depicting grooming and gaslighting very well.
I had read that the author actually had started writing this when she was a teenager but hadn’t finished it until she was almost 30. The text certainly seems very well thought out when Vanessa is both ages, so that makes sense.
Had I not listened to the audiobook (fantastic narrator, great job) I would have highlighted quite a few passages. There a lot of beautiful prose that I found very apt and poignant. keep in mind that I’m a man and have no history with abuse so I would look to other reviews to see other perspectives on how it’s handled. I thought it felt deeply considered and respectful while being unapologetic and unforgiving when required.
This book is absolutely stunning. The way the author writes about something so tragic but rationalizes it and makes it seem like “it’s not so bad.” You are pleading with our main character to see the truth but she can’t. She is tainted by HIM through her whole being. She has to learn who she truly is and it’s a beautiful heart wrenching story.
4.5 ⭐️
Haunting and tragic. I can’t quite believe this is a debut.
Haunting and tragic. I can’t quite believe this is a debut.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Dark Vanessa is one of those books that lingers in your mind long after you’ve turned the last page. It’s disturbing, deeply unsettling, and painfully intimate, almost to the point where you feel like you’re intruding on something you shouldn’t be witnessing.
The novel follows Vanessa Wye, a woman in her 30s who, as a teenager, had a relationship with her English teacher, Jacob Strane. Or at least, that’s how she saw it at the time—she was convinced it was love. But as the #MeToo movement unfolds around her, she’s forced to re-examine her past and question whether what she thought was love was actually something much darker.
“No, not crazy,” Ruby says. “Traumatized.”
Russell’s writing is hypnotic. She pulls you into Vanessa’s mind, making you feel her confusion, her misplaced loyalty, and the way Strane manipulated her so insidiously that she still struggles to see the truth. The most chilling part of the novel is how it forces the reader to sit in Vanessa’s denial. She doesn’t see herself as a victim, and you can’t just shake her and make her realize the truth. It’s frustrating, heartbreaking, and incredibly realistic.
This book isn’t an easy read—it’s heavy, triggering, and morally complex. But that’s also what makes it so powerful. It doesn’t follow the neat, linear path of healing that many stories about trauma do. Instead, it shows the messy, raw reality of what grooming and abuse can do to someone’s sense of self.
“People will risk everything for a little bit of something beautiful.”
If you’re looking for a book that makes you uncomfortable in all the right ways, forcing you to examine power, consent, and the gray areas of memory. My Dark Vanessa is absolutely worth reading. Just be prepared to sit with some very difficult emotions.
I really liked how Vaneesa did not see herself as a victim, but the writing by the author still made us feel it was wrong. A perfect perspective. Even tho, I don't read books like this and prob wont in future too but this was a well written and powerful book.
“If there’s one thing you take away from this class, it should be that the world is made of endlessly intersecting stories, each one valid and true.”
The novel follows Vanessa Wye, a woman in her 30s who, as a teenager, had a relationship with her English teacher, Jacob Strane. Or at least, that’s how she saw it at the time—she was convinced it was love. But as the #MeToo movement unfolds around her, she’s forced to re-examine her past and question whether what she thought was love was actually something much darker.
“No, not crazy,” Ruby says. “Traumatized.”
Russell’s writing is hypnotic. She pulls you into Vanessa’s mind, making you feel her confusion, her misplaced loyalty, and the way Strane manipulated her so insidiously that she still struggles to see the truth. The most chilling part of the novel is how it forces the reader to sit in Vanessa’s denial. She doesn’t see herself as a victim, and you can’t just shake her and make her realize the truth. It’s frustrating, heartbreaking, and incredibly realistic.
This book isn’t an easy read—it’s heavy, triggering, and morally complex. But that’s also what makes it so powerful. It doesn’t follow the neat, linear path of healing that many stories about trauma do. Instead, it shows the messy, raw reality of what grooming and abuse can do to someone’s sense of self.
“People will risk everything for a little bit of something beautiful.”
If you’re looking for a book that makes you uncomfortable in all the right ways, forcing you to examine power, consent, and the gray areas of memory. My Dark Vanessa is absolutely worth reading. Just be prepared to sit with some very difficult emotions.
I really liked how Vaneesa did not see herself as a victim, but the writing by the author still made us feel it was wrong. A perfect perspective. Even tho, I don't read books like this and prob wont in future too but this was a well written and powerful book.
“If there’s one thing you take away from this class, it should be that the world is made of endlessly intersecting stories, each one valid and true.”
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
