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anacat_t's review
4.0
4.5 stars!! one of my favorite books from now on. the reason i didn’t give it a 5 stars is because i found some things really unnecessary to be included but overall oh boy…it touched me in such a way. i’m thankful this book exists, i needed this, i needed to feel this close to a character
almondcookies's review
5.0
Why are we still reading Macbeth and Much Ado About Nothing in school when this book exists? Do you know what a healthy relationship looks like? Read this, you might be surprised.
This is by no means an easy book to get through, but it is very relevant and extremely important. If you have any sort of relationship to another human being (which means everyone in the world), I highly recommend you read this. Abusive relationships are not just confined to romantic ones, they exist between parents and children, siblings, friends of 3 months or friends of 30 years, heck, even yourself and your milkman!!
Please, if you're a teen, a young woman, a grown lady, or even a man grown, please, please, read this.
The biggest piece of constructive criticism I have is that I wish Bourne had addressed that the MC was not just raped that one pivotal time, but multiple times.
The incidents where they had sex beforehand and the MC didn't want to do it is already sexual coercion and can be classified as rape. However, owning that word is incredibly difficult, and many will compare their experience to clear cut examples such as Anti Rape Adverts (most of which feature one off violent incidents), and will question 'if it wasn't painful was it still rape?' Yes. Yes it is.
In Places I've Cried, when MC herself thinks of what happened to her, she thinks of that one painful incident and doesn't think about all the other times that weren't violent. Unfortunately that perpetuates the idea that rape must be painful. This is not true. The definition of rape has nothing to do with frequency, pain, etc. It is dependant on if someone was forced, pressured, coerced etc into doing something they don't want to.
This is by no means an easy book to get through, but it is very relevant and extremely important. If you have any sort of relationship to another human being (which means everyone in the world), I highly recommend you read this. Abusive relationships are not just confined to romantic ones, they exist between parents and children, siblings, friends of 3 months or friends of 30 years, heck, even yourself and your milkman!!
Please, if you're a teen, a young woman, a grown lady, or even a man grown, please, please, read this.
Spoiler
The biggest piece of constructive criticism I have is that I wish Bourne had addressed that the MC was not just raped that one pivotal time, but multiple times.
The incidents where they had sex beforehand and the MC didn't want to do it is already sexual coercion and can be classified as rape. However, owning that word is incredibly difficult, and many will compare their experience to clear cut examples such as Anti Rape Adverts (most of which feature one off violent incidents), and will question 'if it wasn't painful was it still rape?' Yes. Yes it is.
In Places I've Cried, when MC herself thinks of what happened to her, she thinks of that one painful incident and doesn't think about all the other times that weren't violent. Unfortunately that perpetuates the idea that rape must be painful. This is not true. The definition of rape has nothing to do with frequency, pain, etc. It is dependant on if someone was forced, pressured, coerced etc into doing something they don't want to.
monet_belle's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
juliethebookcat's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
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
3.75
safaak's review
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Emotional abuse
kirstycreads's review
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
- 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
5.0
bookswithbecs_'s review
challenging
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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? It's complicated
3.0
stephxsu's review
2.0
Such an important lesson to make people aware of—about what abuse in a relationship looks like—but unfortunately the impact was diluted by the writing. The use of flashbacks to reveal details of the relationship meant that there was an unfortunate “telling not showing” overtone to the whole story. Having survived an emotionally abuse relationship myself, I really wish that Bourne had chosen to reveal what abuse looks like in a slow and suffocating accumulation of its little details, instead of stopping every time Reese did or said something and almost saying to the reader, Red flag. Do you see this? THIS is a red flag/gaslighting/etc. It’s easier I think to ignore an individual’s specific actions that are explicitly labeled, for example, gaslighting than it is to realize that tiny little nuggets of wrongness here and there escalate into all-encompassing abuse before you realize it.