Reviews with content warning for Abortion - Exit, Pursued by a Bear

Reviews tagging 'Abortion'

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by Emily Kate Johnston

15 reviews

leiaorganic's review against another edition

hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

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? No

4.5

Of all the books I've read recently, this one handles the topic of sexual assult with the most care and with the right tone. The friendships are real and Hermione has a great support system behind her throughout the book and her journey through recovery.

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daralexandria's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

5.0

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drizzlybear's review against another edition

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challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

really really love how this story is about trauma but it mostly just focuses on all the support networks hermione has and how everyone is kind

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-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? No

3.5

For such a short book, Exit, Pursued By a Bear packs a powerful punch.

Hermione Winters is a senior and a competitive cheerleader. This year is the last cheerleading camp she’ll go to – she’s determined to make it her best. And it’s all going pretty well, until she’s drugged at a party and raped. The story subsequently follows with her trying to come to terms with this new version of herself and trying to catch the rapist.

Exit, Pursued By a Bear is brings in strong themes of friendship, support, and healing. Hermione’s journey is fairly clean (though I wouldn’t say easy, because recovering from that kind of trauma is never easy). She has an excellent support system – friends who have her back, parents who care about her, professionals who listen and help. In an afterword, Johnson relays why she chose to give Hermione such a strong support system and that very few victims of sexual assault are so lucky (there’s also information about resources for survivors in Canada and the US).

Much of Hermione’s story is told through her cheerleading, and it’s done respectfully. There are stereotypes around cheerleaders and I feel like Johnson avoided them all. She talks about their athleticism and coordination and strength. Not once is Hermione or any of her teammates sexualized, which in a book with this theme I think is really important. There is almost no discussion about their bodies, not superfluous language at all. Hermione, Polly, Mallory, and the others are all described as powerful, driven women and I thought it was both wonderful and important to the story.

This is not an easy read. Exit, Pursued By a Bear is written very directly and there’s no language softening the themes. This book is a bit of a smack across the face to the fact that similar situations to this happen to women all the time. I highly recommend caution in picking this one up if you have triggers. While there are not a lot of specific details, there are scenes that are difficult to read, and the book is entirely based around the incident. If you think you can read it, though, it is a strong story about a young woman overcoming a heinous crime and regaining control over her life.

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sucreslibrary's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

2.0

really mixed feelings on this one. I liked the writing but at some points felt it made the characters too similar and analytical. there were parts I felt were done well and then a lot that I felt was too optimistic or too trusting in law enforcement. there was so little conflict that at about 100 pages I was left wondering where the book could even go since everything felt resolved... I don't know! maybe I'm too bitter. but I don't think a teen girl that actually went through the same experience would find this book relateable.

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