Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Moja temna Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

434 reviews

gabb_reads's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Drug use, Suicide

samarakroeger's review against another edition

5.0

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: Yes

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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, Gaslighting

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

Minor: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, 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.

alexiconic's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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My dark Vanessa is a disturbing book, that is absolutely not for everyone, but that I will be recommending to people. 

Reading the book is a frustrating experience, as we follow Vanessa and watch her make mistakes that seem glaringly obviously mistakes.

We see how she is pulled into the relationship with her teacher while she is 15. We see how his manipulative side comes out near-instantaneous, we see him clearly and tactically make her complicit in the relationship and their engagements, we see him abruptly, callously disappear and reappear only when his life is threatened by his past decisions - and carelessly placing the blame on Vanessa. Never quite letting her move on, because he needs her silence, yet spurring her to grow because he doesn’t want her. We see how his manipulation (whether intentional or not) fuels her own view of her situation, her reluctance to acknowledge that she was not to blame.

  It is a maddening journey at times. But it is treated with such respect and care. 

Vanessa is not a particularly likable character. Usually, I struggle with that. But in this book, she is so masterfully brought to life by this fact. We see how helpless and unsure she is, but how desperately she feels she is fine. We see how she processes her past, bit by bit. And her storyline, her monologue, the descriptions of her life and fears and panic, it is just really well done. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting

Moderate: Drug abuse, Drug use, Death of parent

retzko's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark inspiring reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment

liv_reads99's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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-Beautifully we’ll written
-Hard to read at times due to the subject matter
-“If it isn’t a love story, then what is it?”
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TLDR: Vanessa recounts her relationship with a teacher from 15 to present (32).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Drug use

kaitlynsuganraj's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Gaslighting, Sexual harassment

hollieadaw's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Suicide, Grief

Moderate: Cursing, Vomit

erikabee's review against another edition

4.5

dark emotional sad tense 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: Yes

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The writing style was very compelling, but also really brought up a lot of difficult feelings related to previous experiences I’ve had. It’s explores a really interesting side to a dynamic that, to some extent, has already been played out to death.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent

Minor: Drug use, Suicide, Vomit, Alcohol

badwolf_books's review against another edition

1.0

challenging dark emotional sad tense 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting

palomasbookshelf's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russel, has come to be one of the best novels I’ve read in my life. Don’t get my wrong, it was incredibly difficult to read and absolutely gut wrenching at times, but Kate Elizabeth Russell’s prose was just to die for.

With just one novel, Russell has easily become one of my favourite authors. The way she dives head first into topics of abuse, victimhood and the nuances within every abusive relationship is completely enthralling.

The insight into the complexities of consent and manipulation, as well as how she describes discourse surrounding power dynamics is truly harrowing but I couldn’t. stop. reading.

To see how the main character - Vanessa - views her own abuse and the stages she goes through mentally is written about so meticulously and exquisitely, and the way Russel describes Vanessa’s dissociation and mental health was deeply relatable at times.

I think the book makes a great point of bringing up really important questions around sexual abuse that cannot be answered with ease.

Russel writes with brutal honesty, and deep emotion. I ate up every single word on every single page. Not an easy read, but I think it’s an essential one. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual harassment

Moderate: Drug use