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alisonj's review
5.0
This book! This is a very powerful story of sexual assault (so, obviously, a trigger warning). A novel, but inspired by the author's own experience. She's a very good writer, and I identified/empathized with her completely.
rincey's review against another edition
3.0
See my talk about this briefly in my April wrap up: https://youtu.be/XQhFwuNJqAE?t=3m11s
chriswolak's review against another edition
3.0
Read it because its an Edgar nominee in the First Novel category. Excellent read, but painful for a slew of reasons. It is the first mystery novel I've read that focuses so intently on a rape and its aftermath from both the victim's and the perpetrator's perspectives. Review to come.
jillheather's review against another edition
3.0
I feel sort of guilty rating a based on the author's life novel as fiction, but as fiction it's just -- at best not great when it's trying to get into the head of the rapist. And it sort of verges on anti-Roma sometimes.
jackielaw's review against another edition
3.0
Dark Chapter, by Winnie M Li, is the story of a rape. Told from the points of view of both the victim and the perpetrator, the subject matter has been informed by an assault the author suffered which changed the course of her life. The narrative is detailed, stark and harrowing. The portrayal of a sordid lifestyle within the Irish Traveller community withering.
Vivian Tan is a Taiwanese-American living in London. A Harvard graduate, she works for a film production company in the city. Her work is demanding but enables her to live in a flat share overlooking the river. She enjoys socialising with her many friends; travelling both for business and pleasure. Often she will take the opportunity of visiting a new country to hike alone and discover quiet places where she may admire natural vistas. She enjoys the challenge and feeling of accomplishment that comes from being independent.
On a trip to Belfast Vivian sets out on a hike from the west of the city towards Cave Hill. A young Irish Traveller, Jonny, spots her on the trail and decides he will have sex with her. His rough upbringing, where domestic assault was routine and casual theft expected, has led him to consider good looking girls fair game. He boasts to his friends of his conquests, feeling no shame that his victims were forced, often violently, to accept attentions that satisfy the cravings he feeds with pornography, first offered to him at a young age.
The timeline jumps back and forth between the protagonists’ childhoods, the attack, and the aftermath. The writing is precise and measured with no shirking from graphic detail. Jonny is shown to be incapable of understanding how his victims are feeling. Vivian is shattered by her experience and by the painful process of seeking what passes for justice when she refuses to quietly shoulder her ordeal.
This is a powerful account of a crime that is too often maligned and misunderstood. For this alone it could be regarded as an important work. In deriving empathy for the unremitting and ongoing horror it can also, in places, overwhelm. The bitter undercurrent and raw pain, although understandable, are challenging to read.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, Legend Press.
Vivian Tan is a Taiwanese-American living in London. A Harvard graduate, she works for a film production company in the city. Her work is demanding but enables her to live in a flat share overlooking the river. She enjoys socialising with her many friends; travelling both for business and pleasure. Often she will take the opportunity of visiting a new country to hike alone and discover quiet places where she may admire natural vistas. She enjoys the challenge and feeling of accomplishment that comes from being independent.
On a trip to Belfast Vivian sets out on a hike from the west of the city towards Cave Hill. A young Irish Traveller, Jonny, spots her on the trail and decides he will have sex with her. His rough upbringing, where domestic assault was routine and casual theft expected, has led him to consider good looking girls fair game. He boasts to his friends of his conquests, feeling no shame that his victims were forced, often violently, to accept attentions that satisfy the cravings he feeds with pornography, first offered to him at a young age.
The timeline jumps back and forth between the protagonists’ childhoods, the attack, and the aftermath. The writing is precise and measured with no shirking from graphic detail. Jonny is shown to be incapable of understanding how his victims are feeling. Vivian is shattered by her experience and by the painful process of seeking what passes for justice when she refuses to quietly shoulder her ordeal.
This is a powerful account of a crime that is too often maligned and misunderstood. For this alone it could be regarded as an important work. In deriving empathy for the unremitting and ongoing horror it can also, in places, overwhelm. The bitter undercurrent and raw pain, although understandable, are challenging to read.
My copy of this book was provided gratis by the publisher, Legend Press.
floatingpages's review against another edition
5.0
Ich war überrascht, festzustellen, dass dies keine Geschichte über eine Vergewaltigung ist, mit der man sonst rechnen würde.
Denn die Autorin lässt uns als Leser nicht nur einen Blick in ihre (beziehungsweise Vivians) Gedanken werfen, sondern auch in diese des Täters.
Die wechselnden Perspektiven könnten kontrastreicher nicht sein.
.
Mir wurde manchmal regelrecht übel, als ich las, was im Kopf eines Menschen vorgeht, der einem anderen so viel Leid zufügt. Ich litt mit Vivian mit, als Untersuchungen durchgeführt, Anzeige erstattet, Gerichtsverhandlungen abgehalten wurden und das Opfer immer wieder um ihre Glaubwürdigkeit kämpfen musste.
.
Ich kann das Buch ausdrücklich nur jemandem empfehlen, der solche schrecklichen Dinge nicht erleben musste und sich davon nicht getriggert fühlt.
In dem Fall: Seid bitte vorsichtig damit.
.
Für mich persönlich kann ich nur sagen, dass dieses Buch eine Bereicherung war und ich jetzt noch mehr Verständnis für Opfer von sexuellen Übergriffen und Traumata aufbringen kann und möchte. .
Ohne taktlos sein zu wollen, muss ich mein Kompliment an die Autorin richten: Dafür, dass sich das Buch trotz der schweren Thematik schnell und spannend lesen lässt und dabei trotzdem nicht seine Wichtigkeit verliert.
Denn die Autorin lässt uns als Leser nicht nur einen Blick in ihre (beziehungsweise Vivians) Gedanken werfen, sondern auch in diese des Täters.
Die wechselnden Perspektiven könnten kontrastreicher nicht sein.
.
Mir wurde manchmal regelrecht übel, als ich las, was im Kopf eines Menschen vorgeht, der einem anderen so viel Leid zufügt. Ich litt mit Vivian mit, als Untersuchungen durchgeführt, Anzeige erstattet, Gerichtsverhandlungen abgehalten wurden und das Opfer immer wieder um ihre Glaubwürdigkeit kämpfen musste.
.
Ich kann das Buch ausdrücklich nur jemandem empfehlen, der solche schrecklichen Dinge nicht erleben musste und sich davon nicht getriggert fühlt.
In dem Fall: Seid bitte vorsichtig damit.
.
Für mich persönlich kann ich nur sagen, dass dieses Buch eine Bereicherung war und ich jetzt noch mehr Verständnis für Opfer von sexuellen Übergriffen und Traumata aufbringen kann und möchte. .
Ohne taktlos sein zu wollen, muss ich mein Kompliment an die Autorin richten: Dafür, dass sich das Buch trotz der schweren Thematik schnell und spannend lesen lässt und dabei trotzdem nicht seine Wichtigkeit verliert.
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