Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Over the Top: A Raw Journey to Self-Love by Jonathan Van Ness

105 reviews

ophalen's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

4.0


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readwithmesarah's review against another edition

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inspiring lighthearted reflective fast-paced

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simoneliesbeth's review against another edition

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emotional sad fast-paced

3.0


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lisettemarie's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring sad medium-paced

4.5


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daphnehumming's review against another edition

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funny hopeful sad medium-paced

4.0

JVN / Jack is charming and vulnerable. At times it feels so painful to watch him make mistakes, but it feels validating to hear the story of someone who didn’t always handle situations perfectly. He is very funny and the audiobook has a lot of personality. 

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abelh's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring slow-paced

3.5


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tieflingmom's review

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted reflective sad fast-paced

5.0


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cozy_academic's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

5.0


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jessicaharleee's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective medium-paced

3.5


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pacifickat's review against another edition

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emotional funny hopeful informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

I'm not sure I could have read a memoir about someone with more different life experiences to my own, but here's to a year of reading broadly! 

The audiobook absolutely made this book work for me as a reader. There were so many jokes and moments that relied on anticipating the correct voice intonation in order to completely land, and it was fun hearing JVN's humor come through in the audio narration. Plus, I would have hopelessly butchered all the Russian pseudonyms in my head.

Lots of trigger warnings could be applied to this book (childhood trauma, sexual content, drug use, self harm, bullying, etc.), but I have rarely heard more accurate or compelling descriptions of addictive behaviors and the self-destructive-yet-all-consuming mental state behind them than here. This felt like an extremely honest and open account of the author's most formative life experiences, and I can't help but admire that. 

I also really appreciated learning a bit about AIDS/HIV stigma, treatments, and current positive prognoses when caught early and managed carefully. This kind of information is truly a public service to get out there in the open.

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