Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Trust Exercise

I feel so divided on this book. The first half was incredibly painful for me to read and I was anxiety ridden about where the protagonist was going. When the twist came I was intrigued because I thought it would be about this tangled friendship, but was quickly let down. If it had ended there it would have been okay but a poor encapsulation of supposed symbolism. But then the third section ended, as did the overall book, and now I'm left feeling grimy and sad and still don't not understandin what the point of it was. The harm men can do to women that chases them through not only their adult lives but their children's adult lives? Why did you rupture our view of the first character to set up the next character? Why leave off after giving us the shortest time with the most likable character just to traumatize her and us and then run away after that? I guess my final question is still what is the point?

Content Warnings

summerrains's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

3.0

tamu engl 303: the school novel

um this book is a very interesting approach to addressing how stories are told from different people’s perspective. the author and this book are a perfect example of Nealon and Giroux’s idea of audiences being able to interpret works in their own way. if you’re looking for high school drama with a weird twist half way through then i‘d suggest this book. but a bit of a warning for you, even though the drama may seem petty, the problems that these characters deal with are very deep and very real.

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rmperezpadilla's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

Content Warnings

internetegg's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

3.0

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tracey1981's review against another edition

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challenging sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

There’s a lot going on in this book and it would make for a great book club selection with much to discuss. I haven’t decided fully yet how I felt about it but I have definitely thought about it a lot while reading and since finishing and probably will for awhile yet. I think this book wanted to provoke conversation and shed light on the harms done by sexual predators in schools and I think it succeeded at that but as many reviewers have said it’s also a challenging, confusing, maybe somewhat elitist read that I read two articles about after to make sure I’d understood it. So I dunno. I’d suggest checking the content warnings, and also deciding if you’re up for a unique somewhat challenging structure, before picking this one up…

Content Warnings

lgw3456's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

2.5

first section (literally) uncomfortably good, only becomes more convoluted as it goes on. if youre looking for a book full of unlikable liars youve found it!

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kikia's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.0

Content Warnings

levc's review against another edition

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challenging dark reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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