Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Trust Exercise

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Trust Exercise by Susan Choi

80 reviews

laneyhoward's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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jlboro's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is very, very complicated. It’s also very, very good. But if you like straight-forward, happy endings, everything tied with a bow type books, you will not enjoy this book. One of the reviews said it was a “Russian Doll” of a book and that is an extremely apt description as the more you read, the more you learn as layers are peeled back. I immediately Googled the book and if you need an explanation, there is a great Vox article titled “The mind-boggling end of Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise, explained” by Constance Grady that thankfully does a great job summarizing (and also confirmed everything I thought). But it’s one of those books where you may very likely finish it and you will not be at all sure of reality.

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lashtonh's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

Ambiguous ending, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it and making connections.

Honestly better to read with a friend, would’ve loved to have talked about it with other people.

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lmshearer's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

3.0

This was a tough read and I'm mixed on my feelings, whether this book is good or not. Please check the CWs.

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stevienielson's review against another edition

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challenging emotional funny reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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sophiebv's review against another edition

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After reading a summary, I understand the point the book was trying to make and see the introspection it was driving toward. The writing style is meant to enhance these questions but I found it made it difficult to finish given how heavy the subject matter is. Absolutely not a romance book as it was labelled at my library, despite its focus on relationships.

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lilyaugust's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense slow-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

3.5

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milliemillz's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.5

Content Warnings

maddietsteele's review against another edition

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challenging emotional mysterious slow-paced

3.5

I’m not going to sit here and claim to have fully understood this story, but it definitely made me feel. The writing was powerful and peeled away at the concrete plot to dive deep into each character’s psyche. Listening to this book, I felt used, manipulated, and jumbled; I physically squirmed at times. This is a story of sexual assault, power imbalance, trauma, and memory reconstruction that is truly dizzying. It’s hard to say where the truth starts and ends and how many characters there really are and who is who. If you are going to set out to read this book, read it with a friend so you can discuss.

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isabelgalupo's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book was very compelling at got me out of a significant reading slump, but also very challenging to get through the further I read. I liked the way Choi played with my expectations as a reader and the way in which things were revealed — slowly but also all at once. Definitely one that will stay with me for awhile not only because of the distressing subject matter but also the gorgeous and varied prose.

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