Reviews with content warning for Pregnancy - Exit, Pursued by a Bear

Reviews tagging 'Pregnancy'

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by Emily Kate Johnston

5 reviews

frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition

challenging emotional funny hopeful reflective sad fast-paced

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

5.0

Tagline: "I love you." "I know."

The author takes a famous Star Wars quote (which, to me, feels perfect as an author of Star Wars books), and uses it between to best friends, because deep unending love is not always romantic.

There is something beautiful about this book. It takes place over the span of about 9.5 months, and we get to know Hermione Winters like a little sister or best friend. You want everything to work out for her, even while you know that's a fairytale and this is the real world.

What I adore about this book is how she deals with the aftermath of what happens to her. And that her best friend refuses to back down and protect her. While not everyone on the team supports her (okay, everyone except her ex-boyfriend), as a reader you can't imagine a closer team. A supporting character even comments on it, how her school wouldn't have supported her.

There is a coming out, a trauma response during a dance (with a bit of comedic relief complete with spilled punch), and Hermione's undying love for her team, her parents, and especially her best friend and flying in the air as a cheerleader.

While I don’t care for first person generally, I can’t imagine this book working as well in third person, because Hermione is such a fully fleshed character, as are those closest to her.

Content Warnings

daniellejp16's review against another edition

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3.5

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trycerabel's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

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

3.0

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leiaorganic's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

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

4.5

Of all the books I've read recently, this one handles the topic of sexual assult with the most care and with the right tone. The friendships are real and Hermione has a great support system behind her throughout the book and her journey through recovery.

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nytephoenyx's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

3.5

For such a short book, Exit, Pursued By a Bear packs a powerful punch.

Hermione Winters is a senior and a competitive cheerleader. This year is the last cheerleading camp she’ll go to – she’s determined to make it her best. And it’s all going pretty well, until she’s drugged at a party and raped. The story subsequently follows with her trying to come to terms with this new version of herself and trying to catch the rapist.

Exit, Pursued By a Bear is brings in strong themes of friendship, support, and healing. Hermione’s journey is fairly clean (though I wouldn’t say easy, because recovering from that kind of trauma is never easy). She has an excellent support system – friends who have her back, parents who care about her, professionals who listen and help. In an afterword, Johnson relays why she chose to give Hermione such a strong support system and that very few victims of sexual assault are so lucky (there’s also information about resources for survivors in Canada and the US).

Much of Hermione’s story is told through her cheerleading, and it’s done respectfully. There are stereotypes around cheerleaders and I feel like Johnson avoided them all. She talks about their athleticism and coordination and strength. Not once is Hermione or any of her teammates sexualized, which in a book with this theme I think is really important. There is almost no discussion about their bodies, not superfluous language at all. Hermione, Polly, Mallory, and the others are all described as powerful, driven women and I thought it was both wonderful and important to the story.

This is not an easy read. Exit, Pursued By a Bear is written very directly and there’s no language softening the themes. This book is a bit of a smack across the face to the fact that similar situations to this happen to women all the time. I highly recommend caution in picking this one up if you have triggers. While there are not a lot of specific details, there are scenes that are difficult to read, and the book is entirely based around the incident. If you think you can read it, though, it is a strong story about a young woman overcoming a heinous crime and regaining control over her life.

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