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nina_mk's review against another edition
- 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
4.75
Graphic: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Rape, Animal death, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Grief, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Drug abuse, Drug use, Body shaming, Addiction, Gaslighting, Terminal illness, Alcoholism, and Chronic illness
Minor: Classism, Fatphobia, Stalking, Eating disorder, Bullying, and Lesbophobia
sedgewren's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and Rape
Moderate: Death of parent, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, Stalking, Toxic relationship, and Classism
nineinchnails's review against another edition
- 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
i would not recommend reading this as a survivor of rape and especially of child sexual abuse, more because of how adamant vanessa is that she was not abused than how graphic the abuse is written. it can be very hard to stomach her constant romanticisation and denial of strane's abuse, despite how obvious it us to us as readers that he manipulated her. 'manipulate' does not feel like anywhere near as strong of a word to portray how he controlled and exploited her.
vanessa is not a 'perfect victim' and she struggles with this well into adulthood; the idea that a woman must be perfectly chaste, perfectly humble, perfectly innocent, and perfectly untouched by the world to be believed or taken seriously as a victim is one that permeates our society to this day. what was she wearing?, she lead him on, she was asking for it, she wanted it. this novel does an incredible job at giving a voice to the many survivors who (unsurprisingly) don't fit that mould and showing a different perspective.
Graphic: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Gaslighting, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Physical abuse, Death, Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Infidelity, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Bullying, Sexual harassment, Classism, Drug abuse, Grief, Body horror, and Abandonment
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Mass/school shootings, and Vomit
Grooming, Dissociation, Post traumatic stress disorder, Child sexual abuse, and Student/teacher relationshipwithreveling's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Outing, Addiction, Pedophilia, Abandonment, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Self harm, and Toxic relationship
lemelyjerry's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
I tried, and failed, to read/listen to this book 3 times, but am very happy I finished it on my fourth attempt.
The subject matter is really difficult and Vanessa as a character is sometimes hard herself but the way the author engages with how we all internally rationalize and add meaning to events in our lives is very impactful. It delicately addresses how grooming relationships can be terrible and confusing and filled with need and longing and shame. It also did such a good job of presenting how complex Vanessa's internal world and how she understood herself both in the past and in the present.
Many scenes are very hard to get through and the spots where Vanessa describes her disgust at Stane I viscerally felt that. I found the parallel storylines really emphasized the thought patterns of Vanessa and expressed how she viewed her life through the lense of what Strane told her and how that seeped into some of her deepest believed truths and then when these truths begin to shift in the modern day storyline you can see how that takes time. There are also some beautiful aspects to the language of the book.
Graphic: Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Classism, Bullying, Rape, Toxic relationship, and Grief
Minor: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, and Self harm
joaura's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Violence, Pedophilia, and Mental illness
Moderate: Vomit, Death of parent, Classism, Cursing, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Misogyny, Alcohol, and Grief
Minor: Animal death, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence
lilacwhisker's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, and Rape
Moderate: Alcohol and Stalking
Minor: Classism, Death of parent, Suicide, Animal cruelty, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Addiction, and Animal death
alisonfaith426's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Child abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Dysphoria, Misogyny, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Gaslighting, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Suicide
Moderate: Classism, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, and Medical content
amsswim's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
5.0
As a someone who has experienced different kinds of abuse and trauma, I very much related with many themes. I would recommend looking through warnings and triggers contained here if you'd like to read, some themes may be upsetting for other survivors of similar experiences. I recommend to all however.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Suicide, Abandonment, Sexual content, Sexism, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Mental illness, Grief, Domestic abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Cursing, Classism, Body shaming, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Grief, Bullying, and Infidelity
Minor: Classism, Blood, Body shaming, Vomit, Death of parent, Drug abuse, and Drug use
korolevakotykiv's review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Rape, Pedophilia, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual content
Minor: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Alcohol, Classism, Death of parent, and Drug use