Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

132 reviews

abrdoodle's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

• 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Suicide, Grief, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Mental illness, Blood, and Vomit

chouxlette's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

Yes, the book is as good as everyone says it is

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide

clarissa_joy's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug abuse

Minor: Suicide

saturnpersonified's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit and Death of parent

kys831's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Slavery, Suicide, and Gaslighting

its_van_vulpen's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Suicide, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

wadebittleston's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Stalking

Minor: Drug abuse and Suicide

_bailey_reads_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

5.0

This book…. Wow. I am stunned by how well written this book is.  

There are so many things I could say about this book. I loved it so much. It will always hold a special place in my heart, mostly because it hurt me deeply to my core. 

I highly recommend reading this book but only if you are in a good mental health space. It is extremely triggering! I felt very healed by how relatable I found Vanessa at points but mad because of how upset her character made me. She is such a complex and well written character and is such a realistic depiction of someone struggling with PTSD and severe trauma. 

Kate Elizabeth Russell, did a phenomenal job at depicting what a real therapist & client relationship actually looks and sounds like. The first accurate one I’ve ever read in a book. It blew me away. Ruby is Vanessa’s therapist. The dynamic between the two characters was brilliant and very thought out and realistic! The language and descriptions in this novel are so beautiful and made me my heart hurt. 

It’s the most disturbing book I’ve ever read 

Warning ** Do Not Read if you are in a bad mental health space. Please be gentle if you have gone through any type of abuse. I wish someone would’ve warned me before reading. It’s HIGHLY triggering. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Toxic friendship, and Alcohol

asm349's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Sexual harassment

amsswim's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-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? Yes

5.0

I think a lot of people could benefit from reading this (not to get political, ahem) , but I'm afraid they would only see what they want to see in Vanessa's character and take her for exactly what she says they will in the book. I thought this book had not only an important story to tell, but it was told incredibly well. The time jumps of Vanessa's high school experience to her "modern day", #MeToo era day-to-day gave the reader a large perspective of the stages of trauma and stages of abuse. 

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body shaming, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Infidelity, Grief, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Drug abuse, Drug use, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, and Classism