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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: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Animal death, Body shaming, Vomit, and Mass/school shootings
Grooming, Dissociation, Post traumatic stress disorder, Child sexual abuse, and Student/teacher relationshippaperplane's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Suicide
maur1vannistelrooij's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? No
4.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
millykeen'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: Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Sexual violence
Minor: Suicide
shakattxck'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
4.75
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment
alicia_belcourt's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
The concept of the plot alone intrigued me because I have never read anything like this book before, and it quickly continued to intrigue me the more I read. The writing style of this book was beautifully executed in my opinion because I feel that not many authors could so greatly execute a juxtaposition of the mind quite like Kate Elizabeth Russell did. She was constantly building on the idea of the relationship being romantically sought after by the main character, Vanessa. I also really loved reading how she continued to recount the key details that sparked and arose during the abusive relationship. As well as when Vanessa had continued to age and was still in contact with her abuser, I enjoyed the way Kate wrote about how Vanessa felt 'out of her body' because there were times when she described herself walking around or being 'far off' during scenes of the abuse. However there were aspects of the book that made it a bit of a tougher read for me. For example, Vanessa was at times made to be extremely unlikeable, and I mean this in the way that there were times of her recounting the events of abuse where she was constantly in a state of denial, even when presented with substantial 'evidence'. I understood the reasoning for this as I reached the end of the book, but at the moment it was very hard to stay focused in the book when the main character seemed so unlikable.
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
ayladdy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
rozeijn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
summerlyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, and Gaslighting
Minor: Animal death and Bullying
edietz22'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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Stalking, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment