Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Gift of Fear: Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence by Gavin de Becker

13 reviews

thirteenlaurels's review against another edition

informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual harassment, Death, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Stalking, Toxic relationship, Violence, Rape, Car accident, and Child death

turtlebones's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

i picked this book up b/c it was discussed during one of my ethics class and it was mentioned in a true crime podcast that i listen to. GdeB does a great job breaking down the different between worry/anxiety and true fear and using it to your advantage. He gives lots of great examples of cases that he has worked on and gives great tips to follow on determining and analyzing whether a situation one faces is worth fearing and relying on your gut instinct/intuition.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Violence, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Rape, Suicide attempt, Death, and Suicide

lovejasmine's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Literally everyone needs to read this book - non-fiction but reads like a thriller 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gun violence, Death, and Emotional abuse

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Violence

faithaforman's review against another edition

dark informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

4.0

Quite informative, definitely attempts to teach the difference between fear and worry, how to understand what our bodies try to tell us, and ways to keep safe. Sadly there is a need for this type of guidance, and decades after it was written it's as relevant as ever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Domestic abuse, Rape, Violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Toxic relationship

khristy's review against another edition

challenging informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

Writing: clear and concise
Profundity: so so so much useful information. I probably need to read this again, but overall the message is to listen to your hind brain, quit worrying about unlikely risks, and here are some super useful tips for stalkers. Oh, and we need to protect our children better. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Torture, Stalking, and Physical abuse

Those are all touched on in his example stories.

sassmistress's review against another edition

informative tense fast-paced

4.5

Very informative and engaging. With all the heavy content, I'm not sure if it will exacerbate anxiety, but the author was intentional about trying to alleviate it. I did like the section on worry showing how to get to the root of the concern, rather than reacting to the surface fear. 

There are a few things I would take with a grain of salt, such as the interview questions (and reliance on "intuition") that are likely to result in ablist hiring decisions. The heavy focus on intuition, with all the examples given, likely creates some survivorship bias ("I had a bad feeling about x, and then something happened" may leave out all the times nothing happened). 

There is a good section on spotting risk factors for DV, and for that reason I may recommend it for teenagers. 

I didn't enjoy the chapter on assassination, as it has more of a "true crime" bent and was less applicable, but many people enjoy that sort of content. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Domestic abuse, Stalking, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Confinement, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, and Suicide

Minor: Animal death, Addiction, Animal cruelty, and Cannibalism

squishmore's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

I will buy this for every woman in my life. Gavin de Becker validates the rightful fear of the dangers women face every day. His book is written so that it’s 2 parts crime thriller/case studies and 2 parts pure insightfulness. He brings up the odd feelings one gets when they aren’t quite sure why, and explains the why hidden under the surface. Long story short, our intuition is a gift and we must listen to it every time. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Hate crime, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Death, Violence, Suicide, Rape, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Domestic abuse, Stalking, and Murder

luminifera's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

Would like even more example stories. A good book, especially for women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Torture, Blood, Mass/school shootings, Pedophilia, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Gaslighting, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Trafficking, Death, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, Rape, Sexism, Physical abuse, Sexual harassment, Stalking, and Gun violence

It's literally a book about perceiving signs of imminent danger/violence. It discusses many heavy themes.

mondovertigo's review against another edition

informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Violence, and Misogyny

Moderate: Animal death, Alcoholism, and Drug abuse

herbivorehaunts's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

3.5

A little dated (the audiobook quality itself as well as some of the content) but informative. It got a bit repetitive at times as it is one of those non-fiction books whose format is starting each point with an example, and then going through that example at length while describing the psychological point being made. As well I'd like to point out that this is a very dark book at times. This is a very helpful book and the examples and topics discussed are necessary for the book, but it talks at length about victims of domestic violence, rape, murder, and lots of other very heavy topics so be aware going into this one. 

I don't think the book is victim-blamey per se, but I will say that the author states both his data and stories from survivors in a concise, matter of fact way and doesn't warn or soften the blow for the reader. I don't think it is the intent of the author to victim-blame, but he can come off as a bit insensitive at times; this is a book presenting physiological scientific principles and is written throughout in a very textbook-like manner. If you have any sort of triggers having to do with domestic violence, rape, or other abuse I think it might be best to find a summary of the principles online instead of having to read account after account of very triggering subject matter. 

It's a very validating book, and an important topic. Women's intuition is often mocked, and we are taught to be polite even to random strangers over coming across as rude. Women are socialized to ignore their intuition and fear signals and this often puts us in danger. F*ck politeness. Listen to the survival signals that your body sends to you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Child death, Death of parent, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual violence, Violence, Addiction, Child abuse, and Domestic abuse