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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I took a few days to decide whether I liked this book or not before writing a review. I’m still undecided. It was definitely a quick read, but I must agree with some other reviewers who said it was just way longer than it needed to be. Too many deeply unsettling and descriptive scenes of Vanessa and Strane. He’s a nasty freak and I didn’t need to know every visual detail of his abuse to understand what happened. It went on so long I was surprised how abruptly it ended. I also didn’t like that he kept remaining such a constant dark presence in her life. This is ultimately a work of fiction, so I wish that Vanessa’s parents were redeemed a bit more by taking better care of her. Still, this was an eye-opening look inside the mind of a victim of abuse and how it can affect a person well into their adult life.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i still think about this book and its been over a year since i read it. the reading experience is so clever and thematic. nuff said.
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship
dark
sad
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
“I can’t lose the thing I’ve held on to for so long. You know?” My face twists up from the pain of pushing it out. “I just really need it to be a love story. You know? I really, really need it to be that.”
“I know,” she says.
“Because if it isn’t a love story, then what is it?”
I look to her glassy eyes, her face of wide-open empathy.
“It’s my life,” I say. “This has been my whole life.”
I don't know how to put it all into words — the feelings I have towards this book. I feel like it cuts me to the core of my being and I feel so nauseous and sometimes I'm thinking that Vanessa is so callous and cruel but then I'm so overcome with love for her that I don't know what to do because she was just a kid and every line that he says is dripping with manipulation and the most cowardly self preservation I can imagine. And I've never thought of this side of things, the side of things where it feels different and they feel like they were old enough and mature enough even if they never were and now I'll never stop thinking about it. The ending had me on the verge of tears.
“I know,” she says.
“Because if it isn’t a love story, then what is it?”
I look to her glassy eyes, her face of wide-open empathy.
“It’s my life,” I say. “This has been my whole life.”
I don't know how to put it all into words — the feelings I have towards this book. I feel like it cuts me to the core of my being and I feel so nauseous and sometimes I'm thinking that Vanessa is so callous and cruel but then I'm so overcome with love for her that I don't know what to do because she was just a kid and every line that he says is dripping with manipulation and the most cowardly self preservation I can imagine. And I've never thought of this side of things, the side of things where it feels different and they feel like they were old enough and mature enough even if they never were and now I'll never stop thinking about it. The ending had me on the verge of tears.
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes