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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
dark
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
medium-paced
Vá kemst ekki yfir það hvað þetta er mögnuð bók! Ótrúlega sorgleg og lýsandi fyrir þolendur ofbeldis.
This is a difficult review to write because the topic of this book is something that is difficult to get it right in writing, in a fictional story but i think the author got it right.
I felt so much in this book, and most of the time I felt sick to my stomach and anxious and I guess that's the power of this book and the way it's supposed to make you feel. Please, please read the trigger warnings before going into this.
It talks about a 45 year old teacher and a 15 year old Vanessa 'falling in love'. See that i put quotation marks to that because it's really not about that. We see how the teacher Strane groomed Vanessa slowly with all the gory details and then how she was manipulated into first being with him and then lying to save his own sorry ass.
We see how this relationship haunts Vanessa even when she gets older and how she really can't escape the situation and how it ruined her life.
And finally I really liked how she started realising with a therapist that what happened to her was rape and abuse and not at all a love story but a story of abuse.
I felt so much in this book, and most of the time I felt sick to my stomach and anxious and I guess that's the power of this book and the way it's supposed to make you feel. Please, please read the trigger warnings before going into this.
It talks about a 45 year old teacher and a 15 year old Vanessa 'falling in love'. See that i put quotation marks to that because it's really not about that. We see how the teacher Strane groomed Vanessa slowly with all the gory details and then how she was manipulated into first being with him and then lying to save his own sorry ass.
We see how this relationship haunts Vanessa even when she gets older and how she really can't escape the situation and how it ruined her life.
And finally I really liked how she started realising with a therapist that what happened to her was rape and abuse and not at all a love story but a story of abuse.
Sad, bleak, and sickening
Not only was this hard to read (because of the many content warnings) but I think it is very frustrating from the readers perspective because the characters don’t act and react the way you’d expect them to, but I think that’s what makes it so realistic. It’s very hard to walk away from certain situations, or even realize you are in a certain situation in a lot of scenarios, and I think because of that, that’s why this was a 5 star - it was the most realistic portrayal of this topic.
Not only was this hard to read (because of the many content warnings) but I think it is very frustrating from the readers perspective because the characters don’t act and react the way you’d expect them to, but I think that’s what makes it so realistic. It’s very hard to walk away from certain situations, or even realize you are in a certain situation in a lot of scenarios, and I think because of that, that’s why this was a 5 star - it was the most realistic portrayal of this topic.
Excellent. Hard to read at times because of the blatant sexual abuse of a minor even though told from her own point of view. She refuses to see herself as a victim but there can be no doubt in the reader's mind that the "relationship" is not the way she insists on seeing it. Very well done exploration of the trickiness of sexual consent (that can't exist) when minors are involved.
dark
slow-paced
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Whooooooo this was a tough read. Triggers and more triggers. The story though morbid was beautifully written. I'll give it that. Dark academia is one thing... this... not that. So much worse. Definitely need a break after this.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Mass/school shootings, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced