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heeniee's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Bullying, Rape, and Violence
sarabz's review against another edition
4.0
Beautifully drawn and well-crafted story. Una draws on her own experiences and the police biases and media coverage in the investigation of a serial rapist and murderer to paint a detailed and devastating picture of rape culture.
lefttorread's review against another edition
3.0
This was hard to read at times, I had to put it down and go back to it a few times.
Although I think this is an important book, I do feel like there was something missing and the layout, going back and forth between The Yorkshire Ripper events and Una's personal experiences threw me off a bit.
Although I think this is an important book, I do feel like there was something missing and the layout, going back and forth between The Yorkshire Ripper events and Una's personal experiences threw me off a bit.
wrathofglasses's review against another edition
5.0
This was a great read. The art is impeccably done and Una provides a ton of footnotes for additional information into the historical background of her story.
Una sums up the purpose for her book and narrative in the afterword:
Una sums up the purpose for her book and narrative in the afterword:
"While we puzzle and argue over what to do and who is right, millions of ordinary people live with everyday experiences that they cannot process properly because they cannot speak about them freely due to a set of outdated and confused taboos. Muddled thinking about gendered violence allows us to turn away from potential solutions and has long prevented us from understanding, on a global scale, what this violence does to our societies. I have no neat answers, but I have tried to present an interesting set of questions in this book in various forms."
rebeccaariss's review against another edition
5.0
"Blaming the victim is an act of refuge and self-deception. It allows the blamer to sit in judgment, imagining some mystical justice that means bad things happen only to bad people, thus ensuring their own safety."
I sat with this book for a few hours, needing to take time to process the weight of its contents. I'm not sure what to say, other than to say that we should all be outraged and we're not. Victims spend their lives trying to cope with the psychological damage that violence has caused them, and then when they finally have the strength to tell someone, they're met with resistance and shame.
This is the book that proponents of the "not all men" argument should be reading but won't. It's difficult to read, but should be read. Thank you, Una, for sharing your story and empowering others.
I sat with this book for a few hours, needing to take time to process the weight of its contents. I'm not sure what to say, other than to say that we should all be outraged and we're not. Victims spend their lives trying to cope with the psychological damage that violence has caused them, and then when they finally have the strength to tell someone, they're met with resistance and shame.
This is the book that proponents of the "not all men" argument should be reading but won't. It's difficult to read, but should be read. Thank you, Una, for sharing your story and empowering others.
paperbacksandpines's review against another edition
2.0
It is difficult to attempt to rate a book that is based on a person's life experience. Although this book is based on Una's life, it is a dual narrative about the victims of England's Yorkshire Ripper.
Una discussed society's attitudes toward her after the violations she experienced as well as the police's attitudes towards victims of the Yorkshire Ripper. The police made assumptions that all of the victims were involved in prostitution and if the victim didn't fit the mold, they neglected to consider changing the profile of the perpetrator. Even though this violence took place in the 1070s, victim blaming culture is still a prevailing attitude today.
This memoir includes statistics about reported facts about sexual violence against women. Una questions how her own live as well as the lives women would have turned out differently if they hadn't been impacted and had to strive so hard to deal with the sexual violence they had experienced.
I wish this book was either a straight memoir or a straight statistics and facts about sexual violence. I was left wanting answers I never got about how she went unnoticed by her family, both before and after her assaults. I especially wanted to know when and how she told her family about her experiences and how they responded. I felt this part of the narrative was unresolved. The reader never got to see her journey out of her horrendous childhood and the story certainly didn't end leaving the reader with much hope for humanity.
Una discussed society's attitudes toward her after the violations she experienced as well as the police's attitudes towards victims of the Yorkshire Ripper. The police made assumptions that all of the victims were involved in prostitution and if the victim didn't fit the mold, they neglected to consider changing the profile of the perpetrator. Even though this violence took place in the 1070s, victim blaming culture is still a prevailing attitude today.
This memoir includes statistics about reported facts about sexual violence against women. Una questions how her own live as well as the lives women would have turned out differently if they hadn't been impacted and had to strive so hard to deal with the sexual violence they had experienced.
I wish this book was either a straight memoir or a straight statistics and facts about sexual violence. I was left wanting answers I never got about how she went unnoticed by her family, both before and after her assaults. I especially wanted to know when and how she told her family about her experiences and how they responded. I felt this part of the narrative was unresolved. The reader never got to see her journey out of her horrendous childhood and the story certainly didn't end leaving the reader with much hope for humanity.
belle_fiction's review against another edition
5.0
This is a heartbreaking, tender, poignant and unapologetic exploration of sexual assault, victim-blaming and shaming and the brutal murder of innocent women at the hands of Peter Sutcliffe.
Set against the backdrop of West Yorkshire, Una subtlety describes her abuse as a victim of sexual assault whilst also recounting all those unfortunate women whose lives were taken by Sutcliffe, as well as the misogyny and the sexist attitude of the police when they believed it was just ‘prostitutes’ who were being murdered.
Una presents the reader with shocking stats and facts which serve to remind just how many sexual crimes against women are committed on an annual basis, and even more horrifying, why so many victims don’t speak out - because they won’t be believed, because of the humiliation, because of the police and others thinking they wanted it.
The artwork was haunting at times and really emphasised the painful torment, guilt and shame victims of sexual assault feel - they should not be condemned and they should certainly not be silenced.
I applaud Una for her unflinching and brave story and for lifting the lid on what has routinely been ‘brushed under the carpet’.
A powerful, insightful and compelling read.
Set against the backdrop of West Yorkshire, Una subtlety describes her abuse as a victim of sexual assault whilst also recounting all those unfortunate women whose lives were taken by Sutcliffe, as well as the misogyny and the sexist attitude of the police when they believed it was just ‘prostitutes’ who were being murdered.
Una presents the reader with shocking stats and facts which serve to remind just how many sexual crimes against women are committed on an annual basis, and even more horrifying, why so many victims don’t speak out - because they won’t be believed, because of the humiliation, because of the police and others thinking they wanted it.
The artwork was haunting at times and really emphasised the painful torment, guilt and shame victims of sexual assault feel - they should not be condemned and they should certainly not be silenced.
I applaud Una for her unflinching and brave story and for lifting the lid on what has routinely been ‘brushed under the carpet’.
A powerful, insightful and compelling read.