Reviews with content warning for Grief - Tampa

Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Tampa by Alissa Nutting

23 reviews

janbee's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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madisbookshelf's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Growing up I loved watching and learning about true crime. So much so that I am now perusing a psychology degree in the hopes of one day becoming a criminal psychologist. So when I first heard about this book on TikTok, I knew I needed to read it immediately.
"Tampa" by Alissa Nutting centers around Celeste, a 26-year-old middle school teacher, and one of her 14-year-old students, Jack. The story is told through the point of view of Celeste as she tries and successfully grooms the young boy into a sexual relationship with her.
After completing this read, I can see why some people don't like it and find it to be extremely uncomfortable. However, I feel that this book is one that every adult should read, and for good reason. In our society, teenage boys are often looked at as overly sexual beings and because of this, their assaults and sexual abuse stories are heavily downplayed and are often disregarded as "Oh, he's a teenage boy. He definitely wanted it", especially when their abuser is a woman. In "Tampa", these societal themes are on full display for readers to witness firsthand. Through the inner monologue of Celeste and the trial at the end of the novel, readers are able to see how these stereotypes surrounding teen boys help predators gain leverage against them and enviably help them get away with the crime if it was ever brought to light. I also feel that this novel helps to bring attention to the lack of empathy often given to male victims in situations where they were taken advantage of by an older woman. Many characters in this story, male and female, took place in victim-blaming tactics that ultimately did nothing but encourage the victims to stay silent or in a way, take pride in the fact that they were assaulted by an attractive older woman.
I love Alissa for taking on the challenge of writing the story of such a horrid and disturbing woman and applaud her for bringing attention to a problem that occurs way too often in society.

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clarxvizconde13's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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thatbookmarkbabe's review against another edition

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dark tense fast-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

4.0

“Alexa, play the Law and Order: SVU theme song”

But seriously, the look of disgust and shock permanently on my face throughout reading this probably aged me significantly.

Nutting did a great job keeping me turning the pages, and drew me into the villain’s mind expertly. Celeste’s complete lack of empathy and total predatory ways were shocking.

After finishing, it becomes clear that maybe the shock is necessary in a female perpetrator story as opposed to books like My Dark Vanessa, to make the point. It makes you think about how society/the justice system/media treat male victims and female assailants in constrast to their opposing-gendered counterparts.

I thought this was well done, and I could say so much more but it’s short, so go read it - if you can stomach it.

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gknott's review against another edition

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dark sad fast-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

3.5

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waverlyloyd's review

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challenging dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Content Warnings

larzhagen's review

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challenging dark funny sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

I typically don't add personal thoughts to my reviews, but I feel the need to share: Alissa Nutting taught my Literary Analysis course at Grinnell College in 2017. She was a truly wonderful professor and I look back on that class with fond memories. I did not know about her work, Tampa, until a few weeks after the course when some fellow students began whispering about it.

I've been mustering up the courage to read Tampa since, understanding the controversy behind the book and the graphic nature of it's material.

Full disclosure: I almost added Tampa to my DNF list when I was reading chapter seven. I was absolutely sickened.

Like some other readers have done, I will not be giving Tampa a star rating, as I do not want one to potentially reflect as condoning or enforcing any behaviors in the book.

However, I do believe Tampa is an important piece of literature which opens the door for uncomfortable, necessary conversations surrounding child safety laws, consent, socio-economic disparity in the justice system, etc.

So, if you can stomach the grotesque, the vile, and read on past chapter seven... I would encourage you to do so.

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