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A review by ohemmgee
Things We Didn't Talk about When I Was a Girl by Jeannie Vanasco
3.0
I received a free copy of this book for review from Netgalley.
This book has an incredibly unique and brave concept: a woman reaches out to interview her old friend "Mark", who she lost touch with after he sexually assaulted her a decade ago. It's a deeply uncomfortable read. The author and reader alike have complex, ever changing opinions of "Mark". What makes a person sexually assault a friend? What should happen to that person? Can that person be forgiven? Should they be forgiven?
This book was, I suspect, minimally edited on purpose. The format is short chapters, sections of interview transcript interposed with biography and thoughts — mixing timelines and mixing emotions. It's also as much a book about rape as it is about the process writing a book about rape, going endlessly round in circles. As a consequence, it's fairly draining to read. The repetition is constant, creating a claustrophobic feeling. I think the book could have been 100 pages shorter and I'd have gotten along better with it. So, this was an unpleasant book to read and I'm not sure if it was the subject matter or the format, but probably both.
I appreciate the author's vulnerability in putting so much of herself out there. If the topic interests you and you like moral ambiguity, it's definitely worth a read.
This book has an incredibly unique and brave concept: a woman reaches out to interview her old friend "Mark", who she lost touch with after he sexually assaulted her a decade ago. It's a deeply uncomfortable read. The author and reader alike have complex, ever changing opinions of "Mark". What makes a person sexually assault a friend? What should happen to that person? Can that person be forgiven? Should they be forgiven?
This book was, I suspect, minimally edited on purpose. The format is short chapters, sections of interview transcript interposed with biography and thoughts — mixing timelines and mixing emotions. It's also as much a book about rape as it is about the process writing a book about rape, going endlessly round in circles. As a consequence, it's fairly draining to read. The repetition is constant, creating a claustrophobic feeling. I think the book could have been 100 pages shorter and I'd have gotten along better with it. So, this was an unpleasant book to read and I'm not sure if it was the subject matter or the format, but probably both.
I appreciate the author's vulnerability in putting so much of herself out there. If the topic interests you and you like moral ambiguity, it's definitely worth a read.