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A review by lookingforwonder
Three Women by Lisa Taddeo
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
3.0
This book tells the true stories of three women and how sexual desire played into their lives. What it is that gave them their particular desires, from the families to their ages to their history with trauma, and how they reacted to others finding out about their sex lives, and how others reacted to them.
Maggie has the strongest narrative. Her teacher groomed her and "corrupted" her at 17 years old, and six years later she reports the crime. It is the narrative the book starts and ends with, and definitely has the most haunting result of all of them. This story breaks down what we may logically think a grooming situation would be like isn't the way we think it would be. How her abuser, Aaron Knodel (and that is his real name), was able to get away with it. How he took a vulnerable young woman's craving for love and belonging to sate himself and break her down.
Lina is a 30-something year old woman whose husband no longer even touches her. She separates from her husband and has an affair with her a high school ex-boyfriend. In my opinion, this was the weakest of the three women's stories. Perhaps because Taddeo did not see the conclusion of their relationship. Her chapters are mostly descriptive sex scenes and while there is definitely the complicated dynamic she has with this ex-boyfriend, it wasn't anything revealing or particularly important, imo. The one interesting insight came at the very end, in the epilogue, and only lasted a paragraph.
Sloane is a woman who is married and desired greatly by her husband, and part of their sex life is letting other men and women into their bed. Sloane grew up wealthy and beautiful, and married a chef. In the beginning, it was the same type of story you'd expect--societal pressure of a pretty, privileged white woman. Her part was also the smallest, which made me wonder why she was included in the first place. But at the end, other details pull together that link Sloane's early family life with her life with her husband now, and how their preferences impact others around them.
The descriptive writing in this book in probably its strongest point. Even in Lina's chapters, which were generally the least interesting to me, the details are enough to savor and really understand and see the point of view of each of these three women's stories.
Maggie has the strongest narrative. Her teacher groomed her and "corrupted" her at 17 years old, and six years later she reports the crime. It is the narrative the book starts and ends with, and definitely has the most haunting result of all of them. This story breaks down what we may logically think a grooming situation would be like isn't the way we think it would be. How her abuser, Aaron Knodel (and that is his real name), was able to get away with it. How he took a vulnerable young woman's craving for love and belonging to sate himself and break her down.
Lina is a 30-something year old woman whose husband no longer even touches her. She separates from her husband and has an affair with her a high school ex-boyfriend. In my opinion, this was the weakest of the three women's stories. Perhaps because Taddeo did not see the conclusion of their relationship. Her chapters are mostly descriptive sex scenes and while there is definitely the complicated dynamic she has with this ex-boyfriend, it wasn't anything revealing or particularly important, imo. The one interesting insight came at the very end, in the epilogue, and only lasted a paragraph.
Sloane is a woman who is married and desired greatly by her husband, and part of their sex life is letting other men and women into their bed. Sloane grew up wealthy and beautiful, and married a chef. In the beginning, it was the same type of story you'd expect--societal pressure of a pretty, privileged white woman. Her part was also the smallest, which made me wonder why she was included in the first place. But at the end, other details pull together that link Sloane's early family life with her life with her husband now, and how their preferences impact others around them.
The descriptive writing in this book in probably its strongest point. Even in Lina's chapters, which were generally the least interesting to me, the details are enough to savor and really understand and see the point of view of each of these three women's stories.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, and Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault, Suicide, and Death of parent
Minor: Car accident