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A review by rebeccazh
No Visible Bruises: What We Don't Know about Domestic Violence Can Kill Us by Rachel Louise Snyder
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
4.0
I almost skipped this because I thought See What You Made Me Do was comprehensive enough. I'm glad I didn't and this reads well together. In many ways, this covers similar areas - victims, batterers, and solutions - but this book goes into quite a bit of detail of a few selected case studies to then talk about the larger trends. It makes me feel like I knew all the people Snyder was writing about, and it feels more personal, in a way.
As usual, this topic is harrowing. It is always upsetting and horrifying to read about these women who are being tortured and abused. (Part of the anguish of Dorothy and Michelle's deaths is that it seemed so preventable)
One part I really appreciated was the second part, about the batterers. Why do they behave like this? (Or as Neil Websdale asks, 'why do they stay?') is a question that the second part tries to address. We get a bit of a glimpse into their lives and it's a very sad reality that an environment of poverty, toxic masculinity, and other issues like mental health etc, create a toxic effect on men. One of the examples that sticks with me is Donte (?) who went through the intervention programme and learnt to be better was in situations where aggressiveness and violence were prized and keeps him alive. So he went right back into it.
As usual, this topic is harrowing. It is always upsetting and horrifying to read about these women who are being tortured and abused. (Part of the anguish of Dorothy and Michelle's deaths is that it seemed so preventable)
One part I really appreciated was the second part, about the batterers. Why do they behave like this? (Or as Neil Websdale asks, 'why do they stay?') is a question that the second part tries to address. We get a bit of a glimpse into their lives and it's a very sad reality that an environment of poverty, toxic masculinity, and other issues like mental health etc, create a toxic effect on men. One of the examples that sticks with me is Donte (?) who went through the intervention programme and learnt to be better was in situations where aggressiveness and violence were prized and keeps him alive. So he went right back into it.