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A review by brookejreads
Being Lolita by Alisson Wood
emotional
hopeful
fast-paced
This book made me angry, wildly angry. It was one of those train wreck moments where you just can't look away. You know the ones.
Alissons writing is easy to get sucked into and is just so easy to read, I could have easily read this in one sitting. I wanted to reach in to the text, pull out young Alisson and tell her everything she needed to hear. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and save her from the teacher. And I wanted to punch the teacher in the face.
Let me back up a bit..Being Lolita is Alisson Woods memoir of her relationship with her high school English teacher, Mr. North. It tells of their secret meetings after school, their notes passed back and forth and later, their secret weekend trips away. But it's also about professionals in power taking advantage of vulnerable children, abusive relationships - physical and emotional, and how easily young people, especially young girls, can slip through the cracks (see why the anger?).
Alisson is incredibly brave in writing this memoir, and is completely honest about her feelings and thoughts as a teenager, which must have been excruciatingly difficult for her as a woman now in her 30s. In part three of the book she looks back on her teenage years and admits that, though she felt like a grown up at the time, she really was just a child. She also touched on how her relationship with Mr. North coloured her future relationships.
This book is a good view into why women stay in abusive relationships for as long as they do. I also really liked that this book did not once go into victim blaming territory, nowhere even close to the border lines.
If you've read this book and thought anything even remotely along the lines of Alisson was to blame in some way, or she should have done something different, then be on your way. You're not welcome here.
I could go on and on about this book and my anger towards the teacher and some of the other adults in the book, but I'm character limited.
Suffice to say: read this if you're interested in anything related to child abuse and be warned it has some spoilers for Nabakovs Lolita.
Alissons writing is easy to get sucked into and is just so easy to read, I could have easily read this in one sitting. I wanted to reach in to the text, pull out young Alisson and tell her everything she needed to hear. I wanted to wrap her in my arms and save her from the teacher. And I wanted to punch the teacher in the face.
Let me back up a bit..Being Lolita is Alisson Woods memoir of her relationship with her high school English teacher, Mr. North. It tells of their secret meetings after school, their notes passed back and forth and later, their secret weekend trips away. But it's also about professionals in power taking advantage of vulnerable children, abusive relationships - physical and emotional, and how easily young people, especially young girls, can slip through the cracks (see why the anger?).
Alisson is incredibly brave in writing this memoir, and is completely honest about her feelings and thoughts as a teenager, which must have been excruciatingly difficult for her as a woman now in her 30s. In part three of the book she looks back on her teenage years and admits that, though she felt like a grown up at the time, she really was just a child. She also touched on how her relationship with Mr. North coloured her future relationships.
This book is a good view into why women stay in abusive relationships for as long as they do. I also really liked that this book did not once go into victim blaming territory, nowhere even close to the border lines.
If you've read this book and thought anything even remotely along the lines of Alisson was to blame in some way, or she should have done something different, then be on your way. You're not welcome here.
I could go on and on about this book and my anger towards the teacher and some of the other adults in the book, but I'm character limited.
Suffice to say: read this if you're interested in anything related to child abuse and be warned it has some spoilers for Nabakovs Lolita.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual content
Moderate: Self harm