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A review by weathersreadsgarbage
True Crime by Samantha Kolesnik
challenging
dark
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I didn’t find this as shocking or disturbing as people hyped it up to be, but I’m not taking marks off for that. I’m hard to shock and harder to disturb. It’s not the author’s fault.
What I’m impressed by is the fact that this is written in a way that shows that the author is intelligent and purposeful in what she’s writing. So often these “disturbing” books are written by men with one hand on the keyboard and one hand furiously jerking off. It shows. The shocking bits are put in cheaply to up the ante and there’s no emotion.
In True Crime though we have cause and effect. There’s elements that will make you uncomfortable, but they’re placed thoughtfully. The sexual violence isn’t written as cheap erotica for some stupid fucking man to get his kicks. The lasting effects of sexual abuse are very really here. Suzy feels very real. There’s a film between Suzy and the rest of the world that will resonate if you grew up with severe childhood trauma.
While I was left wishing Suzy had made different choices and also wanting another hundred pages or so I think that’s kind of a good thing in a novella. This moved quickly enough to make me feel something but never overstayed it’s welcome.
What I’m impressed by is the fact that this is written in a way that shows that the author is intelligent and purposeful in what she’s writing. So often these “disturbing” books are written by men with one hand on the keyboard and one hand furiously jerking off. It shows. The shocking bits are put in cheaply to up the ante and there’s no emotion.
In True Crime though we have cause and effect. There’s elements that will make you uncomfortable, but they’re placed thoughtfully. The sexual violence isn’t written as cheap erotica for some stupid fucking man to get his kicks. The lasting effects of sexual abuse are very really here. Suzy feels very real. There’s a film between Suzy and the rest of the world that will resonate if you grew up with severe childhood trauma.
While I was left wishing Suzy had made different choices and also wanting another hundred pages or so I think that’s kind of a good thing in a novella. This moved quickly enough to make me feel something but never overstayed it’s welcome.