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A review by akankshaa
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
3.0
I'm glad I didn't give up. I'm glad I read it. I loved some parts of it. I loved how it portrayed and dealt with the trauma attached to sexual abuse. I loved the two main characters. Of course, not as like characters because both were highly unlikeable but I appreciated and liked how the author carefully crafted them. I also liked the overall story and it is an important one that needs to be told.
My two most favorite parts of the book are:
1. When Vanessa confides in Ruby about the pressure of coming out and sharing her story and if she doesn't then she is labeled selfish and an enabler.
2. When she says: “I just really need it to be a love story, you know? I really, really need it to be that.”
Now, I wanted to rate this higher but there are two things I simply cannot ignore. First, I found the prose to be overall below average and awfully cringy at moments. Second, the book is too long, it gets repetitive and the second half of the book could have been reduced to about half of it.
My two most favorite parts of the book are:
1. When Vanessa confides in Ruby about the pressure of coming out and sharing her story and if she doesn't then she is labeled selfish and an enabler.
2. When she says: “I just really need it to be a love story, you know? I really, really need it to be that.”
Now, I wanted to rate this higher but there are two things I simply cannot ignore. First, I found the prose to be overall below average and awfully cringy at moments. Second, the book is too long, it gets repetitive and the second half of the book could have been reduced to about half of it.