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A review by shivani_n
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
this book made me sick but i loved it. i don't know what i was expecting but it was definitely not this! i could. not. put. this. down. SO SO SO GOOD i devoured it in 2 days.
for obvious reasons, this is a tough novel to read. it is very disturbing and at times i even found myself hating vanessa, the narrator, because of how much she defends strane, the man who groomed her since she was fifteen. but i think that's what makes the book so captivating, because she's kind of an unreliable narrator and she walks on the thin line separating self-hatred and delusion regarding what she experienced.
the book follows vanessa throughout the aftermath of her affair with strane, and focuses on how her relationship with him evolves over the course of the book. i love how it switches between past and present timelines so that all of the puzzle pieces you thought were missing eventually come together and it makes sense. it's also a very effective way to make the reader understand vanessa more deeply as a character, even when she doesn't understand herself. i felt so bad for her because it was clear she was manipulated and taken advantage of since she was a child, and her story just goes to show how much that can affect a person for their whole life afterward.
also, russell's writing was phenomenal, there's something about all the extremely twisted detailed metaphors that elevated the story so much. all the characters were so carefully crafted it's actually kind of genius. strane's character especially, because all of the stuff he was saying when he gaslit her was so damn convincing it felt like he was gaslighting me too.
it's genuinely horrifying to think about how many girls have gone through similar abuse thinking it was love, and that's why this book is so important for people to read to get insight into the mind of a victim. it's a very unique story and SO gripping i would absolutely recommend (be careful of the trigger warnings though).
for obvious reasons, this is a tough novel to read. it is very disturbing and at times i even found myself hating vanessa, the narrator, because of how much she defends strane, the man who groomed her since she was fifteen. but i think that's what makes the book so captivating, because she's kind of an unreliable narrator and she walks on the thin line separating self-hatred and delusion regarding what she experienced.
the book follows vanessa throughout the aftermath of her affair with strane, and focuses on how her relationship with him evolves over the course of the book. i love how it switches between past and present timelines so that all of the puzzle pieces you thought were missing eventually come together and it makes sense. it's also a very effective way to make the reader understand vanessa more deeply as a character, even when she doesn't understand herself. i felt so bad for her because it was clear she was manipulated and taken advantage of since she was a child, and her story just goes to show how much that can affect a person for their whole life afterward.
also, russell's writing was phenomenal, there's something about all the extremely twisted detailed metaphors that elevated the story so much. all the characters were so carefully crafted it's actually kind of genius. strane's character especially, because all of the stuff he was saying when he gaslit her was so damn convincing it felt like he was gaslighting me too.
it's genuinely horrifying to think about how many girls have gone through similar abuse thinking it was love, and that's why this book is so important for people to read to get insight into the mind of a victim. it's a very unique story and SO gripping i would absolutely recommend (be careful of the trigger warnings though).