Scan barcode
A review by andthenweread
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
5.0
“i just really need it to be a love story, you know? i really, really need it to be that.”
“i know,” she says.
“because if it isn’t a love story, then what is it?”
this book was disturbing, dark, heavy, raw, tragic, shocking, heartwrenching, and above all, a difficult read. read by grace gummer, it was the first audiobook i've ever listened to, and i think hearing vanessa's character speaking directly to me made the story more difficult to swallow, because it didn't allow for me to distance myself from the story or to gloss over how it made me feel. even when i had to pause in my listening, the story was constantly on my mind and i felt compelled to see it through to the end.
i certainly have to applaud kate elizabeth russell for her prose and how she spun a character like vanessa, presenting a damaged girl and later a traumatized woman who always refuses to think of herself as a victim. over the course of the book, the reader knows vanessa is repressing her trauma and deluding herself into believing she wasn't abused by strane since she was "consenting" and they were "in love." as an outside observer, it was hard for me to come to terms with some of vanessa's decisions, but even when i didn't agree with what she did, i felt i understood her and her choices because of how large strane loomed over her life. she was such a realistic character, and vanessa's unreliable narration and eagerness to convince herself that she, rather than strane, was the one with the power was heartbreaking to read.
i would definitely advise anyone who is thinking of reading this book to heed the trigger warnings. the explicit scenes where strane grooms and abuses vanessa especially made my skin crawl as he is such a repulsive, manipulative, and ultimately weak person. but i don't regret reading this novel because the topics and social commentary it covers, while taboo and often ignored, are so important. the sexualization of young girls in american history like britney spears did happen then and does now, as do rape and sexual abuse and powerful men preying on women and girls. my dark vanessa shows us these things in harsh, glaring detail, and it does not allow us to look away.
“i know,” she says.
“because if it isn’t a love story, then what is it?”
this book was disturbing, dark, heavy, raw, tragic, shocking, heartwrenching, and above all, a difficult read. read by grace gummer, it was the first audiobook i've ever listened to, and i think hearing vanessa's character speaking directly to me made the story more difficult to swallow, because it didn't allow for me to distance myself from the story or to gloss over how it made me feel. even when i had to pause in my listening, the story was constantly on my mind and i felt compelled to see it through to the end.
i certainly have to applaud kate elizabeth russell for her prose and how she spun a character like vanessa, presenting a damaged girl and later a traumatized woman who always refuses to think of herself as a victim. over the course of the book, the reader knows vanessa is repressing her trauma and deluding herself into believing she wasn't abused by strane since she was "consenting" and they were "in love." as an outside observer, it was hard for me to come to terms with some of vanessa's decisions, but even when i didn't agree with what she did, i felt i understood her and her choices because of how large strane loomed over her life. she was such a realistic character, and vanessa's unreliable narration and eagerness to convince herself that she, rather than strane, was the one with the power was heartbreaking to read.
i would definitely advise anyone who is thinking of reading this book to heed the trigger warnings. the explicit scenes where strane grooms and abuses vanessa especially made my skin crawl as he is such a repulsive, manipulative, and ultimately weak person. but i don't regret reading this novel because the topics and social commentary it covers, while taboo and often ignored, are so important. the sexualization of young girls in american history like britney spears did happen then and does now, as do rape and sexual abuse and powerful men preying on women and girls. my dark vanessa shows us these things in harsh, glaring detail, and it does not allow us to look away.