Josh
This isn't a book I'd say I enjoyed, because the subject matter makes that impossible for me. It's a book you definitely want to know the trigger warnings for, before picking it up. At any rate, reading it was at times disturbing, uncomfortable, frustrating, and disgusting. That discomfort though is also what gives the book impact. It immerses you in the perspective of someone being groomed, showing how deeply that experience shapes her understanding of herself well into adulthood.
Watching Vanessa wrestle with the realisation that what she thought was agency was actually manipulation and watching her struggle to stop blaming herself was unsettling, but also compelling. I think overall it offers an interesting perspective on the psychological aftermath of grooming. I do think it would have worked much better as a novella as during the College years it starts to feel a bit bogged down and repetitive.
This isn't a book I'd say I enjoyed, because the subject matter makes that impossible for me. It's a book you definitely want to know the trigger warnings for, before picking it up. At any rate, reading it was at times disturbing, uncomfortable, frustrating, and disgusting. That discomfort though is also what gives the book impact. It immerses you in the perspective of someone being groomed, showing how deeply that experience shapes her understanding of herself well into adulthood.
Watching Vanessa wrestle with the realisation that what she thought was agency was actually manipulation and watching her struggle to stop blaming herself was unsettling, but also compelling. I think overall it offers an interesting perspective on the psychological aftermath of grooming. I do think it would have worked much better as a novella as during the College years it starts to feel a bit bogged down and repetitive.