Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

The Gift of Fear: And Other Survival Signals That Protect Us from Violence by Gavin de Becker

16 reviews

luminifera's review against another edition

dark hopeful informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

Would like even more example stories. A good book, especially for women.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

It's literally a book about perceiving signs of imminent danger/violence. It discusses many heavy themes.

mondovertigo's review against another edition

informative inspiring fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, and Drug abuse

herbivorehaunts's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

3.5

A little dated (the audiobook quality itself as well as some of the content) but informative. It got a bit repetitive at times as it is one of those non-fiction books whose format is starting each point with an example, and then going through that example at length while describing the psychological point being made. As well I'd like to point out that this is a very dark book at times. This is a very helpful book and the examples and topics discussed are necessary for the book, but it talks at length about victims of domestic violence, rape, murder, and lots of other very heavy topics so be aware going into this one. 

I don't think the book is victim-blamey per se, but I will say that the author states both his data and stories from survivors in a concise, matter of fact way and doesn't warn or soften the blow for the reader. I don't think it is the intent of the author to victim-blame, but he can come off as a bit insensitive at times; this is a book presenting physiological scientific principles and is written throughout in a very textbook-like manner. If you have any sort of triggers having to do with domestic violence, rape, or other abuse I think it might be best to find a summary of the principles online instead of having to read account after account of very triggering subject matter. 

It's a very validating book, and an important topic. Women's intuition is often mocked, and we are taught to be polite even to random strangers over coming across as rude. Women are socialized to ignore their intuition and fear signals and this often puts us in danger. F*ck politeness. Listen to the survival signals that your body sends to you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gun violence, Rape, and Death of parent

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Violence

calybe's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Stalking, and Murder

keve's review against another edition

informative tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

ebmaher's review against another edition

dark

1.5

I've heard this book called a must-read for young women, and I guess I can see why: being told that your misgivings and your fear are important signs you should listen to and not barriers to being polite that you should push past and ignore *is* an important message. But frankly I was unimpressed with this book. It felt so sensationalized and exploitative in the way it was written. The best thing I can say is that it is a book about listening to your feelings and the feeling it gave me was a vague distaste.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Violence