Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Consent: A Memoir by Vanessa Springora

12 reviews

lianne_rooney's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse

Moderate: Mental illness and Stalking

babienuclei's review against another edition

dark reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Rape

neverlandpages4's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

• I found this book for a discounted price and had to pick it up because 1) lately I’ve been loving memoirs and 2) it’s blurbed by the author of My Dark Vanessa which is one of my favorite books.

• I was mesmerized by the writing from the first page and I quickly fell in love with the author’s words.

• This is such an important book that explores the topic of “daddy issues” and the children affected by it. The children that end up feeling unloved and have no parental figure to guide them in their lives and how that desperation for attention leads to bad situations and bad people.

• I already knew going into this that it would be a heartbreaking read but some things were just absolutely revolting. It made it even more difficult to read about knowing that this was a real thing. The horrific people mentioned in this book were real.

• I saw some criticism on the writing of this book and people that claimed that it was too “flowery” but I absolutely loved it. It possibly has to do with the fact that I myself write in a “flowery” style but I love purple prose and I’m a sucker for a good metaphor and & unique imagery so it wasn’t a problem for me at all.

• I’d highly recommend this to anyone that loved My Dark Vanessa or is looking for a book with beautiful writing and a lot of lessons to learn.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

edgaranjapoe's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Medical content, Medical trauma, Misogyny, Abandonment, Dysphoria, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Drug abuse, Grief, Infidelity, Sexual harassment, Stalking, Alcoholism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide attempt, Drug use, Eating disorder, Violence, and Alcohol

lhulmes19's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Sexism, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Child abuse, and Suicide

thewoodlandbookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Misogyny, Racial slurs, Child abuse, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

anoveldestination's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

3.5

A moving story and a compelling case for both holding famous people accountable and for enforcing the age of consent. The prose is very straightforward and the book moves through time quickly, which builds a strong argument for the conclusion of the book, but ultimately the writing style just wasn't my favorite. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Eating disorder, Infidelity, Drug use, and Drug abuse

danidamico's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

3.5

La escritora Vanessa Springora relata en Consent el abuso que sufrió a los catorce años al ser la "novia" de Gabriel Matzneff, un autor e intelectual francés que en ese entonces tenía cincuenta años.

Si bien el libro en sí no me pareció necesariamente innovador, tiene un gran valor literario en su función de testimonio. Springora habla sin tapujos sobre el apoyo que existía en la escena intelectual francesa de los 70s y 80s hacia la práctica de la pedofilia, citando cartas abiertas en defensa del sexo entre menores y adultos firmadas por figuras como Roland Barthes, Sartre y Simone de Beauvoir. El caso específico de Matzneff es muy perturbador porque estamos hablando de un sujeto que sistemáticamente buscaba y abusaba a menores de entre diez y dieciséis años, incluyendo niños filipinos por los que pagaba dinero. El comportamiento de este hombre no solamente era un hábito sistemático, un modus operandi, sino que utilizaba todos estos actos de pedofilia como material para sus libros que eran leídos por miles de personas. La propia Springora sufrió depresión y crisis psicóticas a raíz de haberse visto convertida en un personaje principal de las novelas del autor, en las que divulgaba datos personales sobre ella y sus experiencias como "pareja". Estamos hablando de un sujeto que, según sus propias palabras, defiende la teoría de que la iniciación sexual de los niños por parte de adultos es una práctica positiva que debería ser promovida por la sociedad.

Springora se pregunta si la literatura realmente justifica y excusa todo, se pregunta por qué los artistas, junto con los curas, parecen ser totalmente impunes ante la sociedad cuando cometen actos terribles. ¿Por qué la integridad física y la salud mental de una niña es menos importante que un libro, que una película, una fotografía? ¿No es perturbador que una creación artística justifique el sufrimiento humano y la destrucción de una persona que fue vulnerada?

Para terminar, lo más interesante de Consent es la reflexión que surge alrededor del lenguaje. Leyendo me he dado cuenta de que en testimonios y textos sobre abuso y violencia de género aparece reiteradamente el tema del lenguaje: su uso para manipular por parte del victimario, la falta de palabras y conceptos por parte de la víctima para poder identificar la violencia, la literatura como forma de violencia psicológica. Dos sobrevivientes del abuso de Matzneff que se reúnen y logran hablar sobre lo que vivieron. Todo eso es el lenguaje. En El invencible verano de Liliana la autora Cristina Rivera Garza señala como su hermana terminó siendo la víctima de un femicidio en parte porque la sociedad de ese entonces no tenía el lenguaje para nombrar la violencia de género por lo que realmente era; Springora también sugiere algo parecido en el caso de la violencia que ella sufrió. En ambos libros las autoras logran tomar el lenguaje que anteriormente las perjudicó para redefinirlo y convertirlo en un instrumento de denuncia y supervivencia. Se trata del descubrimiento de un lenguaje para nombrar el horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

ameliasbooks's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad fast-paced

4.25

The quality of the writing is not what you should pay attention to in this book. It's not bad, but it could be better, yes, but how hard must it be to write a book like this, even after all this time. And as much as I am usually an advocate for good writing, I don't think an editor should change a book like this beyond recognition. The hardest part for me to read this book, has been the consent that society gave to this abuser. People who are absolutely against cancel culture and are fighting for separating the art from the artist should read this book, because in here you can find the downside of it and the consequences this has for the victims. Springora gives them a convincing voice. And she herself decided to speak up, after the famous author who has been her abuser, has been honoured for his work with a national prize. Also hard to read are the parts when she still thinks about, how this "relationship" could have been different. It is not her fault at all and I'm not judging her for that, it only shows how fundamentally you are changed by being a crime like this.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Stalking, and Suicidal thoughts

horizonous's review against another edition

challenging dark sad fast-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Stalking

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, and Sexual content

Minor: Drug abuse, Sexual harassment, and Suicidal thoughts

◦ Mental illness = Depression, psychosis, PTSD
◦ Sexual violence = Ephebophilia, grooming, statutory rape [at least since 2021, before that there wasn't an age of consent in place in france, having sex with a minor could be prosecuted but carried much lighter penalties than rape]