devinelybookish's review against another edition
3.0
Moving and powerful. I am at a loss of what to say. The first chapter is detailed, graphic, and shocking. It must have been extremely difficult to write. The aftermath is heartbreaking but inspiring. Although i have never suffered with something like this it is very insightful to the emotions which one has to deal with. She not only talks about herself but how her family and friends were effected. How society treated her thusly. I could barely put the book down whilst in the trail. I felt like I was there listening, waiting on edge to find out what happened. The author must be made of very strong stuff to endure everything that has happened and still come out on top. Beautiful and insightful. Thank you for sharing your story.
bookdataszup's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
floridagirllovesbooks's review against another edition
4.0
It's a memoir so graphically detailed, and also immediately goes into detail about her assult.
books_plants_hikes's review against another edition
3.0
This was a difficult book for me to begin. I realized as I read the book that I was like many of the characters Alice encounters. As soon as I read "rape" I couldn't set the book down fast enough. As if getting it out of my hands would mean these experiences didn't exist. My friend Angelina talked me into picking it back up, I'm glad she did because if someone is brave enough to record such a difficult experience we should all as women be brave enough to read those words.
I do wish Sebold had ended the book after chapter eleven. The ending really discredits the work of the rest of the book in my opinion. The message after chapter 11 seems to be that you can heal after rape and renew yourself into something better than you were before if you choose too.
The ending beyond that seems to be that it's okay too use rape as an excuse for a disheveled life where drug use, alcoholism, multi grimy partners, and self loathing are acceptable ways to deal with your pain. To me that was an awful way to the end the story of a clearly beautiful life.
Finally, it was terribly awful to peak into a world where convictions for rape were not the norm. Where in the 1980's, just over 30 years ago, women weren't treated the way they are today. They were poorly questioned, rarely believed, and encouraged not to prosecute their attackers. Rape was looked at differently and when women did prosecute courts tried to find every reason that it could be the woman's fault. Perhaps we are not entirely free of that mindset today. However, we are farther from that belief than ever before.
I respect Alice Sebold immensely for making the choices she did both for herself and women today. She was an original feminist.
I do wish Sebold had ended the book after chapter eleven. The ending really discredits the work of the rest of the book in my opinion. The message after chapter 11 seems to be that you can heal after rape and renew yourself into something better than you were before if you choose too.
The ending beyond that seems to be that it's okay too use rape as an excuse for a disheveled life where drug use, alcoholism, multi grimy partners, and self loathing are acceptable ways to deal with your pain. To me that was an awful way to the end the story of a clearly beautiful life.
Finally, it was terribly awful to peak into a world where convictions for rape were not the norm. Where in the 1980's, just over 30 years ago, women weren't treated the way they are today. They were poorly questioned, rarely believed, and encouraged not to prosecute their attackers. Rape was looked at differently and when women did prosecute courts tried to find every reason that it could be the woman's fault. Perhaps we are not entirely free of that mindset today. However, we are farther from that belief than ever before.
I respect Alice Sebold immensely for making the choices she did both for herself and women today. She was an original feminist.
jess15's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Violence
jennjames's review against another edition
4.0
I had tried reading this once before, but since it happened in my home town (and in a neighborhood I once lived in), I had a very hard time reading it and had to put it down. I'm glad that I went back to it. There were definitely some parts that were disturbing and I wish she had spent more time talking about her adult life, but overall I really liked it.
caitatoes's review against another edition
5.0
i listened to the audiobook, read by Sebold, and it was an emotional experience, very direct which makes it both hard to read and arresting.