Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Being Lolita: A Memoir by Alisson Wood

45 reviews

savvylit's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

3.5

Alisson Wood writes poignantly about an incredibly difficult experience. Using Lolita and fairytales as a lens for her own experience, Wood is able to ask readers thought-provoking questions about consent, abusive relationships, and manipulation. Why does our culture portray girls with trauma as requiring male saviors? Why do many of the stories we tell encourage women to feel incomplete without a relationship to a man? Why do awful adult men keep preying on teenage girls and how can we stop them before they even begin?

Being Lolita is a compelling and consuming memoir. The book shines in revealing what it's like to survive a predatory and emotionally abusive relationship. I feel as though I have definitely walked away with a better understanding of how our culture has dangerously blurred young women's understanding of consent and power dynamics.

I ultimately rated Being Lolita as 3.5 stars because a large part of the memoir is a critical analysis of Nabokov's Lolita. It is an incredibly well-thought-out analysis and clearly helped Wood on her journey to better understand her own experience. However, the flow between Wood's recounting of her past and the analysis didn't hold my attention as well as I'd hoped. At some point, it felt like the threads of Wood's own experience were dropped in favor of an academic approach. While there's not necessarily anything wrong with that, it seemed disjointed to me as a reader.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Mental illness, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

yetanotherbookstagram's review against another edition

sad fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse and Sexual violence

Minor: Self harm

qmanfull's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual violence

nura_aga's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

angel_kiiss's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Blood

wolfiereads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, and Gaslighting

breadwitchery's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Body shaming, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Cursing

jocekenns's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Gaslighting

Minor: Rape and Suicidal thoughts

martinaaaa's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

litltlehistorian's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful fast-paced

3.25

<spoilers> 
This book was a reflection on the child abuse of a girl in her late teens. A testament to the past and a way to move forward. Unfortunately, my critiscm of this book would be the romanticisation of some aspects (I understand this was from her perspective), as well as the surface level analysis of mental health and sexual abuse. Overall, this was still a very personal journey from the author whose story I would not discredit. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body shaming and Bullying

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Toxic relationship, and Stalking