Scan barcode
brenna2themax's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
First up, general trigger warnings for the book: discussion of intimate partner violence, drug use, addiction, growing up in foster care, parent abandonment, discussion of possible femicide
I really enjoyed this book. Good twists, I liked the characters (especially Liz and Kelly). I really love reading thrillers, but I hate it when they have gratuitous sexual violence from the male.perspective. graphic, dehumanizing, used as a cheap tool to excite the reader. No thanks. As a woman and a Survivor, I just don't want to read that shit. But I do enjoy reading stories about domestic violence and male violence toward women from a woman's perspective. Not dwelling on the gory, graphic details because we get it, most of us have (or still are) loved through it somehow.
Julie Clark walks this line well, explaining the danger, but also understanding that the reader isn't an idiot and likely has their own trauma and has some knowledge on the subject.
Some of what I say next gives away some general themes in the book.
-----‐-------
-------------
-------------
More specific trigger warning, because I don't want to give to much away but want you to be prepared: domestic violence situation in which we read about a husband working up to an explosion (walking on eggshells stage), but doesn't physically strike her. There are scenes of men forcefully grabbing women's arms and shoulders. There is discussion of being hit by a male partner, but we don't see this happening. There is discussion of a man killing a female partner, but again, we don't read through the scene or get any concrete details.
While the book does explore women's experience of violence from men, and not just from male partners, from malecops/Agents, boyfriends, friends, spouses, fathers, coworkers, and powerful men in male run institutions, it also explores how we as women can play both the role of accomplice and victim to the violence we recognize, and how a lot of us end up being accomplice because we don't know how to help and don't have the resources to help. Women turning to each other in spaces away from men are where our strength lies. If we lay the ground work, and strengthen these connections yo each other with our truth, we can form enough of a network to take down powerful men.
I love these kinds of thrillers and really wish they had their own genre, because I am fucking sick to death of the thrillers that dehumanize women, graphically describe violence women endure, and then feed us some bullshit story about how we just have to find the "right" man to help us out. Fuck that noise. I want a realistic thriller from a woman's perspective. This is one of those books.
I really enjoyed this book. Good twists, I liked the characters (especially Liz and Kelly). I really love reading thrillers, but I hate it when they have gratuitous sexual violence from the male.perspective. graphic, dehumanizing, used as a cheap tool to excite the reader. No thanks. As a woman and a Survivor, I just don't want to read that shit. But I do enjoy reading stories about domestic violence and male violence toward women from a woman's perspective. Not dwelling on the gory, graphic details because we get it, most of us have (or still are) loved through it somehow.
Julie Clark walks this line well, explaining the danger, but also understanding that the reader isn't an idiot and likely has their own trauma and has some knowledge on the subject.
Some of what I say next gives away some general themes in the book.
-----‐-------
-------------
-------------
More specific trigger warning, because I don't want to give to much away but want you to be prepared: domestic violence situation in which we read about a husband working up to an explosion (walking on eggshells stage), but
While the book does explore women's experience of violence from men, and not just from male partners, from male
I love these kinds of thrillers and really wish they had their own genre, because I am fucking sick to death of the thrillers that dehumanize women, graphically describe violence women endure, and then feed us some bullshit story about how we just have to find the "right" man to help us out. Fuck that noise. I want a realistic thriller from a woman's perspective. This is one of those books.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Grief, Stalking, and Death of parent
Minor: Bullying, Child death, Death, Car accident, Murder, and Outing