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btdill's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
bethany6788's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
In 2019 Brooklyn, Dylan, a survivor of sex trafficking, seizes the opportunity offered by the Child Victims Act to confront his past abusers and seek justice. His journey through various experiences leads him to a renewed sense of purpose and a determination to face his tormentors head-on.
I am struggling with how I feel about this book. On one hand, it is unflinchingly honest about how sexual abuse is a lifelong mental and physical health concern for victims. I felt for Dylan and I want him to find his peace and get justice. On the other hand, it was a really stressful book to read and I was terrified for Dylan as he worked through his feelings and thoughts in therapy.
It was really hard to read this one, and took me a few days to finish simply because the subject matter was so heavy. Am I glad I read it? Yes. Will I ever read it again? No.
Truly a thought provoking piece of literature that I’ll be thinking about for awhile.
I am struggling with how I feel about this book. On one hand, it is unflinchingly honest about how sexual abuse is a lifelong mental and physical health concern for victims. I felt for Dylan and I want him to find his peace and get justice. On the other hand, it was a really stressful book to read and I was terrified for Dylan as he worked through his feelings and thoughts in therapy.
It was really hard to read this one, and took me a few days to finish simply because the subject matter was so heavy. Am I glad I read it? Yes. Will I ever read it again? No.
Truly a thought provoking piece of literature that I’ll be thinking about for awhile.
cerysvy's review
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
uvahoogirl's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
readwithrichard's review
5.0
An advance reader copy of the book was provided to me by NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
*TW - discussion of sexual abuse/drug use*
4 1/2 stars rounded up to 5
THE LOOKBACK WINDOW is a propulsive, well-written, and deeply moving debut novel by Kyle Dillon Hertz, chronicling a period of recovery and introspection during the time when the Child Victims Act expanded the statute of limitations to allow the pursuit of cases of child sexual abuse beyond the previous time limit.
The novel's protagonist, Dylan, is on the precipice of marrying his longtime boyfriend, Moans, a steady presence in his life who has been a sort of rock for him as they have navigated their own separate traumas parallelly through their shared life/lives. When Dylan was younger, he was repeatedly drugged and pimped out by an older man, raped and abused and photographed/recorded in the process. Now, nearly ten years later, he continues to struggle with the aftermath of what happened to him. When the Child Victims Act and its one-year ticking time clock to file a case (the "lookback window" of the novel's title) enters into the equation, it shakes up Dylan's life and sends him on a dangerous journey in search of justice and a way forward for himself that can allow him to live with and beyond the shadow of his past.
Hertz's novel is compulsively readable - as each chapter concluded, I kept wanting to read on, feeling at turns anxious, unsteady, hopeful, infuriated along with the protagonist in his search of some semblance of peace and justice. Everything Dylan goes through in the novel feels incredibly "real" and palpable, even the most horrendous moments recounted from his past. Readers should be forewarned that this novel deals with some very dark, disturbing, and visceral events involving sexual abuse and drug use especially, and those events are rendered with raw and descriptive language. As a reader, I appreciated that Hertz didn't pull punches, and that he used the power of his writing as a tool to bring a reader into both the dark/disturbing and hopeful aspects of his protagonist's life, to consider both the effects of trauma on survivors of abuse but also the flaws of our judicial system in seeking comeuppance for past wrongs.
I think this is a particularly important novel in the contemporary queer literary canon for its frank depiction of abuse. In a literary landscape where so many queer novels are dealing with coming-out, romance, marriage, and only occasionally messy or darker themes and storylines, I think we need more novels like THE LOOKBACK WINDOW.
I'm giving this novel 5 stars, rounded up from 4 1/2, because in the early chapters of the novel, when Dylan and Moans are visiting a clothing-optional resort in Fort Lauderdale, while I understood that these scenes were introducing the concept of the Child Victims Act and Dylan's reaction to it within the framework of the novel, I wasn't hooked and fully along for the ride of the novel until they had returned from their trip and the reader was pulled more into Dylan's day-to-day life. I wished for more of a knockout start to the story - but once I was grabbed by the book, there was no "lookback."
*TW - discussion of sexual abuse/drug use*
4 1/2 stars rounded up to 5
THE LOOKBACK WINDOW is a propulsive, well-written, and deeply moving debut novel by Kyle Dillon Hertz, chronicling a period of recovery and introspection during the time when the Child Victims Act expanded the statute of limitations to allow the pursuit of cases of child sexual abuse beyond the previous time limit.
The novel's protagonist, Dylan, is on the precipice of marrying his longtime boyfriend, Moans, a steady presence in his life who has been a sort of rock for him as they have navigated their own separate traumas parallelly through their shared life/lives. When Dylan was younger, he was repeatedly drugged and pimped out by an older man, raped and abused and photographed/recorded in the process. Now, nearly ten years later, he continues to struggle with the aftermath of what happened to him. When the Child Victims Act and its one-year ticking time clock to file a case (the "lookback window" of the novel's title) enters into the equation, it shakes up Dylan's life and sends him on a dangerous journey in search of justice and a way forward for himself that can allow him to live with and beyond the shadow of his past.
Hertz's novel is compulsively readable - as each chapter concluded, I kept wanting to read on, feeling at turns anxious, unsteady, hopeful, infuriated along with the protagonist in his search of some semblance of peace and justice. Everything Dylan goes through in the novel feels incredibly "real" and palpable, even the most horrendous moments recounted from his past. Readers should be forewarned that this novel deals with some very dark, disturbing, and visceral events involving sexual abuse and drug use especially, and those events are rendered with raw and descriptive language. As a reader, I appreciated that Hertz didn't pull punches, and that he used the power of his writing as a tool to bring a reader into both the dark/disturbing and hopeful aspects of his protagonist's life, to consider both the effects of trauma on survivors of abuse but also the flaws of our judicial system in seeking comeuppance for past wrongs.
I think this is a particularly important novel in the contemporary queer literary canon for its frank depiction of abuse. In a literary landscape where so many queer novels are dealing with coming-out, romance, marriage, and only occasionally messy or darker themes and storylines, I think we need more novels like THE LOOKBACK WINDOW.
I'm giving this novel 5 stars, rounded up from 4 1/2, because in the early chapters of the novel, when Dylan and Moans are visiting a clothing-optional resort in Fort Lauderdale, while I understood that these scenes were introducing the concept of the Child Victims Act and Dylan's reaction to it within the framework of the novel, I wasn't hooked and fully along for the ride of the novel until they had returned from their trip and the reader was pulled more into Dylan's day-to-day life. I wished for more of a knockout start to the story - but once I was grabbed by the book, there was no "lookback."
acaprice20's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
audiofoxy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, and Sexual harassment
erinbrook's review
5.0
Wow. This is one of the toughest to get through books that I've ever read, but I mean that in the best way possible. It reads like a nonfiction, though it is a work of fiction based on the authors similar life situations. It revolves around The Child's Victim act, so you can imagine how hard hitting this really is.
It's a chaotic read, but this is clearly intentional. Much of it is a steam of conscious.
I don't know who I'd recommend it to, but if you feel the need to read any trigger warnings, then this may not be for you. I loved it though, and I do hope it gets into the hands of the right audience.
It's a chaotic read, but this is clearly intentional. Much of it is a steam of conscious.
I don't know who I'd recommend it to, but if you feel the need to read any trigger warnings, then this may not be for you. I loved it though, and I do hope it gets into the hands of the right audience.
wynne_ronareads's review
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
jimothymax's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0