Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Exit, Pursued by a Bear

Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Exit, Pursued by a Bear by E.K. Johnston

10 reviews

daniellejp16's review against another edition

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3.5

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sarahjsnider's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character

3.75

I read this in one sitting, so obviously I find it compelling. But as I reflect on it, there is a lot that doesn’t hang together. Such as, why does the school have Commencement in October? What is the connection to Macbeth? According to the interview with the author, her early drafts were sparse on details. A few more would be helpful.

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thecozyarchivist's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

This book is an incredible story of resiliency, and honestly one of the best YA books I've read in awhile. Just go read it.

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trycerabel's review against another edition

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hopeful inspiring lighthearted slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

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leiaorganic's review

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hopeful inspiring tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

Of all the books I've read recently, this one handles the topic of sexual assult with the most care and with the right tone. The friendships are real and Hermione has a great support system behind her throughout the book and her journey through recovery.

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drizzlybear's review

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challenging emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.75

really really love how this story is about trauma but it mostly just focuses on all the support networks hermione has and how everyone is kind

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nytephoenyx's review

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challenging dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

For such a short book, Exit, Pursued By a Bear packs a powerful punch.

Hermione Winters is a senior and a competitive cheerleader. This year is the last cheerleading camp she’ll go to – she’s determined to make it her best. And it’s all going pretty well, until she’s drugged at a party and raped. The story subsequently follows with her trying to come to terms with this new version of herself and trying to catch the rapist.

Exit, Pursued By a Bear is brings in strong themes of friendship, support, and healing. Hermione’s journey is fairly clean (though I wouldn’t say easy, because recovering from that kind of trauma is never easy). She has an excellent support system – friends who have her back, parents who care about her, professionals who listen and help. In an afterword, Johnson relays why she chose to give Hermione such a strong support system and that very few victims of sexual assault are so lucky (there’s also information about resources for survivors in Canada and the US).

Much of Hermione’s story is told through her cheerleading, and it’s done respectfully. There are stereotypes around cheerleaders and I feel like Johnson avoided them all. She talks about their athleticism and coordination and strength. Not once is Hermione or any of her teammates sexualized, which in a book with this theme I think is really important. There is almost no discussion about their bodies, not superfluous language at all. Hermione, Polly, Mallory, and the others are all described as powerful, driven women and I thought it was both wonderful and important to the story.

This is not an easy read. Exit, Pursued By a Bear is written very directly and there’s no language softening the themes. This book is a bit of a smack across the face to the fact that similar situations to this happen to women all the time. I highly recommend caution in picking this one up if you have triggers. While there are not a lot of specific details, there are scenes that are difficult to read, and the book is entirely based around the incident. If you think you can read it, though, it is a strong story about a young woman overcoming a heinous crime and regaining control over her life.

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