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jodieworton's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
2.0
This book I picked up from a charity shop. Before reading on, please note the following Trigger Warnings:
Rape, Sexual Assault.
This book was the first memoir I have read and the content was quite difficult to read.
This review will not focus majorly on the story as this is a persons truth, it will instead focus on how it was written and how it made me feel.
Firstly the book centres around the authors story of Rape, you read through the rape itself, the aftermath, the incarceration of her rapist and the future.
The narrative around the rape is brutal, raw and honest, with all the feelings she felt in that moment and subsequently for the rest of her life.
For clarity and I think it’s important to note, the author and victim of the Rape is a white cis woman, and her rapist a black cis man. This is a thread that is presented all the way through the memoir. After the rape, a few months later she sees a man who she thinks is her rapist and reports this to the police.
This leads to the man accused being incarcerated for 16 years*
The book feels like it’s written by a person who is out of touch with the modern world, I understand it was written in 1999 and for events that occurred in the 80s but some of the language used was uncomfortable and I found myself frowning a lot.
*After reading Lucky I wanted to read further on the news story. In 2021, the man who was accused of her rape was cleared of all charges and was confirmed to be a wrongful conviction. Alice Sebold has since issued an apology. Lucky's publisher announced that it would stop distributing the memoir while working with Ms Sebold to "consider how the work might be revised".
Rape, Sexual Assault.
This book was the first memoir I have read and the content was quite difficult to read.
This review will not focus majorly on the story as this is a persons truth, it will instead focus on how it was written and how it made me feel.
Firstly the book centres around the authors story of Rape, you read through the rape itself, the aftermath, the incarceration of her rapist and the future.
The narrative around the rape is brutal, raw and honest, with all the feelings she felt in that moment and subsequently for the rest of her life.
For clarity and I think it’s important to note, the author and victim of the Rape is a white cis woman, and her rapist a black cis man. This is a thread that is presented all the way through the memoir. After the rape, a few months later she sees a man who she thinks is her rapist and reports this to the police.
This leads to the man accused being incarcerated for 16 years*
The book feels like it’s written by a person who is out of touch with the modern world, I understand it was written in 1999 and for events that occurred in the 80s but some of the language used was uncomfortable and I found myself frowning a lot.
*After reading Lucky I wanted to read further on the news story. In 2021, the man who was accused of her rape was cleared of all charges and was confirmed to be a wrongful conviction. Alice Sebold has since issued an apology. Lucky's publisher announced that it would stop distributing the memoir while working with Ms Sebold to "consider how the work might be revised".
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence
bookzoo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Physical abuse and Rape
sonia_panico's review
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Drug abuse
_fallinglight_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Conflicting book. After keeping up with the news about Anthony Broadwater's exoneration I wanted to read for myself how this got so wrong. Everything Alice Sebold went through is tragic and I honestly do feel sorry for her. And I know it's a knee-jerk reaction to start questioning the rape itself but that's not right. She was abused. Nonetheless, I don't feel she was coached by the cops or DA to pick the wrong man. She was sure herself that Anthony Broadwater (Gregory Madison here) was her rapist and thought that all the questioning the defense brought up was unfair. The cops biases and system helped her get the result she wanted bc she was sure AB was her rapist. She's aware she was the perfect victim and used that as her countermeasure. She wasn't lead on but the prosecutors and cops didn't do much to look deeper. I'm still appalled how no one even gave a thought how messed up her “well #4 and #5 looked like identical twins” was such a racist dogwhistle. AS does try to kinda go out of her way to show she's not that racist but in her effort she comes across as a “I have Black friends” type of person. I don't know, maybe her prejudice was always there and the rape and PTSD exacerbated it. Now there are a lot of instances in the book I find myself questioning (like if it's true she saw him on campus after the lineup and cross). I also feel weird about how she says that she wished many times her rapist had been white. It's weird how she felt no one took her seriously because the law considered her a hysterical white racist woman and that Black people had more power because of their disadvantages judicially or something. It's like she kept feeling that her rapist being Black diminished her trauma. There are so many sad and strange things about this book and made me think so many things that I don't feel comfortable voicing that I'm glad it's being pulled (I illegally downloaded this idc) because a lot of people's characterizations in it are unfair and mean. I understand AS felt she was speaking her truth, but it turned out that truth was askew.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Drug use, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Racism
ymorii's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
frannygig's review
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Drug use
lesbianelvira's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
i look up updates on the film adaptation in progress every other day, in part because i love victoria pedretti’s work, in part because alice sebold’s work is dear to me. seeing the lovely bones as a kid struck a chord in me that never stopped striking. it remains one of my favorite movies, next to other survivor narratives like mysterious skin, jennifer’s body, and monster. reading alice’s memoir as an adult is similar. (spoiler) there’s so many moments i hope the film adaptation will include, from alice baiting the family dogs with blood-ridden pads to get the family together to pry them away, in contrast to parental neglect and strife, the elevator scene at penn making a joke out of a student being assaulted, to friendship fallouts leaving irreparable wounds.
as a survivor who believes in the abolition of our prison/policing system, i hope that perhaps the movie won’t treat a conviction as the end all be all. (spoiler) it’s what alice wanted and fought for, but readers also know that madison wasn’t sentenced for life anyway and a trial/incarceration isn’t every victim’s desire, and it’s very rare convictions happen regardless. i would be crushed if for instance the adaptation, in revolving around the trial and conviction, perpetuated the idea of alice having been the ideal survivor that all others have to aspire to (remembering all details, being a virgin, being white and from money). i would like to trust that alice wouldn’t allow that, just as she hadn’t the previous rendition starring emma watson that wound up scrubbed from existence.
as a survivor who believes in the abolition of our prison/policing system, i hope that perhaps the movie won’t treat a conviction as the end all be all. (spoiler) it’s what alice wanted and fought for, but readers also know that madison wasn’t sentenced for life anyway and a trial/incarceration isn’t every victim’s desire, and it’s very rare convictions happen regardless. i would be crushed if for instance the adaptation, in revolving around the trial and conviction, perpetuated the idea of alice having been the ideal survivor that all others have to aspire to (remembering all details, being a virgin, being white and from money). i would like to trust that alice wouldn’t allow that, just as she hadn’t the previous rendition starring emma watson that wound up scrubbed from existence.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Minor: Drug use
laureneg11's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape