_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, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Chronic illness, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Toxic friendship
Moderate: Racism
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