A review by jmanchester0
Take It as a Compliment by Maria Stoian

5.0

This was so hard to read. 
 
But so, so important. 

From the description: 

Bringing together the voices of males and females of all ages, the stories in this collective graphic memoir reflect real life experiences of sexual abuse, violence and harassment.

This is the kind of thing that we need to help people understand how truly prevalent abuse is.

It's ugly, and it's gross, so we like to turn a blind eye.

But we can't.

The problem is, those who perpetrate this kind of evil (yes, I said evil) are insidious (yes, I said insidious) and know how to do these things and maintain plausible deniability. They know what to do and how to do it so that they can cover their tracks. So they can make it look completely innocent. And the thing is, we believe them over the people who are living with the shame of experiencing it.

And people who have the responsibility of doing something about it ignore it. I guess we all have the responsibility to do something.

I can't imagine the impact that has on someone's life. I guess you can't unless you've been through it.

If you can read these stories and not hurt for these people, you truly have no heart.

The book ends in some short descriptions of what you can do if you talk to someone who has experienced abuse, if you see it happening, or if you're a survivor.

Read this. If only to get an inkling of what somebody else might have gone through.

Thanks to NetGalley, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, and Singing Dragon for a copy in exchange for an honest review.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings