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A review by ntombizakhona
Bare: The Blesser's Game by Jackie Phamotse
5.0
This book is interesting because it touches on domestic violence, rape, coming of age, innocent ‘puppy’ love , heartbreak, sports, school, education, alcohol, and yet… the primary focus is on the alleged negative consequences of transactional sex & materialism, which didn’t even comprise the majority of the book, sensationalism at best, I daresay!
On the topic of rape and just sexual intercourse in general, it does have a lot of sexually explicit scenes (one might say there’s one per chapter, and this book has a lot of short ‘chapters’, so, go figure…), do the math. The main character goes through a lot of sexual assault. She literally gets raped - a lot. So, uh, you have been warned, in case you get triggered.
Anyways, the first half of the book, seems statistically relevant in the context of South Africa (one has to make such notes because the author is impossible to ignore all over social media, and this book is allegedly based on [her] reality).
But the second half - where the main character partakes in debauchery in the city…not only feels rushed, but it does seem as if the author is feeding into sensationalism: the older men vs younger women obsession that the world seems to have.
[Side Note: An accurate observation about this obsession was better articulated by Twitter User @neo_url in her blog “The One Thing You Should Know” In An Article / Blog Post Titled: “Slay queens, sugar babies and blessees: South Africa’s obsession with the urban black Jezebel” Published April 15 2018, Accessed September 15 2022, link: https://theonethingyoushouldknow.wordpress.com/2018/04/15/slay-queens-sugar-babies-and-blesses-south-africas-obsession-with-the-urban-black-jezebel/ ]
This book could have sufficed as a short story or a dissertation, or even an essay. Based on the writing style, it would appeal to an adolescence, mainly because she (the author) does repeatedly claim that she is trying to ‘empower young girls’ and warn them about the consequences of older men, transactional sex, materialism AND THE BIG BAD CITY AND THE BIG BAD WOLVES, so maybe that’s why it’s delivered the way it is, she’s trying to speak to the Little Red Riders from the Hood(s)
On a positive note, I’m glad to observe that the main character, Treasure, jogs, that’s great. Running is great.
Oh, and I really hope that all those brands that she explicitly names in this book, sponsored her, felt like I was being advertised to there for a second.
On the topic of rape and just sexual intercourse in general, it does have a lot of sexually explicit scenes (one might say there’s one per chapter, and this book has a lot of short ‘chapters’, so, go figure…), do the math. The main character goes through a lot of sexual assault. She literally gets raped - a lot. So, uh, you have been warned, in case you get triggered.
Anyways, the first half of the book, seems statistically relevant in the context of South Africa (one has to make such notes because the author is impossible to ignore all over social media, and this book is allegedly based on [her] reality).
But the second half - where the main character partakes in debauchery in the city…not only feels rushed, but it does seem as if the author is feeding into sensationalism: the older men vs younger women obsession that the world seems to have.
[Side Note: An accurate observation about this obsession was better articulated by Twitter User @neo_url in her blog “The One Thing You Should Know” In An Article / Blog Post Titled: “Slay queens, sugar babies and blessees: South Africa’s obsession with the urban black Jezebel” Published April 15 2018, Accessed September 15 2022, link: https://theonethingyoushouldknow.wordpress.com/2018/04/15/slay-queens-sugar-babies-and-blesses-south-africas-obsession-with-the-urban-black-jezebel/ ]
This book could have sufficed as a short story or a dissertation, or even an essay. Based on the writing style, it would appeal to an adolescence, mainly because she (the author) does repeatedly claim that she is trying to ‘empower young girls’ and warn them about the consequences of older men, transactional sex, materialism AND THE BIG BAD CITY AND THE BIG BAD WOLVES, so maybe that’s why it’s delivered the way it is, she’s trying to speak to the Little Red Riders from the Hood(s)
On a positive note, I’m glad to observe that the main character, Treasure, jogs, that’s great. Running is great.
Oh, and I really hope that all those brands that she explicitly names in this book, sponsored her, felt like I was being advertised to there for a second.