Jessa

Page Turner

Revisado: 10-18-23

I could not stop listening. She lays it out clearly and concisely but does not skimp on details. What this young woman endured after defecting blows my mind

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Great book, horrible story

Revisado: 04-09-23

This was a fantastic read, I love how detailed she got into the defense process and strategy. That said, this book has put me in a panic about every being around any children, EVER, especially alone. Thank God Tonya had the resources. Many don't. I wouldn't. I wouldn't be able to defend this charge.

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Ridiculously bad

Revisado: 02-24-23

The last few chapters happen abruptly. It is still unclear to me how Finneas died (why were he and Sylvie even in the car? He went to her house to break up with her? How did this wreck happen??) also I still don’t know if Sylvie died or if Autumn imagined that. Autumn resolves to kill herself at the end in the hurry. This decision makes 0 sense. When she’s unsuccessful and finds out she’s pregnant, suddenly everything is ok. The death, suicide, and pregnancy… All of this happens in less than 1000 words. The book has 88 chapters. Let that sink in and hopefully that gives you an idea of how rushed this is.
Also maybe I’m getting old but teens should not read this. This book idealizes teen angst and drama. While I agree there’s alot of that in real life, this is every trope in one for no real reason

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

I can’t stand the narrators voice

Revisado: 11-21-22

Despite the bad voice of the narrator (I can’t recall if the author is narrating? But if so that would make sense given the adult voice trying to sound younger), the story is interesting. I do feel the book ended abruptly and there are more loose ends I wish she would have tied up and others I wish she’d elaborated more on. I would’ve liked further explanation about her relationship with her mother. I also would have liked to know if she ever reconciled with Jamie. Did her friendship with the other survivors endure in any meaningful way? If they drifted, did they ever reconnect? I don’t like how the author seems to still be in denial about the power imbalance between she and her abuser or how she romanticizes the relationship even as an adult. However, I suppose that is the sad, awful reality of what really happens. It’s like Stockholm syndrome in a way. All of that said, still a great read.

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I loved the Hulu show & this is my honest review

Revisado: 11-02-22

A lot of the bad reviews are people upset that this book doesn’t imitate the tv show. And that’s true. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’ll want to turn around. But if you’re open to hearing a similar story, with the same characters, but a story that is sufficiently different enough to be it’s own work of art, then here you go. This story is every bit as good as the show and by reading it I feel like I won twice, getting both. Other criticisms are that Lucy isn’t likable in this book. #1 - what? She’s not likable on the show either, if you want to get technical. She’s every bit as naive in the beginning and then later she morphs into this horrible version of herself that keeps Stephen glued to her with thinly veiled threats. We just don’t care she’s doing that in the show because of how terrible Stephen is. Lucy here is different and likely to remind you of yourself if you’ve ever stayed in a relationship that you knew you should leave or if you’ve ever gone back to someone even though you knew they’d fuck your over again. If anything, this book was almost triggering in how on the nose and completely to a T Stephen’s character reflected some of my bad relationships. Down to how he reacted, stuff he would say, excuses he gave. It’s like the author had watched my life on a movie or something and adopted the habits of some of my exes for her character. It was eerie. And if you enjoy being introspective, if you enjoy learning about the psychological aspect of his character and what a sociopath Stephen is, you’ll like this. You’ll probably relate to Lucy in some way. I recommend this book. If you like the series and can’t wait for season 2 don’t let the bad reviews scare you. I devoured this book in 5 days.

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I'm surprised this is the same author as Tease

Revisado: 10-24-22

I can't really tell you what the story is here. There's no clear beginning, middle, or end. The protagonist is whiny. I don't think this story captures the psychological scars left by sexual assault. The main character is vapid. The conflict takes forever and a day to get started. Teenagers behave in ways that seem very unrealistic.... For example, the main character has been dating the quarterback all summer. When her best friend comes back from vacation and shows interest in him, and more importantly interest in her, the main character gives up her dating relationship with said quarterback, no questions asked. I'm sorry but I was a teenager girl once and I don't know on what planet that would happen but it's not earth. But all of that could be forgiven if it wasn't for the author writing insignificant details in the main characters voice. As she's having thoughts to herself she trails off talking about insignificant and unrelated things... If she used the phrase "but I digress" in this book every time she needed to get back to the point, you could double the pages. Also, in the end, nothing fucking happens to the antagonist of the story! There's no closure one way or the other! While I know this intended to mirror real life, it seems like the girl's sexual assault is pretty much forgotten because she's now dating a new guy. Oh...OK. Whatever. 3 stars because it's sadly not the worst book I've ever read. 4 on performance because the narrator sounds like a teenage girl but I can't give it 5 because the voice she does for the boys makes me want to break things.

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The negative reviews miss the point

Revisado: 09-24-22

Many of the negative reviews scoff at the subject matter and the romanticized abusive relationship. Others criticize the main character and how pitiful she is and how angry they get with her through the book. All of these reviews miss the point.

This novel is from Vanessa's POV, so of course the abuse is romanticized. If this makes you uncomfortable, the author has done her job. This is the lens victims are often looking through in inappropriate relationships. This is how a groomed teenager would view her abuser.

As she gets older, her behavior is quite infuriating. I agree. But that is the POINT! Do you not feel like you'd imagine every parent feels when their child has become so broken? If you've ever loved anyone with addiction it's the same. Their choices are so clearly wrong you just want to shake them. Vanessa was groomed and abused during her formative years, while her brain was developing. She grows into a deeply troubled adult with poor boundaries, depression, mild dissociative disorder, and honestly, some abusive tendencies of her own.

The book is a work of art. If you want a better understanding of the horror that is grooming and to be groomed, look no further. If you want to know what the aftershocks feel like for adults who were children of abuse, but have developed and outgrown their abusers eye, here is one accurate account of the effects that might have.

Stuck in the body of a 30 year old woman, forever-15 Vanessa cannot handle a world that continues to turn when hers stopped years earlier. Chasing the high of her inappropriate student-teacher relationship, she crumbles internally as she has a reckoning with her continued aging. Growing to dislike sex with her abuser as they both age, but finding that being with him is the only thing that makes her some semblance of happy, she continues the relationship to her detriment. The story is dark. The character is dark. But what do people expect? Abuse is dark and often does not have a happy ending.

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You’ll be kept guessing

Revisado: 06-04-22

Twists and turns - the obvious things will happen and the not obvious things will happen and obvious things will happen in non obvious ways and non obvious things will happen in ways that should have been obvious. Worth it.

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Breathing underwater is much better

Revisado: 04-18-22

That said, this book has its purpose and it's nice to see this character land on her feet. SPOILERS ---

I'm glad that Caitlin and her mom end up in a good place. That's the best part of the book. There are a lot of loose ends. Misty? Where was that going? The scene where she and Nick reconnect in the car and then they're both just like nahhhh, never mind. That's unrealistic. That's the most idealistic way that could've possibly been portrayed. It was irritating that the blog posts constantly had 0 comments. I kept thinking there was going to be a comment at some point. It's strange that we don't get to hear anything about Caitlin dealing with the aftermath of am abusive relationship. It would have been nice if she'd been in counseling and we got to hear about that. It's bizarre how Nick ends up just hanging with all his friends again like nothing happened. It was bizarre that Caitlin's mom decided to show her daughter that her dad never paid a cent just to prove a point. It's weird there's no reckoning with Ashley or Peyton. It's weird we don't hear more about what's going on with Saint and what happened or why they broke up. There was so much I wanted cleared up, but I didn't get it. This book doesn't have the intensity or the page turning drama that breathing underwater has, but it's still good.

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Such a great story but something was missing?

Revisado: 04-18-22

I'm not sure what was missing for me, but something was. There were parts of this story that felt forced and like there was no real purpose to them. That said, the book was over all really good and I loved that there are multiple voices for all the characters.

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