BOOK REVIEW: MY DARK VANESSA

 Author: Kate Elizabeth Russel

Genre:  Contemporary, Fiction.

Number Of Pages: 373

Trigger Warning: Sexual Assault, Rape

"She didn't understand the horror of watching your body star in something your mind didn't agree to."

Vanessa, an introvert and an ambitious fifteen year old finds solace in her English teacher, Jacob Strane. She doesn't know what she is getting into, to her it is her first love, to him she is just another sincere girl. 

It starts with a passing exchange of similarity with her hair colour matching that of a maple leaf, a simple touch on the knee, a carefully planned confession of love, a sexual assault and a death of a dear one. My Dark Vanessa is a book which will make you want to wrench your guts out,or possibly punch some characters, followed by pity and horror. It makes you doubt the definitions of victimhood, consent and love. 

The narrative keeps alternating between the present and the past, both from the point of view of Vanessa. In the present, Jacob is accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa for a confession of her past but wasn't Vanessa in a consensual relationship with Jacob? This single event makes her question her past and the line between right and wrong starts getting blurred.

"Why is everyone so scared to admit how good that can feel? To be groomed is to be loved and handles like a precious delicate thing."

Pick this book up to know how trauma can be internalised by oneself, how sometimes we move our memories under the rug of our minds unintentionally, how saying nothing instead of a no does not translate to a yes, and how abuse can be romanticised. 

My Verdict: 5/5

Disclaimer: This book is not advised for people below the age of twenty.

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