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ebc726's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape
Moderate: Drug use
cosymilko's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to find something in reading this book. What I found was not what I was looking for. It's almost apologetic, like somehow Alice was raped because of the experiences in her life that brought her to that place that night. And that's not true. Her experiences are independent of the rape.
The numb void that's left afterward was raw and touching. The way the world keeps turning and you're not sure if you're supposed to stop and cry or just keep moving is dripping through the pages in this.
But still. There was something there that I couldn't engage in.
Alice felt like she had further to go in her journey before she wrote this.
The numb void that's left afterward was raw and touching. The way the world keeps turning and you're not sure if you're supposed to stop and cry or just keep moving is dripping through the pages in this.
But still. There was something there that I couldn't engage in.
Alice felt like she had further to go in her journey before she wrote this.
byp's review against another edition
4.0
I think this book is great, but I never want to read it again.
monaisverytired's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
fast-paced
5.0
phlegmie's review against another edition
2.0
Forty pages into the book and I was bawling my eyes out. Sebold sure didn't take it easy with the wordplay, but I respected her style of writing. I thought, "This is her memoir, ain't it?" This was exactly how she felt construed into words as it easily pierces into the hearts of her readers. To exaggerate and understate would be pointless.
OKAY, I WANTED TO LOVE THE BOOK.
I was a huge fan of The Lovely Bones - the haunting spirit of Susie Salmon crept under my skin and stayed there for weeks. It's one of my all-time favorites. Lucky is Sebold's story of how she was raped and how she managed to stand up and fight.
I don't know, there's something about the book that I really, really dislike. I couldn't put it down, though, and I finished it in one night, but it has come to my attention that I was just skimming it. Somehow, her manner of writing got really boring and tedious, but I managed to finish it only because I was particularly interested in her case.
Still, it was quite an interesting read.
OKAY, I WANTED TO LOVE THE BOOK.
I was a huge fan of The Lovely Bones - the haunting spirit of Susie Salmon crept under my skin and stayed there for weeks. It's one of my all-time favorites. Lucky is Sebold's story of how she was raped and how she managed to stand up and fight.
I don't know, there's something about the book that I really, really dislike. I couldn't put it down, though, and I finished it in one night, but it has come to my attention that I was just skimming it. Somehow, her manner of writing got really boring and tedious, but I managed to finish it only because I was particularly interested in her case.
Still, it was quite an interesting read.
rsutton06's review against another edition
5.0
I have to say that this was a difficult book to read emotionally. It is an autobiographical account of the author's experiences during and after she was raped as an undergraduate university student. Sebold gives the reader generous insight into the mind of a young woman who goes through such a terrible ordeal and lives in its aftermath.
goodem9199's review against another edition
3.0
I can't believe that Sebold was able to write about her experience with such clarity and honesty. Reading this book was difficult, as you could completely feel what she felt, and understand the pain and even the shame that comes with rape.
bookishblunoser's review against another edition
3.0
I have read reviews that call Alice Sebold self righteous and sensational but I applaud her brutal honesty. She embraces every feeling, the fleeting good ones, the bad narcissistic ones and the down right indignant ones. Who are we to say she has to soften the edges of her story so her readers can be inspired by it? Chapter One is a heart wrenching beginning. A rape has redefined a young woman. It is a horrific event that has disfigured her and the scars, however faded by time will remain. Not on her body but on her soul. The rest of the book is the aftermath. Time is now measured in "before" and "after". She starts to define herself not by the actual rape, but by the ugliness and violence of it. Living out what she has experienced.
Why the three star rating:
I feel that she abruptly ended her story at page 232. It was certainly not the end. In what she titles as "Aftermath", a sort of epilogue, there is a large jumble of important events spilled out in 10 short pages. Europe trips, drugs and addiction, Greece, "heroin dabbling", promiscuous sex, fear, temp jobs, retreats, therapy, and finally writing. It felt glossed over and sadly, disingenuous to the first 232 pages of the memoir.
Why the three star rating:
I feel that she abruptly ended her story at page 232. It was certainly not the end. In what she titles as "Aftermath", a sort of epilogue, there is a large jumble of important events spilled out in 10 short pages. Europe trips, drugs and addiction, Greece, "heroin dabbling", promiscuous sex, fear, temp jobs, retreats, therapy, and finally writing. It felt glossed over and sadly, disingenuous to the first 232 pages of the memoir.