Scan barcode
frawst_disasta_reads's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Tagline: "I love you." "I know."
The author takes a famous Star Wars quote (which, to me, feels perfect as an author of Star Wars books), and uses it between to best friends, because deep unending love is not always romantic.
There is something beautiful about this book. It takes place over the span of about 9.5 months, and we get to know Hermione Winters like a little sister or best friend. You want everything to work out for her, even while you know that's a fairytale and this is the real world.
What I adore about this book is how she deals with the aftermath of what happens to her. And that her best friend refuses to back down and protect her. While not everyone on the team supports her (okay, everyone except her ex-boyfriend), as a reader you can't imagine a closer team. A supporting character even comments on it, how her school wouldn't have supported her.
There is a coming out, a trauma response during a dance (with a bit of comedic relief complete with spilled punch), and Hermione's undying love for her team, her parents, and especially her best friend and flying in the air as a cheerleader.
While I don’t care for first person generally, I can’t imagine this book working as well in third person, because Hermione is such a fully fleshed character, as are those closest to her.
The author takes a famous Star Wars quote (which, to me, feels perfect as an author of Star Wars books), and uses it between to best friends, because deep unending love is not always romantic.
There is something beautiful about this book. It takes place over the span of about 9.5 months, and we get to know Hermione Winters like a little sister or best friend. You want everything to work out for her, even while you know that's a fairytale and this is the real world.
What I adore about this book is how she deals with the aftermath of what happens to her. And that her best friend refuses to back down and protect her. While not everyone on the team supports her (okay, everyone except her ex-boyfriend), as a reader you can't imagine a closer team. A supporting character even comments on it, how her school wouldn't have supported her.
There is a coming out, a trauma response during a dance (with a bit of comedic relief complete with spilled punch), and Hermione's undying love for her team, her parents, and especially her best friend and flying in the air as a cheerleader.
While I don’t care for first person generally, I can’t imagine this book working as well in third person, because Hermione is such a fully fleshed character, as are those closest to her.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Vomit, Sexual assault, Abortion, Blood, and Pregnancy
Moderate: Gore
daniellejp16's review against another edition
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pregnancy, Blood, Abortion, Rape, Vomit, Sexual assault, and Panic attacks/disorders
drizzlybear's review
challenging
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
really really love how this story is about trauma but it mostly just focuses on all the support networks hermione has and how everyone is kind
Content Warnings
Moderate: Abortion, Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, and Vomit
Minor: Car accident, Child death, and Misogyny
booksthatburn's review against another edition
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR is about a girl reclaiming her agency, and the friendships which help her before and after; a story about a rape which does not make the reader watch violation. The framing and emphasis centers the MC in a way that acknowledges that she was victimized, and is about what happens after, but is never interested in seeing her suffer. It conveys the raw and sometimes tumultuous emotions of the MC, usually in ways that show either her messy initial reaction and then revisit the thoughts again when she’s able to talk to someone and get help. I never felt like a voyeur to her pain, more like someone who is hearing her reflections on this experience later. It’s about her senior year: the last year of high school, her last year as a cheerleader, and her complicated emotions about having this transitional phase in her life made stranger by this thing that was done to her.
There are a lot of moments I loved in this book, but I think one of the most important ones is the prologue, a snapshot of a small moment which actually takes place midway through the book, but frames the early events so that the reader has an idea from the start that the MC will be okay. That prologue told me that the author was writing this with care. This let me trust that this would be handled well, and I was not disappointed. The MC's relationship with her best friend was a steadying touch in bleak moments, and though I think the prologue is important, the scenes with Polly were the emotional touchstone keeping everything together even as things changed.
There are a lot of moments I loved in this book, but I think one of the most important ones is the prologue, a snapshot of a small moment which actually takes place midway through the book, but frames the early events so that the reader has an idea from the start that the MC will be okay. That prologue told me that the author was writing this with care. This let me trust that this would be handled well, and I was not disappointed. The MC's relationship with her best friend was a steadying touch in bleak moments, and though I think the prologue is important, the scenes with Polly were the emotional touchstone keeping everything together even as things changed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexism, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, Blood, Vomit, and Medical content
Minor: Ableism and Child death
CW for ableism (minor), sexism, misogyny, panic attack, grief, blood, vomit, medical content, rape (not depicted), child death (backstory).
More...