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aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition
4.5
this was a great read (not necessarily because of the story since it discusses r*p* and s*x*u*l a*s*u*t, but the way it was told). It's multiple pov and can get pretty graphic. I wish we got a little bit of expansion on Michael and Sebastian as they were the victims we got the least amount of time with. I also didn't love the ending, but it was wrapped up nicely enough for me with how the victims coped and tried to heal.
Graphic: Body horror, Gaslighting, Transphobia, Grief, Sexism, Alcohol, Self harm, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Cursing, Animal death, Mental illness, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Bullying, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
mfrisk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book follows several men who’ve been raped by an unknown woman and we’re following them as they work to pick up the pieces within their lives and regain some sense of normalcy or something new. We follow them through journal entries, internet searches, online chats, and media reactions and they all come together to make a rich story that is able to delve into difficult topics including sexual assault and rape as it relates to racism, homophobia, transphobia, sexism, toxic masculinity, media coverage and our criminal justice system.
This was an incredibly difficult read but I’m so glad I read it and I can tell I’ll be thinking about the questions it raised for years to come.
Graphic: Deadnaming, Injury/Injury detail, Sexism, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Violence, Transphobia, Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Medical content, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Abandonment
peggy_racham's review against another edition
5.0
A very difficult but important read.
All the TWs
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Physical abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Misogyny, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Deadnaming, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Transphobia
markedwithanm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Suicide, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Violence, Eating disorder, Blood, Grief, Mental illness, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Animal cruelty
mgm9816's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
wickedgrumpy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.5
The writing was quite well done, kind of a bit of mixed media with the journal entries, chat logs, transcripts, poetry, and radio show vibes. The first three victims were well fleshed out and their trauma was ever present and horrifying. The later ones felt more superficial though I'm not really sure why. There were also quite a few questions that were raised in the plot that were never answered that made it feel a bit rushed.
I do think this is a good book that has a lot of value in representing sexual assault as a whole and especially in male victims. However, with all that in mind, I don't feel like I was the intended audience because I don't generally like to read books about rape. I suppose I didn't expect it to be quite so graphic about it.
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Rape, Self harm, Violence, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide attempt, Medical content, Body horror, and Torture
Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Bullying, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Cancer, Cursing, Drug use, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, and Alcohol
chloseencounter's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I really enjoyed hearing all the different POVs of the antagonist’s victims, this was a very raw look into all the various outcomes that can come from surviving sexual assault, weather it’s dealing by humor, family, control, emptiness, self destructive behavior, or even suicide. While the characters were interesting and their storylines were heartbreaking, the most special thing to me about this novel is the look at what women so often deal with when faced with sexual violence but through the eyes of a man. Unfortunately female victims of sexual assault are all too common, we hear about it so much in fact, our society has become desensitized to the sexual abuse women face and how it’s handled by the public. Flipping the narrative and using men as the victims not only opens up an important conversation about men who have experienced sexual violence and how they are treated but also made the subject feel much more shocking. Then I suppose we can ask ourselves…why is that? Why is being sexually assaulted as a women so commonplace that it doesn’t feel nearly as gut wrenching to read?
At the end of the day, I think that ultimately there wasn’t one predator but multiple women predators. The story seemed to lump these people into one frightening amalgamation of a women because how could society believe that there may be multiple women out there preying upon men, it must be a repeat offender. However, when a women is attacked it could literally be “any man”, which is a very smart way to make a statement about how both male and female victims of sexual violence are seen unfairly by the general public.
Graphic: Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Grief, Medical content, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, Death, Eating disorder, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Cancer, Child abuse, Transphobia, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
autumnwhite's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Cursing, Cancer, Gore, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Death, Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Grief, Hate crime, Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Eating disorder, Homophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Lesbophobia, Medical content, Rape, Self harm, Transphobia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Terminal illness
mermaidsherbet's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Rape, Suicide attempt, Misogyny, Mental illness, Eating disorder, and Sexual violence
Moderate: Pedophilia, Animal death, Kidnapping, Torture, Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Body horror, Forced institutionalization, Drug use, Bullying, Gore, and Medical content
Minor: Stalking, Sexual content, Cursing, Cancer, Suicide, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Excrement, Vomit, Transphobia, Sexism, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Murder, and Deadnaming