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Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

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> FAQ Home
> Tag: Kate Elizabeth Russell

I almost couldn’t finish this book

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

April 12, 2022 by donttrustthe_bea 1 Comment

TW: Grooming, pedophilia, child abuse, sexual assault, teacher-student relationship. I first learned about this book after seeing a woman on the train reading it. The cover of this book drew me in and I borrowed it from the library a week later. I did not know what I was getting myself into. This book introduces us to titular protagonist, Vanessa; a young woman reeling in the blowback of her high school English teacher’s recent suicide after allegations of sexual abuse come out against him in the […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: Kate Elizabeth Russell

donttrustthe_bea's CBR14 Review No:7 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: Kate Elizabeth Russell ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

What a way to start 2021

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

January 2, 2021 by postcardsandbooks 7 Comments

So this was quite a way to kick off 2021. I’ve had this book from the library since the end of November, and for one reason or another, I kept putting it off and just renewing my loan as I went through other books for book clubs and buddy reads. I guess it was the fact that I finally need to give this back that forced me to sit down and read, and I am so glad. First things first, I saw that a few […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: Kate Elizabeth Russell

postcardsandbooks's CBR13 Review No:1 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: Kate Elizabeth Russell ·
Rating:
· 7 Comments

Controversial but compelling

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

July 17, 2020 by Wanderlustful 1 Comment

My Dark Vanessa is a complicated and controversial book- it is akin to a modern retelling of Lolita from Lolita’s perspective.  Oprah picked it for her book club (cbr12bingo!) and then dropped it when controversy arose- after American Dirt she maybe wasn’t keen for another controversial book so soon (FYI: the controversy was due to allegations that Russell had stolen the real life story of a Latina woman- since disproved via Russell disclosing her own childhood abuse). The story is a first person narrative that […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: book club, cbr12bingo, Kate Elizabeth Russell, Lolita, My Dark Vanessa

Wanderlustful's CBR12 Review No:37 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: book club, cbr12bingo, Kate Elizabeth Russell, Lolita, My Dark Vanessa ·
Rating:
· 1 Comment

terrific writing about terrible things

My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

May 31, 2020 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

Trigger Warning: please read the tags before deciding to read this review and/or book. If you feel that you can read this book, then you must. If you feel that you cannot, I will pass no judgement. Perhaps you have heard of the drama surrounding this release. American Dirt was climbing the charts and dominating the controversy  conversation when My Dark Vanessa tip-toed in and threw a hat into the ring. There was an implication of plagiarism from a woman who wrote a memoir about being groomed and […]

Filed Under: Fiction Tagged With: #metoo, abuse, boarding school, child abuse, debut novel, grooming, guilt, imbalance of power, Kate Elizabeth Russell, Lolita, nabokov, Pale Fire, poetry, Power, responsibility, scandal, Sexual Assault, trauma

andtheIToldYouSos's CBR12 Review No:54 · Genres: Fiction · Tags: #metoo, abuse, boarding school, child abuse, debut novel, grooming, guilt, imbalance of power, Kate Elizabeth Russell, Lolita, nabokov, Pale Fire, poetry, Power, responsibility, scandal, Sexual Assault, trauma ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments


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