Tag: Psychological

I’m going to call it now and say that this is the best book I have read this month. I was as entranced as I get when I’m reading a fantasy novel, I kept looking forward to all the free moments I would have in my day so that I could read more. I have been classifying a lot of the fiction books I have been reading lately as ones I would not read again. It was making me feel disappointed in the genre as a whole. This one, however, is going to be a repeat read in my future. 

We get two first person points of view, one from first semester college student Carly, and one from English professor, Dr. Scarlett Clark. The two women couldn’t be more different, Carly being shy, reserved, and unsure, Scarlett meanwhile being confident, ambitious, and masterful. You wonder if they are going to cross paths, since they are both at the same college, but what the circumstances might be to land them in the same place, different as they are. Scarlett intrigued me from the very beginning, I love a villainous female lead, and an intelligent one at that. Her purpose in life is a mission that I would classify as lawful evil, what she is doing is wrong by the majority of civilized societies standards, but she has her reasons for why she chooses to deliver her form of justice. And I can’t say that I disagree with her reasons. 

I don’t want to get too much more into it, I don’t want to ruin the plot for you because it is very good. It gets messy for a while, you are constantly on edge wondering if her secret is going to be discovered, it’s part of the reason why I couldn’t wait to read it every day. I will say this though, world’s do collide at some point but not in the way I expected at all and I think you might be surprised too. I highly recommend it!

This book had me changing my mind about what I thought was happening every few chapters. I reached a point where I was thinking, some of this is not making any sense, what the heck is going on? After the truth of what was actually happening was finally revealed, I was like, ok, this is a bit much. Then something even crazier and unexpected occurred. I’m trying to think of another book I have read that had me going through so many plot twists and turns, a story that kept puzzling and surprising me, and I am having a really hard time with it. 

At first you think you’re reading a story about a missing girl, as narrated primarily by the girl herself, the person who kidnapped her, and the older sister who is desperately trying to find both the girl and the person who took her. But at some point you start to realize that things are just not adding up in a way in which this situation is the reality. There is not much more that I want to say, this is not a book I want to spoil for anyone by revealing too much, because this is the perfect book for readers who love psychological thrillers. Be prepared for depictions of mental and physical abuse, torture, mental anguish, animal cruelty, and consider skipping this novel if any of those themes disturb you. I will say, as a lover of cats, some of the excerpts made me very upset. Additionally, when the point in the story came to where I believe most people will start to feel sympathy for Ted, it was easy for me to do so given the author’s descriptive imagery, which enabled me to clearly visualize what had been done to him. This book has me curious to know if the author’s other works are just as amazing. 

I picked this book up because I liked the title, and I started reading it not knowing what it was going to be about. Very shortly in, I was completely engaged and I found myself staying up past my bedtime for several nights as I tried to consume more and more pages. This first person narrative of a young girl who is preyed upon by her boarding school teacher comes out during a time of relevance, but it is a tale that I think people will come back to once they experience not only how well it is written but how gratifying it is to read.

It feels a bit odd to describe a story like this as gratifying when you consider the subject matter, but it is. I loved how authentic the story felt. Even though it is a work of fiction, you feel as though you are reading about the life events of an actual person. The story is believable because it doesn’t go too far, the author goes into just enough detail with the sexual encounters without it being overly vulgar. She simultaneously makes you feel sadness at the destruction of what could have been a normal, even slightly privileged, life for young Vanessa, while also making you frustrated that the woman she becomes continues to let herself be abused not only by her pedophilic lover, but by other men she involves herself with. The denial is what ends up frustrating me the most. The conversations between Vanessa and Mr. Strane lays out the subtle mental manipulation of the abuser towards the victim in a manner which makes it clear to the reader what he is doing, even though Vanessa seems ignorant to what is happening. 

The tale is disturbing, it may not be for everyone, I would not suggest it for anyone who has been a victim of sexual abuse. But I believe it is the type of book you want to make sure people know about, as it could be a helpful way of reaching out to anyone who may have had a similar experience, and hopefully give them a push towards getting any aid they may need. I am looking forward to seeing what else this first time author comes up with.