This group has been designated for adults age 18 or older. Please sign in and confirm your date of birth in your profile so we can verify your eligibility. You may opt to make your date of birth private.

From the Bookshelf of Bound Together…

My Dark Vanessa

Kate Elizabeth Russell

Start date: September 5, 2020

Finish date: September 18, 2020

Discussion: Hear...Hear...Lead by Karen

Why we're reading this: Hear...Hear...
Audio book
Sept 5th to Sept 18th
[close] Hear...Hear...
Audio book
Sept 5th to Sept 18th

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No topics in Hear...Hear...Lead by Karen yet. Start one now »

What Members Thought

Sep 05, 2020 ☮Karen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: debut, cindy-owns, audio, overdrive, hear-hear-on-bt, read-in-2020

I recommend this, especially to anyone who was once a confused fifteen-year-old girl, whether she might have had a crush on one of her high school teachers, or not. In my case, it was my study hall teacher Mr. S, tan, muscular... and balding (!!). But so cute, and such a smile. My crush was of course not acted upon except that his outright flirtatious grins certainly gave me and my girl friend something to giggle about shamelessly.... Then there was the seventeen-year-old in my school who everyo I recommend this, especially to anyone who was once a confused fifteen-year-old girl, whether she might have had a crush on one of her high school teachers, or not. In my case, it was my study hall teacher Mr. S, tan, muscular... and balding (!!). But so cute, and such a smile. My crush was of course not acted upon except that his outright flirtatious grins certainly gave me and my girl friend something to giggle about shamelessly.... Then there was the seventeen-year-old in my school who everyone said was having an actual affair with the drama teacher and none of us ever thought to tell someone about it at the time. It appeared to be true, and two-sided. We knew it was wrong, but didn't really understand it. Could not know that in years to come all we would remember about her if anyone mentioned her name is that someone once witnessed them together in the gym balcony. Did it ruin her life, reading this book has made me wonder.

I read this because of all the hoopla surrounding it and also because I'm planning to read Lolita in a few weeks. So many have had difficult feelings toward this book that I was afraid I'd dislike it as much as I did that Ugly and Wonderful book. That book felt so wrong to me, so vile. But here, Vanessa is the narrator so we get to know her every thought, reaction, and emotion. We know how and why it all happened, she being his willing victim. When it happened, though, Vanessa was not feeling at all like a victim. She was in love. I was inside her head, wondering how other girls might have reacted, trying to put myself in Vanessa's shoes. Such men as Jacob Strane are so controlling and manipulative, nothing is predictable. Girls in their middle teen years are just discovering themselves and the fact that they are attractive, alluring, sexual beings, which gives them a kind of power over adult men who previously may have felt only intimidating.

Vanessa goes from 15 to 21 to 32, and Strane has never left her thoughts. She showed signs of becoming a talented writer with a bright future, but the jobs she accepts are not what she had planned. How much of her adult life has been forever changed because fate made Jacob Strane her teacher? Or that he gave her his personal copy of Lolita to read, and reread? What does that even say about his twisted mind? Will she always defend this man and be attracted to other potential victimizers? It isn't until Vanessa gets to talk to another of Strane's victims that she begins to realize what has really happened to her and the true motives of Jacob Strane.

Very insightful and so relevant for these #MeToo times. We readers wade through the murkiness of her memories, her confusion. Vanessa does not want to be defined as a victim, yet everyone else does just that. She didn't want to come forward when Strane's other girls did, and I get that. I can see that it's not always so black and white.

The narration included an interview with the author, editor, and the narrator which was quite enlightening. Also a podcast from The Book Club Girl Podcast where Russell is interviewed. (Side note: The author started writing the book in her teens and took over 15 years to complete it. She was influenced by a culture accepting of Britany Spears' sexuality in her teen years, American Beauty the movie, the interpretations of the book Lolita, and much more. She said at first that the book is not autobiographical, but then I think she finally admitted that there was something in her past after all.)

Grace Gummer, the narrator, said when recording the book, they did all of the 15 year-old sections, then Vanessa at 21-22 year old, and then her at 32. As a result, there was a nuanced difference between the voices which felt appropriate. I could hear Vanessa's confusion, her conflicted and detached feelings -- and most likely her PTSD -- as Grace Gummer's interpretation progressed. I would highly recommend the audio version. ...more

17 likes · Like · see review

Jun 06, 2020 Rachel rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction

I wanted the writing to be better, tighter, but the story itself was so intense and true it made me sick to my stomach.

4 likes · Like · see review

Mar 21, 2020 Amy Hayes rated it liked it

Shelves: books-i-own, adult

Wish I liked this more than I did. It was just ok for me. Chapters were too long and Vanessa was so damaged from the beginning that there’s really no growth for her. Strane was pathetic and a waste of a human. Browick was very much to blame and should have fired him from the start. Ridiculous.

3 likes · Like · see review

Jun 20, 2020 Deb rated it really liked it

Dark, disturbing, uncomfortable, wrong on so many levels. So well done, SO good! Definitely not for everyone, pretty graphic at times, and some incredibly unlikable characters. As outsiders we can see it all unfolding, the targeting, the grooming, the constant manipulation, and we feel the frustration with the situation past and present. Vanessa's point of view however shows the outsider -us- another side. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jul 29, 2020 Glenda rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-read-in-2020

2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful forty-two-year-old English teacher.

2017. Amid the rising wave of allegations against powerful men, a reckoning is coming due. Strane has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa, and now Vanessa suddenly finds herself facing an impossible choice: remain silent, firm in the belief that her teenage self wi 2000. Bright, ambitious, and yearning for adulthood, fifteen-year-old Vanessa Wye becomes entangled in an affair with Jacob Strane, her magnetic and guileful forty-two-year-old English teacher.

2017. Amid the rising wave of allegations against powerful men, a reckoning is coming due. Strane has been accused of sexual abuse by a former student, who reaches out to Vanessa, and now Vanessa suddenly finds herself facing an impossible choice: remain silent, firm in the belief that her teenage self willingly engaged in this relationship, or redefine herself and the events of her past. But how can Vanessa reject her first love, the man who fundamentally transformed her and has been a persistent presence in her life? Is it possible that the man she loved as a teenager—and who professed to worship only her—may be far different from what she has always believed?

I had interest in reading this because I am a teacher, and I have a daughter named Vanessa. Thank goodness she never had to deal with this kind of a situation. The author does a fantastic job of showing how Strane grooms Vanessa slowly, capitalizing on her teenage insecurities, and making her feel like she chose it, she approved. It also shows how much this “relationship” affected Vanessa for the rest of her life, in her career choices, relationships, and self worth.

This book is appalling, shocking, controversial and disturbing, but these kinds of stories need to be told, to ignite conversation, increase awareness, and change thinking. I will be thinking about this one for a long time.

“I never would have done it if you weren’t so willing,” he’d said. It sounds like delusion. What girl would want what he did to me? But it’s the truth, whether anyone believes it or not. Driven toward it, driven toward him, I was the kind of girl that isn’t supposed to exist: one eager to hurl herself into the path of a pedophile. But no, that word isn’t right, never has been. It’s a cop-out, a lie in the way it’s wrong to call me a victim and nothing more. He was never so simple; neither was I ...more

1 like · Like · see review

May 04, 2020 Amanda rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

Like · see review

Jun 15, 2020 Pat rated it it was ok

Cannot recommend; dark and pathetic! Characters were deplorable to me!

Like · see review

May 16, 2020 Christina, Join Me on Storygraph! rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2020

Whoa, this was a real trip. I can't say I enjoyed reading it, dealing as it does with emotional and sexual abuse, but it was compelling for sure.

Please read Roxane Gay's review because it captures everything. ...more

Like · see review

Jul 25, 2019 hannah marked it as to-read

Sep 12, 2019 Ulanda marked it as to-read

Oct 27, 2019 Melanie marked it as to-read · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-i-own

1 like · Like

Nov 21, 2019 Karen marked it as to-read

Nov 29, 2019 Colleen marked it as to-read

Shelves: tbr-do-not-own

Jan 21, 2020 Jules marked it as to-read

Apr 08, 2021 Jessica rated it really liked it

May 24, 2020 Amy rated it really liked it

1 like · Like

Dec 10, 2021 Leanne Sarubbi rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2021-read

Mar 06, 2020 Susan marked it as to-read

Mar 11, 2020 Suzanne marked it as to-read

Shelves: imcpl-news-nyt-fiction-bestsellers, bookbub-dark-academia, imcpl-news-libraryreads, imcpl-news-fiction-a-to-z, april-2020-rrrc-pick-it-for-me

Jun 24, 2020 Elise rated it it was amazing

Shelves: skimm

Aug 20, 2020 Grace Lee rated it it was ok

Apr 19, 2020 Anna marked it as to-read

May 03, 2020 Shelly Kinsey rated it really liked it

1 like · Like

Sep 07, 2020 Wendy rated it liked it

Shelves: 2020-reads

May 12, 2020 Diane Browne added it

Nov 26, 2024 Michelle rated it really liked it

Jul 04, 2023 Shelley rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Feb 01, 2021 Meghan rated it really liked it

Jul 13, 2020 Erin rated it really liked it

Jul 25, 2020 One Book At A Time rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2020

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 next »

Group Home Bookshelf Discussions

Photos Videos

Send invite Members Polls