My Dark Vanessa

Vanessa is the protagonist and victim of Strane. While I truly felt bad for what happened to her, an act that she should never have gone through, just as no one should, I couldn't bring myself to like her. It wasn't that she thought he was innocent and loved her. She was conditioned to believe that by a very experienced manipulator. She can't be blamed for that. However, I can't think of any other reason to like her. As she stated herself, this experience with him became her life. She wrapped herself up in it. Again, not her fault. But it didn't allow for anything else.

Jacob Strane is the disgusting, rapist pedophile who violated Vanessa. He was very smooth in his grooming of her. Making her think that he was doing her some sort of favor in taking the risk of being with her because he just couldn't help falling in love with her. He's disgusting. The man actually got a vasectomy so that he wouldn't have to worry about his teenage victims getting pregnant. Yet maintains that he never planned on victimizing her, and the poor girl believed him.

Pretty much every other adult in the book totally let Vanessa down. Teachers, parents, counselors. They all just accepted that she lied. Not much of an investigation or anything. Even her peers, at least the ones who knew her, knew better. Her own mother even said that she just didn't want the trouble and thought that the issue would go away when she changed schools. Useless.

Okay. Horrible. Just horrible. Please understand that my issue is NOT the subject matter. Of course, pedophilia and rape are terrible and unforgivable. But I knew that going into the book. I expected it. What I did not expect was that the second half of the story was be agonizingly, painfully tedious. Because that's what it was. After (view spoiler) offs himself, it should have ended. I get that the story is supposed to show the aftermath of this particular kind of rape, but it dragged. Over and over Vanessa rattles on about how he didn't do anything wrong and the other girls are lying. She pounds it into the reader for about 150 pages. We get it. I mean, she's wrong, but we get that's what she thinks. At least 100 pages could have been cut. At least.

The first half the book moved along well enough. There is build up to the "relationship," the grooming, etc. There are current blurbs describing how Vanessa is coping now. But then the second half happened, and honestly, WHAT WAS THE POINT. It was just more of the same. Him treating her horribly when she was too old for him. Her denying the claims of the other girls and still wanting him. Over and over and over.

But I'm not going to make it all bad. I will say that I think that girls (or boys) who this has happened to may be able to relate and come forward