Let's talk about the books that I just recently finished reading.
Year 2021 is about to end and honestly this year I haven't been much of a reader. I've been pretty busy planning stuff, moving here and there and mainly trying my best to feel settled. Anyway without further ado, let's all put our specs on and talk about books!
- My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.
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?
Alternating between Vanessa’s present and her past, My Dark Vanessa juxtaposes memory and trauma with the breathless excitement of a teenage girl discovering the power her own body can wield. Thought-provoking and impossible to put down, this is a masterful portrayal of troubled adolescence and its repercussions that raises vital questions about agency, consent, complicity, and victimhood. Written with the haunting intimacy of The Girls and the creeping intensity of Room, My Dark Vanessa is an era-defining novel that brilliantly captures and reflects the shifting cultural mores transforming our relationships and society itself.
“Somehow I sensed what was coming then. Really though, what girl doesn't? It looms over you, the threat of violence. They drill the danger into your head until it starts to feel inevitable. You grow up wondering when it's finally going to happen.”
What I think of the book:
I got stuck with this book for months and months! It’s a very difficult story to read, and, in my opinion, twice as long as long as it needed to be (I think that’s the biggest hang up I have with this book). Although the book was a hardwork the story has many powerful moments; it’s very discomforting as it tackles an abusive relationship, sexual assault, grooming and trauma, and, defines the line between consent and abuse. It also captures the timely pop culture and I like how the book showed that social movements (MeToo, BLM and etc.) can be used for journalism and clickbait as well as powerful political momentum for change.
Rating: 2/5
- Violet Bent Backwards Over the Grass by Lana Del Rey
The highly anticipated spoken word poetry collection from Lana Del Rey, Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass
“'Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass' is the title poem of the book and the first poem I wrote of many. Some of which came to me in their entirety, which I dictated and then typed out, and some that I worked laboriously picking apart each word to make the perfect poem. They are eclectic and honest and not trying to be anything other than what they are and for that reason I’m proud of them, especially because the spirit in which they were written was very authentic.” (Lana Del Rey)
Lana Del Rey brings her breathtaking poetry to life in an unprecedented audiobook. In this stunning spoken word performance, Lana Del Rey reads 14 poems from her debut book Violet Bent Backwards over the Grass accompanied by music from Grammy Award-winning musician Jack Antonoff. Lana’s debut book solidifies her further as “the essential writer of her times” (The Atlantic). This audiobook features Lana reading select poems from the book, including "LA Who Am I to Love You?", "The Land of 1,000 Fires", "Past the Bushes Cypress Thriving", "Never to Heaven", "Tessa DiPietro", "Happy", and several others. The result is an extraordinary poetic landscape that reflects the unguarded spirit of its creator.
“Be the art that life is breathingBe the soul the world is living.”
What I think of the book:
I definitely love Lana Del Rey’s first poetry book. I might be a bit bias as I’m a huge fan of her work and unique creativity. You can see bits and pieces of her previous album, Norman Fucking Rockwell, all throughout the pages of the book. Her poetry stand out from all the “cheesy love” writings these days. She perfectly captured the fragility and vulnerability of a woman in this modern age.
Rating: 5/5
- Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
For years, rumors of the “Marsh Girl” haunted Barkley Cove, a quiet fishing village. Kya Clark is barefoot and wild; unfit for polite society. So in late 1969, when the popular Chase Andrews is found dead, locals immediately suspect her.
But Kya is not what they say. A born naturalist with just one day of school, she takes life's lessons from the land, learning the real ways of the world from the dishonest signals of fireflies. But while she has the skills to live in solitude forever, the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. Drawn to two young men from town, who are each intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new and startling world—until the unthinkable happens.
In Where the Crawdads Sing, Owens juxtaposes an exquisite ode to the natural world against a profound coming of age story and haunting mystery. Thought-provoking, wise, and deeply moving, Owens’s debut novel reminds us that we are forever shaped by the child within us, while also subject to the beautiful and violent secrets that nature keeps.
The story asks how isolation influences the behavior of a young woman, who like all of us, has the genetic propensity to belong to a group. The clues to the mystery are brushed into the lush habitat and natural histories of its wild creatures.
“Female fireflies draw in strange males with dishonest signals and eat them; mantis females devour their own mates. Female insects, Kya thought, know how to deal with their lovers.”
What I think of the book:
This book is a story of survival, prejudice, determination and strength. I don’t know exactly what genre it should be but it’s a great mix between coming of age and a murder mystery. It’s written in a way that give such a vivid description of nature specifically the marsh and the wildlife that lives in it. There were a few times that the story can be a bit of a drag but nonetheless it’s still a good read. The ending leaves me very shock that I have to put the pieces together of every moments from different chapters of the book.
Rating: 3/5
Any book recommendations? :)
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