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The Fractured Life of Jimmy Dice
The Fractured Life of Jimmy Dice
Ronan Ryan | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
I really enjoyed this book in the end. It was not easy to read, or a happy story, however it was really well done and I applaud ghetto author for tackling such difficult topics. <br/><br/>cn for anyone who does pick this up, multiple discussions of death (adult and child), sexual assault and rape, and suicide. As I said, not always an easy read.
  
Coldheart Canyon
Coldheart Canyon
Clive Barker | 2018 | Erotica, Horror
2
7.0 (5 Ratings)
Book Rating
I could not finish this book. I hated everyone except the dog. I found the casual talk of rape and pedophilia disgusting. Even the consensual sex acts often started with the protagonist peeping on an unknowing female lead. I understand that it is horror but it wasn't scary to me. There was no suspense, no chills, no one I wanted to remain unscathed from the mysteries of the canyon.
  
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Daniel Blumberg recommended Naked (1993) in Movies (curated)

 
Naked (1993)
Naked (1993)
1993 | Drama
8.7 (3 Ratings)
Movie Favorite

"Naked directed by Mike Leigh. Apart from the rape at the start, I love the main character so much. I never really pay attention to actors but this must be one of the greatest performances ever. I’ve really enjoyed watching Mike Leigh films this year. They’re very British and I’ve been away from home so long that it feels a bit like going home when I watch them."

Source
  
All the Rage
All the Rage
9
9.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
Trigger Warning: Rape and Recovery
Contains spoilers, click to show
Wow. I finished this book, sat back, and stared at it in silence for a while. This is an emotional wringer of a book that more people should read. It's also full of trauma triggers, so beware.

Trigger Warning. Rape and Recovery.

All The Rage is about a girl. It's about rape culture. It's about her trauma, and the aftermath. The book flashes back and forth a little - it includes a triggered flashback to her rape, and her memories of it. The font choices show how mixed up she is sometimes, and how hard it is for her to tell what's really happening, what is a memory, and what is a flashback. Her rape is never written about in high detail. One Goodreads reviewer made a good point - the details being scant makes the shadows larger for the devil to hide in. (Her review is is posted in full on her blog, and it's a powerful one.) (links can be found on my blog as they can't be embedded here.)

The book was an easy read, technically - I read it in an afternoon - but it was a very hard read, emotionally and mentally. The main character, Romy, talks about how no one prepares girls for this, and she's right. As a society, we don't. We tell girls how to avoid those kinds of situations, but not what to do when actually IN them. Or how to determine the best course of action. Because surviving an attack is usually the priority, and screaming and fighting isn't always the best way to do that. Romy froze, and she blames herself for the failure to fight. But she also blames society for not teaching girls what to do. And once the unthinkable has happened, society abandons the victims. That was one of the hardest parts of the book - the victim-blaming. No one believes Romy. They call her a slut and a liar. Her high school classmates do horrible things to her.

The book is dark, but there are points of light. Leon is a coworker at the diner, and he's sweet on Romy. The book uses the relationship to show how rape can affect any future intimacy. Romy can't trust him, because her rapist seemed sweet, too. Until he wasn't. Romy's mother and mother's boyfriend are both supportive, caring, and loving. They don't understand what she's going through, mostly because Romy won't tell them, but they do their best anyway.

All The Rage is a really good book. It's also a very important book, and personally I think it should be required reading in high school. (That will never happen, it's too graphic and would offend parents, I'm sure. But it should.) If it's something you've experienced personally, it's very triggery and should maybe be avoided. But if it isn't? Read this book. You need to know.

You can find all my reviews at http://goddessinthestacks.wordpress.com
  
TB
8
8.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
The Black Lyon was a nice, fast-paced read with likable main characters. The story moved briskly and had a lot of events happening, but it ended up working. Lyonene was a strong character who had her faults, as was Ranulf, and they were wonderful together. I loved the scenes when they first met and the last half of the book the best. So some of the writing was flowery and maybe a bit dated to when it was written, but I really enjoyed this story and look forward to more in the Montgomery series.

Note: This does contain what today would be considered rape, twice. They're early on, they happen really fast, aren't described in much detail, and the hero doesn't even realize he does it the second time and he does show remorse. Maybe not what 'modern women' would like to see, but I didn't have much of a problem with it, and rape isn't something I take lightly. The heroine doesn't see herself as a victim, but as a wife just doing her duty. Sounds horrible to my 21st Century sensibilities, but somehow it made me not dwell on the rape and move on to the rest of the book. Other authors have done worse in books written in this time period (70s/80s), and having Lyonene react that way added a touch of realism to the Medieval time period.
  
Happy Hour in Hell (Bobby Dollar #2)
Happy Hour in Hell (Bobby Dollar #2)
Tad Williams | 2013 | Mystery, Paranormal, Science Fiction/Fantasy
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
characters (1 more)
Descriptions of Hell
Very Graphic (0 more)
Contains spoilers, click to show
In the second book, Bobby has the wonderful idea of jailbreaking his demonic girlfriend out of Hell trying to free her from the grasp of Grand Duke Eligor's grasp.
This book never fails to make me cry--and not for the reasons you think. There is plenty of torture, trauma, even rape--he is going to actual Hell after all-- which makes the interludes on why he is doing what he's doing refreshing even if they make me blush.
I admit my imagination fails me after a while with this book and while he does cheat on some of the torture it is still quite graphic, having both sex scenes (also in the non rape variety) and torture scenes. It is actually how Bobby himself slowly changes that is the most chilling as he adjusts to slowly losing himself in his new environment.
This book will make you think and may even challenge some of your views.
  
Flowers in the Attic (Dollanganger, #1)
Flowers in the Attic (Dollanganger, #1)
V.C. Andrews | 1979 | Mystery, Romance, Thriller
9
8.3 (24 Ratings)
Book Rating
And I thought my family was twisted!
Contains spoilers, click to show
Andrews really puts you into the story and into the mind of Cathy. But there is a LOT of mature content in this book! Wow! Between rape, incest, child abuse, and psychological trauma, you'd think it would be a depressing experience but you're rooting for the kids the entire time! But take it from me...draw out a family tree to keep track of who is who.
  
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Rob Cohen recommended Irréversible (2002) in Movies (curated)

 
Irréversible (2002)
Irréversible (2002)
2002 | Drama, International

"Another one that I was very inspired by and touched by in all its ugliness and brutality, but its daring story structure, was Gasper Noe’s Irréversible, which is an odd one, but I just found the idea of starting at the end and telling it backwards as such a conceit. And the world it took you in, and the way it took you in, I felt that was something new that I’d never seen before. It’s a journey through hell, starting at the end and working backwards to the beginning. So it’s sort of Paris’ underground, and it has a rape scene in it of Monica Belluci that’s one of the most frank, most brutal… You know, people kid about rape, you just say, “Yeah, I think you should watch this movie and see what rape really looks like. You should see how violent and terrible it is and then you’ll not make any jokes anymore.” It’s so balls-out, this film. It’s so unafraid. It’s so in-your-face. It’s one of those movies that, once you see [it], you will never forget it, and it keeps coming back to you and back to you. It’s not necessarily a pleasant thing, but it was definitely a filmmaker who said, “I don’t give a f— what anyone thinks. Anybody. Not the critics, not my friends, not the finance producers, nobody. I’m just going out to tell my story the way I want to tell it.” Vincent Cassel is so great in it, and Belluci. It’s really a very powerful movie."

Source
  
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Bethany (2 KP) rated Marrow in Books

Feb 4, 2018 (Updated Feb 4, 2018)  
Marrow
Marrow
Tarryn Fisher | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
10
8.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
The plot and characters (0 more)
Suspenseful and amazing
Tarryn really knows how to keep the readers guessing. With each page your mind plays tricks on you. She is a great writer but writes about some deep things. Caution if you are not into reading about rape or molestation or killing. She writes about all of this. But with such taste that it keeps you reading. If you have never read one of her books, I suggest you start.
  
When I Hit You: Or, a Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife
When I Hit You: Or, a Portrait of the Writer as a Young Wife
Meena Kandasamy | 2017 | Fiction & Poetry
9
9.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
powerful and beautifully written (0 more)
this is happening to someone right now (0 more)
This book hit me
The writer searched for a tender embrace and found rape and punches. Kandasamy is a poet and beautifully she uses words to punch back or to make sense of a horrific and unimaginable monstrosity of a situation. However, when I say poetic please don't assume this is pretentious for it is not. you sometimes feel terrible for enjoying the words as a thing of beauty,and it is a beautiful piece of writing, but it is there to mind meaning in the inexcusable. It is a wonderful cathartic explosion of finding sense where there is none. of finding hope where there was only hatred in the name of love. My hope is it may give another legs to run or an abuser a reflection into their monstrosity. This may be listed as a feminist book but is fighting against evil cruelty, bullying and rape feminist or is it a struggle to be more human?