Review – My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell (4/5 stars)
Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Psychological Fiction
Length: 395 pages
Publisher: William Morrow
Release Date: March 10, 2020
ASIN : B07R8V69FN
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Bought for Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars
“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?”
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book, I bought a copy for my Kindle.
Story (4/5): The story goes from past to present as Vanessa tries to navigate the beginning of an affair with her teacher (she is 15, he is 42) and the eventual fallout from it. The story is engaging and pulls you forward. You are constantly wondering what decisions the 2017 Vanessa will make and wondering how the 2000 Vanessa got into this strange relationship to begin with. It is a bit confusing at times as to what exactly the other students are accusing Strane of and seeing things through Vanessa’s eyes is intriguing. Vanessa is constantly justifies a lot of her actions and Strane’s actions with explanations she finds completely logical.
Characters (4/5): The complexity of the characters is what makes this book. Vanessa is obviously permanently scarred from her time with Strane but she also seems like she had issues before she met him. She continues to seek out somewhat dangerous and illicit relationships. She has convinced herself that she chose her relationship with Strane. Strane is obviously creepy and his manipulation of Vanessa is masterfully done, but the author does a decent job of making him a bit grey as well. It’s never really clear whether his relationship with Vanessa was special to him. He never seems to get in quite as deep with other students as he did with Vanessa. There seems to be some mutual self-destruction behavior between the two that add to the overtly pedophilic tendencies that Strane has.
While the characters are well done and intriguing to read about, I didn’t really like any of them. Vanessa is frustrating in her conviction that everything is fine, even when it’s obviously not and her continued self destructive tendencies are annoying. Strane is just flat out creepy. Some of the decisions Vanessa’s parents make are ridiculous and really enable her continued delusions.
Setting (4/5): The setting here is fine but, aside from the fact it takes place in a high school level boarding school, not really the driver behind the story.
Writing Style (4/5): I liked the way the story switches back and forth between the past and the present. We do tend to spend a lot more time in the past. The book was easy to read and engaging. The story felt very unfinished to me and the ending wasn’t all that satisfying. In general while I was engaged in the story, I felt a bit let down and frustrated by how everything was wrapped up.
My Summary (4/5): Overall this was an interesting read that kept me engaged. I’ve read a lot of weird stuff so (while this wasn’t a fun or comfortable read) I didn’t find it all that sensationalist or shocking. It definitely doesn’t leave you feeling happy but more slightly nauseous at the things these characters did to each other. I was disappointed in how things were wrapped up, but it did match the non-committal tone of the rest of the story very well. This was decently written and I plan on checking out some of Russell’s other books at some point.
