A cuttingly funny meta-meditation on her own pain in the context of #MeToo.-- "O, The Oprah Magazine"
A gripping read and true fodder for the necessary reckoning with toxic masculinity.-- "BuzzFeed"
A remarkably nuanced account of the complicated and confusing emotions that surface when your rapist is someone you knew and trusted.-- "The Cut"
A stunning work of meta nonfiction. . . . Vanasco's narrative pushes far past the flattened media narrative of Me Too and asks uncomfortable questions about how to talk about rape culture, toxic masculinity and gender, justice, and resilience.-- "Shondaland"
About violence and forgiveness, about friendship and the unwanted title of victim, about digging deeper and deeper to seek answers.-- "The New York Times Book Review"
An extraordinarily brave work of self- and cultural reflection.-- "Kirkus, Starred Review"
Bold, unsettling, and timely. . . . A reckoning with injustice.--Laurie Halse Anderson "TIME"
Gorgeous, harrowing, heartbreaking.--Carmen Maria Machado "Bustle"
Heartfelt, painful, and essential.-- "Shelf Awareness"
Intrepid. . . . A work that has the potential to change the way we think and talk about rape and the people who commit it.-- "Bitch"
Perhaps the most important book of the season.-- "Esquire"
Sets the canon of #MeToo-era creative nonfiction on fire. . . . Inimitable.-- "Booklist, Starred Review"
Striking. . . . Creates a language for something we don't talk about.-- "The Paris Review"
Thought-provoking, unmooring, and haunting.-- "NYLON"
Utterly brilliant.-- "Book Riot"
Vanasco immediately makes you wonder how we can take so much about sexual assault for granted.-- "The Times Literary Supplement"
A literary feminist miracle.--Sophia Shalmiyev, author of Mother Winter
A rigorous and nuanced investigation.--Lisa Locascio, author of Open Me
About how important it is to speak about these oft-silenced experiences that cause so many to feel ashamed, scared, and alone.--NPR
An essential, unforgettable work.--Erik Anderson, author of Flutter Point
Astonishingly fierce.--Emily Geminder, author of Dead Girls and Other Stories
Brilliant.--Megan Stielstra, author of The Wrong Way to Save Your Life
Cuts through the silence of deep betrayal.--Amy Jo Burns, author of Shiner
Exactly the book we need right now. . . . I wish everyone in this country would read it.--Melissa Febos, author of Abandon Me
Explores the common experience of rape with uncommon nuance and intense tenderness.--YZ Chin, author of Though I Get Home
Interrogates the terms of betrayal and the limits of redemption.--Tim Taranto, author of Ars Botanica
Stunning.--Angela Pelster, author of Limber
There is so much power in these pages.--Elissa Washuta, author of My Body is a Book of Rules
Vanasco is a formidable talent.--Daniel Gumbiner, author of The Boatbuilder
Wickedly clever and powerful.--Krystal A. Sital, author of Secrets We Kept: Three Women of Trinidad