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challenging
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
really really love how this story is about trauma but it mostly just focuses on all the support networks hermione has and how everyone is kind
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Vomit, Abortion
Minor: Child death, Misogyny, Car accident
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
EXIT, PURSUED BY A BEAR is about a girl reclaiming her agency, and the friendships which help her before and after; a story about a rape which does not make the reader watch violation. The framing and emphasis centers the MC in a way that acknowledges that she was victimized, and is about what happens after, but is never interested in seeing her suffer. It conveys the raw and sometimes tumultuous emotions of the MC, usually in ways that show either her messy initial reaction and then revisit the thoughts again when she’s able to talk to someone and get help. I never felt like a voyeur to her pain, more like someone who is hearing her reflections on this experience later. It’s about her senior year: the last year of high school, her last year as a cheerleader, and her complicated emotions about having this transitional phase in her life made stranger by this thing that was done to her.
There are a lot of moments I loved in this book, but I think one of the most important ones is the prologue, a snapshot of a small moment which actually takes place midway through the book, but frames the early events so that the reader has an idea from the start that the MC will be okay. That prologue told me that the author was writing this with care. This let me trust that this would be handled well, and I was not disappointed. The MC's relationship with her best friend was a steadying touch in bleak moments, and though I think the prologue is important, the scenes with Polly were the emotional touchstone keeping everything together even as things changed.
There are a lot of moments I loved in this book, but I think one of the most important ones is the prologue, a snapshot of a small moment which actually takes place midway through the book, but frames the early events so that the reader has an idea from the start that the MC will be okay. That prologue told me that the author was writing this with care. This let me trust that this would be handled well, and I was not disappointed. The MC's relationship with her best friend was a steadying touch in bleak moments, and though I think the prologue is important, the scenes with Polly were the emotional touchstone keeping everything together even as things changed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Grief
Minor: Ableism, Child death
CW for ableism (minor), sexism, misogyny, panic attack, grief, blood, vomit, medical content, rape (not depicted), child death (backstory).