My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell

I read this book in 24 hours.
Not to brag — just to show how completely consuming it is.

Books about abuse hit differently every time.
Sometimes they follow a familiar arc: the abuser is exposed, justice arrives, a parent or friend swoops in like a last-minute lifeline and the illusion of safety restored.

But not in My Dark Vanessa.

No one sees her.
No one swoops in.
She is achingly alone — so isolated it makes you want to crawl into the pages, and whisper:

It’s not your fault sweet girl. It was never your fault.

Vanessa was 15 — sharp, observant, and craving something different. She earned a scholarship to Browick, but getting her parents to agree took strategy. She arrived armed with a twenty-point list detailing why boarding school was the right choice. The shadow of Columbine gave her argument weight — a reminder of the dangers of public school.

They agreed.

But she had no idea what she was walking into.

“Fiona Apple was raped when she was 12 years old… I had no reason to care about rape then… but that story hit me hard. Somehow I sensed what was coming for me even then… It looms over you, that threat of violence. You grow up wondering when it’s finally going to happen.”

This book will make you doubt people — and that’s not a bad thing.

It will make you look twice.
Pay closer attention to the adults in the lives of your daughters, your sisters, your friends.

Because the ugly truth is this:
We ignore the signs.
We question the victim.
We shame the abused.

And abusers count on that.

They know we’ll ask:
“But is she really a victim?”

How did we get here?

Because the reality is simple:

The world isn’t looking to save all the Vanessas.
It’s easier to pretend these things don’t happen.
Easier to blame the victim.

She started it.
She came onto him.
She’s just as guilty as he is.

How broken is a society that places blame on a child?

My Dark Vanessa will challenge you.

You will get upset.
And as the abuse spreads — like blood blooming through fabric — it stains everything. It tightens the rope around her throat. She is drowning. And even when help is offered, she cannot reach for it.

Because by then, she no longer believes she deserves saving.

One by one, everyone erases her.
Exiled by trauma she never chose.

And that is the point of this book.

My Dark Vanessa does not exist to soothe or redeem.
It holds up a mirror.

To how we fail victims.
To how we demand they behave a certain way before we believe them.

Unlike most stories of abuse, Vanessa does not see her abuser as a villain.
Their relationship is built on what she believes is mutual respect — he loves her, worships her, always asking permission…

Permission to what?
To rape? To manipulate?

Vanessa is fictional.
But her story is not.

Girls like her are everywhere — silenced, shamed, erased by the very people who should protect them.

If this story teaches us anything, let it be this:

Believe the girl. Pay attention to what’s being said — and what isn’t.
Because the world may not be looking to save all the Vanessas —
but we can start by refusing to look away.

My Dark Vanessa is an explosive and unforgettable novel by Kate Elizabeth Russell.

Until next time,
Sheila

P.S. If this post made you think — share it. Let it be the start of someone else’s awareness.