Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Vanessa Wye could never be called a typical teenager. She’s wickedly intelligent, disorganized to a fault and prefers books to boys any day of the week. She also feels forsaken by almost everyone in her life. The only time that she feels truly seen is in Mr. Strane’s American Lit class. He speaks to her as if she’s a peer - not as if she’s just a child. He understands her on a level that no one else does. And it’s the most intoxicating experience she’s ever known. The repercussions of their forbidden relationship will bleed into every aspect of her life for years to come. Until the day when a single Facebook post shatters the illusion of the love that has come to define her. My Dark Vanessa is by far my favourite book so far this year! With her hypnotic debut, Kate Elizabeth Russell weaves a tale that is as disturbing as it is soulful. She made it so easy for me to relate to Vanessa on a very genuine level. I felt her isolation, her complexity and her turmoil as if it were my own. With every layer of her character that was peeled back, a more tender layer was revealed. I saw her as a fragile warrior struggling to hold together all of her jagged pieces. And her strength was awe-inspiring. This book clearly isn’t going to be for everyone. But for those who can look into the shadows and still see light, this is story that you will never forget…