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My Dark Vanessa: A Novel

Kate Elizabeth Russell

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INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

“\[An\] exceedingly complex, inventive, resourceful examination of harm and power.” —The New York Times Book Review, Editors’ Choice

“A lightning rod . . . brilliantly crafted.” —The Washington Post

A most anticipated book by _The New York Times_ • _USA Today_ • _Entertainment Weekly_ • _Marie Claire_ • _Elle_ • _Harper's Bazaar_ • _Bustle_ • _Newsweek_ • _New York Post_ • _Esquire_ • _Real Simple_ • _The Sunday Times_ • _The Guardian_

**Exploring the psychological dynamics of the relationship between a precocious yet naïve teenage girl and her magnetic and manipulative teacher, a brilliant, all-consuming read that marks the explosive debut of an extraordinary new writer.**

1. 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.

2. 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?

**Alternating between Vanessa’s present and her past, _My Dark Vanessa_ juxtaposes memory and trauma with the breathless excitement of a teenage girl discovering the power her own body can wield.**

Thought-provoking and impossible to put down, this is a masterful portrayal of troubled adolescence and its repercussions that raises vital questions about agency, consent, complicity, and victimhood.

Written with the haunting intimacy of _The Girls_ and the creeping intensity of _Room_, _My Dark Vanessa_ is an era-defining novel that brilliantly captures and reflects the shifting cultural mores transforming our relationships and society itself.

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Posts about this title from Boundless Press

[Boundless Press\\
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• Mar 10 2023](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[what i read in february + march reading plans](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/mWIn577YNk3RItr6n7a2/)

Use my code STORY to get your first Book of the Month box for only $9.99! (U.S). In Canada, grab your first box for $14.99 with code BLOOM!
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faqs
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Posts about this book from across Bindery

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[this video is pretty much me just trying to convince you to read some of my favorite books ❤️‍🔥 #bo](https://thebookwasbetter.binderybooks.com/item/4gR0iHHCniDeBtf4RxJv/)

this video is pretty much me just trying to convince you to read some of my favorite books ❤️‍🔥 #books #reading #booktok #booktoker #booktokfyp #bookrecs #bookrecommendations #fivestarbooks #fivestarreads #booksilove #myfavoritebooks #bookworm #bookstan #booklover #tbwb #thebookwasbetter #CapCut

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Short and sweet, do I recommend buying these books? Yes or no!?

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Can you believe I am somewhat on time with putting out a recap video?! Me either! I recorded a short and sweet, yes or no video including all of these books but if you want a little more (no spoilers!) here is the longer version!

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[My 2024 TBR (maybe)](https://boneyardpicnic.binderybooks.com/item/18A5tNnliK1DsKgA5Mo5/)

I don't like sticking to lists, I am a mood reader with an aversion to being told what to do - even if I am the one doing the telling. BUT if I did stick to a list this year, this would be the list!

Books Mentioned:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russel
We Spread by Iain Reid
Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier
Book Lovers, Happy Place and Funny Story by Emily Henry
The Warm Hands of Ghosts, The Bear and the Nightingale and Small Spaces by Katherine Arden
Cackle and Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison
The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison
Beautiful World, Where Are You? And Normal People by Sally Rooney
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
Spark of the Everflame by Penn Cole

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• Sep 11 2023](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[the 40+ books on my fall TBR 🍁🍂 fall book recommendations ☕️](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/7FKNu7gswDNKTyrPCLKq/)

tell me your fall book recommendations in the comments! 🍁🍂

🎃 books mentioned 🎃

Misc.
↳ rouge
↳ she walks in shadows
↳ silver nitrate

Dark Academia
↳ in these hallowed halls: a dark academia anthology
↳ vita nostra
↳ plain bad heroines

“Classic” horror
↳ rebecca
↳ interview with a vampire
↳ dark tales

Real World Horror
↳ natural beauty
↳ lakewood
↳ her body and other parties
↳ bad cree
↳ weight of blood

Vampires
↳ vampires of el norte
↳ a dowry of blood
↳ masters of death
↳ house of hunger
↳ the book eaters

Haunted House books
↳ a house with good bones
↳ she is a haunting
↳ the hacienda
↳ just like home

Deathly Retellings
↳ a haunting on the hill
↳ the death i gave him
↳ one for my enemy

Cozy fantasies
↳ legends & lattes
↳ the very secret society of irregular witches
↳ venco
↳ emily wilde's encyclopaedia of faeries

Fantasies
↳ nettle & bone
↳ gods of jade and shadow
↳ juniper & thorn
↳the wolf & the woodsman
↳ the bone orchard
↳ the adventures of amina al-sirafi

Other
↳ my dark vanessa
↳ station eleven
↳ glass hotel
↳ sea of tranquility

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com
💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs
🤍 how do you pronounce your name?
\- my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nuh-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc?
\- both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job?
\- aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!

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40 books

[Boundless Press\\
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Jananie\\
\\
• Mar 10 2023](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[what i read in february + march reading plans](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/mWIn577YNk3RItr6n7a2/)

💓 join as a channel member to get access to perks:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJn0v3OAEAX3-V4crjcHtRA/join

💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com
💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs
🤍 how do you pronounce your name?
\- my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc?
\- both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job?
\- aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!

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14 books

[Boundless Press\\
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Jananie\\
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• Oct 5 2022](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/)

[all 149 books i own but haven't read.... 📚🙈 YET \| 😳 my ENTIRE physical TBR 😳](https://boundless.binderybooks.com/item/LaGiDzdRY75n0CNRnp3z/)

I've done this video once before back in 2019 and I thought it was time for a refresher—here are all 149 books on my physical tbr! My hope with this video is that I'll be able to look back on it and check off all the books I've read in the future. Hope you enjoy!

The 2019 version of this video: https://youtu.be/TrGojZ8sHy0

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💌 for business/sponsorship inquiries please contact eric@smallscreenmarketing.com
💌 for all other inquiries please contact me at thisstoryaintover@gmail.com

faqs
🤍 how do you pronounce your name?
\- my name is Jananie—pronounced JEN-nah-nee (like a knee!)

🤍 what's your background/ethnicity/etc?
\- both my parents are Sri Lankan Tamil, and I was born and raised in Canada!

🤍 what is your job?
\- aside from youtube I also work in product marketing!

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97 books