It was really what I needed. Dealing with my own feelings and thoughts of SA. The variety of experiences validated my own and in that there is not one way to deal with it.

What a powerful book! These women (including trans and nonbinary) have been through trauma, and it's changed their lives forever. There's no cure in the book; there's no myth of going through some kind of healing and then being all better. The stories are about what actions, coping mechanisms, or life changes have made their lives bearable, or better, or (from their viewpoints) worthwhile. There's quite a variety, even with just twelve stories. Two got into jock stuff: kickboxing and hockey. One...

This is just like a really incredible anthology--so many of the authors are so conscious of the world in which they're writing and living, and so resistant to the narratives of survivorship, and what that specifically means in this moment (2019, during #MeToo, etc.) So many of these essays are so good; I think my favorite is Gwen Benaway's essay, "Silence," but also Amber Dawn's "This (Traumatized, Kinky, Queer) Body Holds a Story," and "The Mother You Need" by Elisabeth de Mariaffi. By "good,"

Good. Tough read but necessary. There were a few factual errors (Bastard out of Carolina, the film, not "banned in Canada" though it was in three provinces. And, so far as i could find on google anyway, the "trans panic" murder defence has never been successfully argued in the US.)

Damn. I think this will be a book I will return to time and time again.

This was a difficult but necessary read. Each of the essays were validating in their own unique way, and there’s a lot to be learnt from every single one. I think one thing I took away from this is that silence is okay, and not speaking out doesn’t make you any less of a survivor - especially in a time where we’re told that survivors should be listened to, yet there is an expectation of survivors to be “perfect” and to be no longer dealing with their triggers and trauma. I appreciate that the un...

XXXXX Navigating life after sexual assault XXXXX“[In this book} you’ll find [twelve] essays from [sexual assault] survivors who have rebuilt their lives around, and in spite of, that black hole of trauma…This book says there is a way forward, even if it’s not the prescribed or sanctioned one we’re used to…With bravery, honesty, and generosity, these writers are creating connections from the raw material of their own experiences and making the days, months, and years a little easier for those w...

What made this such a great read for me was the lack on unity between the different essays. Each writer had a truly unique perspective that brought to light new understandings for me. It also made me want to try kickboxing. My favorite essay by far was, "This (Traumatized, Kinky, Queer) Body Holds a Story," by Amber Dawn. The opening line of the essay was, "I am a poor, white, small-town slut..."

This is the most important book I've ever read, and I don't expect another one to help me as much as this did anytime soon.

This took me a while to get through because the stories are heavy. I think it was an important read for me to hear these stories.

Finally, survivorship from the perspective of survivors: messy stuff, not needing to make a case that this is real and bad and happens, not presented as if there is one right way to cope or heal.This is a book that came to existence out of a real, unmet need: stories about living alongside trauma that doesn't quit, doesn't fit into a tidy package with a bow of closure on it, separate from the rest of your life after a montage sequence full of:you pumping iron and running laps and getting so stro...

All the essays in this book where very powerful! If you are a survivor of sexual assault, I feel this is a must read, it was for me. I found some parts really hard to get through, the emotional impact it had on me was indescribable. I was very pleased to see that two of the contributors of this book are trans women, that meant a lot to me!

Where has this been? This is the writing we need, the stories we need told. I don’t think I’m in a clear enough headspace to write any sort of review other than to say I ran out of the proverbial highlighter halfway through. Each woman, each essay, was uniquely their own and yet carried a piece, a facet of me in it. This is the handbook of handbooks - you are not alone, you are valued and you can make it through because there is no wrong approach.

I opened this book with hesitation, as I'm sure many women did, knowing that the stories inside would reopen wounds, remind us of times and memories we'd rather not linger in, and make us newly sad for the humans suffering through their words. Instead, I found story after story of recovery, a path each woman has taken to "get through" to the other side. No one is cured, no miracle is achieved, but by sharing the diverse routes we must carve out in our own lives, through our own unique pain, it m...

Where to start... This book was hard to get through and I mean that in a good way. We read 12 women’s coping stories after sexual assault. That on its own is a huge statement. They don’t go to far into their own sexual assaults, but it really teaches you that there is no wrong or right way to cope. I was in total shock and had to lay the book down to breath. I read passages to my bf and his face was in utter shock that things like this happen EVERY day.

I read the first chapter in a book store and cried. I felt acknowledged, heard and understood. Each chapter is written by a different author. While I recommend reading the book entirely, please read whatever you need to get you through. I ended up reading about 4 chapters in total that I could identify with in some way or another, and I've already recommended it to my friends and family to better understand what follows AFTER assault in a raw, true form.

DNF at pg. 76I LOVED the first essay (My Hand Becomes a Fist). Especially page 19 and the quote, "We say that fighting is violence, but here it was a kindness". The third essay (My Forbidden Room) didn't answer the prompt and didn't conform to the subject at hand. The second (The Goose) and the fourth (Skinny Days) were just plain weird. By the time I got to the fifth (The Salvation in my Sickness) I'd just given up hope and reading anything equal to or better than the first essay.

It took me forever to read this because it was so emotionally difficult. I don’t think I was ready until I was. My reigning thought over the several other thoughts I have is this: I believed I was alone even though I knew that statistically, I wasn’t. Survivors don’t speak about their experiences unless they are “good survivors,” who don’t truly exist. This anthology knocked down the barriers in my heart that made me feel isolated. I felt my emotions every time I read this. There were great piec...

validating“What do I want? To stop or continue? I want to be strong. I want to be good. I want to be fuckable. I want to be safe. I do not know. I do not know.” p.87

This book left a lot to be desired for me. I read it and there was 1 story that was exactly what I thought. It was well done. One was ok. A lot of the others I just felt were poorly written, or worse nonsensical. What I was looking for was a connection to their stories. To how life changed, to how they got through. I didn't feel that.