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abbie_ 's review for:
When I Hit You
by Meena Kandasamy
4.5 stars
What a powerful and intense read! Despite its relative brevity, When I Hit You does not lack for impact - there’s a lot to unpack in these 250 pages, and I hope more people will pick this one up to raise awareness of the reality many domestic abuse victims live through. I’m sending my copy to Katie @well.read.redhead in an effort to put this book into one more person’s hands!
I was blown away by the sheer raw power of her words- I got off my train in a daze after just 20 minutes of reading the vitriol she was subject to at the hands of the man supposed to be her husband, her prose minces no words and cuts deep. Kandasamy is wholly unapologetic and honest in every possible way, I think all women and hopefully most men would be unable to read this book without being moved by it and empathising.
When I Hit You tackles every uncomfortable question concerning domestic abuse and marital rape, including the most smug and shaming: ‘Why did you let it happen to you? Why didn’t you just leave?’ In a great mini essay at the end of the book, it’s pointed out that no one should be able to finish the book and still feel the need to ask such a question, as Kandasamy lays it all out unflinchingly and makes it blindingly clear how ridiculous all the victim blaming surrounding these issues are, when the blame 100% lies with the perpetrator in every single scenario. The manipulation, the detachment techniques the narrator employs to stay sane, the ‘advice’ from her parents, all of it strikes a chord with the reader and leaves you thinking long after you put it down.
A raw, brutal and must-read account of a woman trapped in a marriage being bullied into obedience, her pleas for help going unheard or brushed off, culminating in a potentially deadly finale.
What a powerful and intense read! Despite its relative brevity, When I Hit You does not lack for impact - there’s a lot to unpack in these 250 pages, and I hope more people will pick this one up to raise awareness of the reality many domestic abuse victims live through. I’m sending my copy to Katie @well.read.redhead in an effort to put this book into one more person’s hands!
I was blown away by the sheer raw power of her words- I got off my train in a daze after just 20 minutes of reading the vitriol she was subject to at the hands of the man supposed to be her husband, her prose minces no words and cuts deep. Kandasamy is wholly unapologetic and honest in every possible way, I think all women and hopefully most men would be unable to read this book without being moved by it and empathising.
When I Hit You tackles every uncomfortable question concerning domestic abuse and marital rape, including the most smug and shaming: ‘Why did you let it happen to you? Why didn’t you just leave?’ In a great mini essay at the end of the book, it’s pointed out that no one should be able to finish the book and still feel the need to ask such a question, as Kandasamy lays it all out unflinchingly and makes it blindingly clear how ridiculous all the victim blaming surrounding these issues are, when the blame 100% lies with the perpetrator in every single scenario. The manipulation, the detachment techniques the narrator employs to stay sane, the ‘advice’ from her parents, all of it strikes a chord with the reader and leaves you thinking long after you put it down.
A raw, brutal and must-read account of a woman trapped in a marriage being bullied into obedience, her pleas for help going unheard or brushed off, culminating in a potentially deadly finale.