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Undone, Undress
Louis' new roommate is shy, skittish, and flinches at the slightest sounds. He's an art major who gets drunk on cherry wine, wears lacy lingerie, and shows up late at night covered in bruises that blossom across his skin like flowers.
Obviously something is wrong. Louis just doesn't know what it is.
Obviously something is wrong. Louis just doesn't know what it is.
- GenresLGBTFan Fiction
300 pages, ebook
Published August 1, 2018
21 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 7, 2021
Rating: 4 stars? probably
I finished this book last night instead of studying for a test I had today. I then crashed my brain full of biology information and now I'm back and calm after finishing my exam. Therefore, this review might not be the best as I finished this book on a sleep deprived brain, without much time to process it after.
However, I will say that I absolutely loved how this book isn't linear. It shows that healing from something traumatic isn't something that can be neatly put away in a clean box. The representation here is just really great. The author did a great job at not romanticizing Harry's trauma and showing it in an ugly light. Harry has problems understanding consent and what it means, this was really uncomfortable to read at times because Harry and Louis have sex sometimes where the consensual line is really blurry. It's realistic though and it shows that survivors of sexual abuse often times develop unhealthy sexual habits and unhealthy ideas of what sex is supposed to look like. It shows that survivors of sexual abuse have more symptoms than just "feeling sad". They experience hypersexuality and are sometimes conditioned to enjoy harmful sex or sex in a way that most people don't. Survivors who experience this often feel ashamed of feeling this way, in the book Harry once says that he had a dream he was being raped by his ex-boyfriend and that he enjoyed it. Those thoughts can be confusing and shameful and having it be acknowledged that it is common to have these feelings and thoughts and that it happens makes it easier to deal with. A lot of people stopped reading this book because of the consent issues, and while I completely understand as I felt myself get uncomfortable at times as well, I do think it had a purpose and it's lovely to see that representation here.
This book also deeply emphasized how Harry had to be the one who saves himself and while Louis might be able to help, he can't save Harry. This is so so important. When I had mental health issues in the past, I'd find myself putting off dealing with them because my mind had it engraved that someone else would help? That was so stupid. Nobody can help you if you don't help yourself and it's so nice to see it be talked about here as a lot of books have a savior trope going on when dealing with heavy topics.
Another thing I enjoyed was the mention that Louis was realizing that always putting Harry first and making sure he was okay was starting to drain him. It is so usual for movies and books to have the whole "I'll always be there for you, you're never a burden to me" thing. Because, while that may be true, it is important to acknowledge that sometimes it can be so mentally draining to be with a person dealing with mental health issues. And that's okay. It's normal. It's normal to feel overwhelmed at someone else's issues sometimes and that doesn't get talked about enough.
The plot itself was nice, I found this book moved really slow to the point where we were nearing the end and I had no clue if it would have a happy ending. The pacing it understandable though and I kind of liked how Harry didn't just "get better", even in the end it's mentioned that he relapses a couple of times and he has trouble with his thoughts at times and again it circles back to the fact that healing isn't linear. Time helps him heal and his therapist's advice and knowing that he is loved helps him, but he still has trouble at times and that okay. It's okay to not have a tied up ending. I actually quite enjoyed the ending, it made me emotional. It was a small monologue about healing and revisiting your trauma and acknowledging that it exists but keeping it in the past at the same time and it just hit so close to home that it made me feel heard and seen and just really lovely writing.
Overall, this book was nice. I really enjoyed it and I loved the playlist too. I listened to some songs while reading and there's a song mentioned here that Harry sings and I am absolutely obsessed with it: "My Love Took Me Down To The River". It's so good and ahh. The music really sets the vibe and I love that so much.
The characters outside of Harry and Louis weren't developed too well but Harry and Louis were lovely. More Harry than anything else. His character development was interesting. It was also nice to see their relationship grow and see their cute and soft moments.
I also really liked Harry's artwork and how it's used in the book. The author talks about how Harry uses his abuse and he turns it in for a class assignment: He's been photographing himself with bruises from his ex-boyfriend. They talk about how fucked up it is and I found that really great. Because while in my mind the art is beautiful, it also talks about how at times people romanticize abuse for the sake of a good artistic piece and how what Harry was doing isn't okay. That being said, it did sound like a really good art piece and I would've loved to have been able to see it.
There are just bits and pieces in here that I love so much. It feels like an educational book and I just enjoyed reading certain scenes and being pleasantly surprised and how differently the situation was handled from other books.
Overall, I really really enjoyed this book and it felt really important in a way. I just really liked the progression of everything and how the author handled the important topics.
Reading Thread:https://twitter.com/loveonsapphic/sta...
I finished this book last night instead of studying for a test I had today. I then crashed my brain full of biology information and now I'm back and calm after finishing my exam. Therefore, this review might not be the best as I finished this book on a sleep deprived brain, without much time to process it after.
However, I will say that I absolutely loved how this book isn't linear. It shows that healing from something traumatic isn't something that can be neatly put away in a clean box. The representation here is just really great. The author did a great job at not romanticizing Harry's trauma and showing it in an ugly light. Harry has problems understanding consent and what it means, this was really uncomfortable to read at times because Harry and Louis have sex sometimes where the consensual line is really blurry. It's realistic though and it shows that survivors of sexual abuse often times develop unhealthy sexual habits and unhealthy ideas of what sex is supposed to look like. It shows that survivors of sexual abuse have more symptoms than just "feeling sad". They experience hypersexuality and are sometimes conditioned to enjoy harmful sex or sex in a way that most people don't. Survivors who experience this often feel ashamed of feeling this way, in the book Harry once says that he had a dream he was being raped by his ex-boyfriend and that he enjoyed it. Those thoughts can be confusing and shameful and having it be acknowledged that it is common to have these feelings and thoughts and that it happens makes it easier to deal with. A lot of people stopped reading this book because of the consent issues, and while I completely understand as I felt myself get uncomfortable at times as well, I do think it had a purpose and it's lovely to see that representation here.
This book also deeply emphasized how Harry had to be the one who saves himself and while Louis might be able to help, he can't save Harry. This is so so important. When I had mental health issues in the past, I'd find myself putting off dealing with them because my mind had it engraved that someone else would help? That was so stupid. Nobody can help you if you don't help yourself and it's so nice to see it be talked about here as a lot of books have a savior trope going on when dealing with heavy topics.
Another thing I enjoyed was the mention that Louis was realizing that always putting Harry first and making sure he was okay was starting to drain him. It is so usual for movies and books to have the whole "I'll always be there for you, you're never a burden to me" thing. Because, while that may be true, it is important to acknowledge that sometimes it can be so mentally draining to be with a person dealing with mental health issues. And that's okay. It's normal. It's normal to feel overwhelmed at someone else's issues sometimes and that doesn't get talked about enough.
The plot itself was nice, I found this book moved really slow to the point where we were nearing the end and I had no clue if it would have a happy ending. The pacing it understandable though and I kind of liked how Harry didn't just "get better", even in the end it's mentioned that he relapses a couple of times and he has trouble with his thoughts at times and again it circles back to the fact that healing isn't linear. Time helps him heal and his therapist's advice and knowing that he is loved helps him, but he still has trouble at times and that okay. It's okay to not have a tied up ending. I actually quite enjoyed the ending, it made me emotional. It was a small monologue about healing and revisiting your trauma and acknowledging that it exists but keeping it in the past at the same time and it just hit so close to home that it made me feel heard and seen and just really lovely writing.
Overall, this book was nice. I really enjoyed it and I loved the playlist too. I listened to some songs while reading and there's a song mentioned here that Harry sings and I am absolutely obsessed with it: "My Love Took Me Down To The River". It's so good and ahh. The music really sets the vibe and I love that so much.
The characters outside of Harry and Louis weren't developed too well but Harry and Louis were lovely. More Harry than anything else. His character development was interesting. It was also nice to see their relationship grow and see their cute and soft moments.
I also really liked Harry's artwork and how it's used in the book. The author talks about how Harry uses his abuse and he turns it in for a class assignment: He's been photographing himself with bruises from his ex-boyfriend. They talk about how fucked up it is and I found that really great. Because while in my mind the art is beautiful, it also talks about how at times people romanticize abuse for the sake of a good artistic piece and how what Harry was doing isn't okay. That being said, it did sound like a really good art piece and I would've loved to have been able to see it.
There are just bits and pieces in here that I love so much. It feels like an educational book and I just enjoyed reading certain scenes and being pleasantly surprised and how differently the situation was handled from other books.
Overall, I really really enjoyed this book and it felt really important in a way. I just really liked the progression of everything and how the author handled the important topics.
Reading Thread:https://twitter.com/loveonsapphic/sta...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2023
okay so i have a bit to say about this one. it was really good on the whole like i loved the blurb and it’s mysterious-ness so i decided to read it. there were bits where it felt very repetitive, like the chapters were just the exact same and everything, so if the author were to edit it, i’d say it would be worth condensing the story just because some chapters could have been left out and it wouldn’t have changed the story whatsoever. but anyway it was really good and touching how it ends, i’d be lying if i said i didnt tear up. however it didnt feel much like a plot or anything like it didnt feel like they meet, this happens, leads to this and then the thing at the end and then the actual ending or anything it kind of just felt like it wasn’t planned out or anything but other than that i don’t think there are any complaints. would recommend and i don’t think i’d say no to reading again xx
January 26, 2022
I DID NOT READ THIS BOOK!
This is a fill in for Brave Love by Angelichl, because it’s not on here and I needed a fill in.
This is a fill in for Brave Love by Angelichl, because it’s not on here and I needed a fill in.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews