Maya’s Reviews > My Dark Vanessa > Status Update

"I just really need it to be a love story. You know? I really, really need it to be that." "I know, " she says. "Because if it isn't a love story, then what is it? "

I AM HEARTBROKEN

Untethered at the brain

"Come and be worshiped, come and be caressed
My dark Vanessa, crimson-barred, my blest"

Mr. Strane has taken everything from her. Would it be ignorant for me to say that he has ruined her? And on another note, the alternating timelines really emphasize the devastating impacts of childhood trauma.

She said “disconnected at the brain”. She said “why didn’t he stop when I started the cry”.

Mr. Strane gives her this drug that is suggestive words and actions that could easily be classified as flirting, and then he rips it away from her leaving her suffering from withdrawal symptoms. Consequently, Vanessa has this constant internal debate as she evaluates Mr Strane’s words and actions, trying to figure out what it all means. Mr Strane knows exactly what he’s doing.

Vanessa explains that even though she uses abuse to describe certain things that happen to her, when someone else uses in, the connotation morphs into something that only lets you see the situation from a much more narrow perspective. I think she is absolutely right which is why it’s so interesting seeing a victim/abuser relationship from this lense.