Thank you for letting me read this. It wasn't really my thing, but I gave it a try. The writing was good and the characters were okay. I don't usually read books like this, so it's more of a it's me not you.

Though the style and content of this book is just average, "These Violent Delights“ by Victoria Namkung reveals its value through a socially important topic that is openly spoken - exposure to sexual abuse, and also hiding this problem from the public. The author brings us a worrying statistic that simply left me speechless. Did you know that in only about 350 of 1000 rape cases the crime is reported to the police? That only in about 60 of those cases there will be an arrest? That in only ten cases the perpetrator will be accused, and that only 5 perpetrators will serve a prison sentence, although without any real rehabilitation that could prevent the repetition of the crime? Aren't these data shocking? And do you imagine how many cases are left undetected at the very beginning?
The heroine of this novel is a young, wealthy girl who decides to use the last days of her internship in prominent newspapers to write an essay about the events that follow her from high school days. As a student of a reputable school, she was exposed to the inappropriate sexual behavior of one of her favorite professors. Although the case was reported to the leadership of the school and for which there were also indisputable evidence, the teacher was never punished, and for years later the perpetrator continued to work in the same workplace.
The essay disclosed numerous and very different comments from the public, but also encouraged other victims to share their stories. Its basic purpose, to prevent the perpetrator from repeating the crime and protecting the potential new victim, has slowly begun to be realized. With the advancement of the case we learn the stories of other young victims, whose lives have not only been altered because of their experiences but often completely destroyed. And the worst thing is that all that happened at the place that needed to provide protection, security and education for them. Isn't this really one of those topics we need to know more about? A topic that should not be a taboo... This book has certainly made a step in that direction and that's where lies its value. So, because of that, maybe we should be able to ignore not so perfect style and plot of the novel.

Let's address the obvious first... that title, that cover! Stunning. I received an ARC of this novel, but if I'd been browsing in a bookstore, that cover would have grabbed my attention right away. I would have been open to buying it before I even knew what it was about, and the blurb would have sealed the deal.

"Don't you find it interesting that these types of crimes against women- whether it's violence, sexual assault, rape- are the only kinds where we force the victim to make a case about their own innocence before even investigating?"

That quote features in the beginning of the book. I read it three times. I highlighted it. I shared it on Good Reads. When I'm highlighting five percent into a book, I know I'm in for something great.

This book is moving, powerful, and feels very topical. It details every last bit of a crime coming to light. An intern at a large newspaper named Caryn has a story to share, and it's personal. When she was only fifteen, her professor instigated a "relationship" with her. Because he wasn't punished, at first the reader may assume she didn't tell anyone, but she did. She told her parents, and they told the school. Still, nothing happened. That has never seemed right to her, and she thinks it's time the exclusive private school explains itself, and Dr. Gregory Copeland pay in some manner for his crimes.

She has help from a journalist she works with and greatly admires, Jane, who supports her every step of the way... and soon she has more allies in more women that were victimized by Copeland. Though their experiences vary in some ways, their stories are similar... clearly, this beloved English professor has a penchant for his teenage students and has had for years.

Not everyone believes the women, and of course the usual questions are raised. Why didn't they go to the police when it happened? Why wait until now? Why make such a public accusation? Maybe they have a personal vendetta against him, and are seeking to ruin his life for some other reason. Maybe the reporter just wants to make a name for herself. While this book is fiction, it doesn't read like it. It is extremely realistic about what the women have to deal with and the vitriol they face from the masses.

I think it's an important book and certainly worth the read. I'd rate it a 4.5 out of 5. My one niggle with it is the way the dialogue is written. Sometimes it was hard to tell who was speaking. I did really enjoy the different perspectives, but I think they could have been a little clearer. The story is told using everything from narrative to newspaper articles to comments and emails. That made it feel even more like something non-fiction you were watching unfold.

I received an ARC of this book from Net Galley and Griffith Moon Publishing, thank you! My review is honest and unbiased.

Victoria Namkung’s novel, These Violent Delights, concerns a scandal involving a private school for girls. The novel asks questions about the consequences of our actions. If bad things happen, someone pays. But is it always in the way we expect? Can justice ever be achieved even if society and the Law intervene?

The novel centres on a handful of women in an sexual abuse case involving the very popular Dr Copeland, the chair of the English Department at Windermere, a private school for girls in Southern California. At tuition of $38,000 a year, parents expect their children to have an excellent education in a safe environment, but everything goes to hell when newspaper intern, 22-year-old USC Journalism student, Caryn, confides in veteran reporter Jane that years earlier, Copeland made inappropriate comments to her followed by emails, and sexual overtures. Even though Caryn contacted the school administration about the situation, it was basically just covered up.

These Violent delights

Caryn, feeling strongly that her story should be told, writes an article about the problems at Windermere but doesn’t name the teacher. Soon several other young women approach Jane and Caryn with their stories. Copeland abused his position and his access to young, vulnerable girls for years.

In these days of social media and “online reaction,” all hell breaks loose. Caryn is vilified by some members of the public and lauded for her bravery by others. As more victims speak out and the story widens, Windermere administration is forced to publicly respond via a ‘Special Investigative Committee.’

There were times when I wasn’t sure where the story was taking me, but overall, the plot takes a predictable course. While many aspects of the story are black and white, interesting gray sections, the politics of the ‘Special Committee’ and “organizational loyalty,” (a term that I’d never heard before) remain unexplored. Institutionalized/organizational wrong doing, which must be the foundation problem here, still comes down to a few decisions made by one individual. Possible thought processes are mentioned rather than explored when it comes down to the choices made by this individual.

Although the story unfolds via the voices of several female characters, Dr Copeland remains a murky figure. These Violent Delights Have Violent Ends a phrase from Romeo and Juliet lingers over the novel with a sense of impending dread. These young women are permanently damaged–some much more than others. Dealing with the acknowledgment and shame causes a great deal of distress and pain, and ultimately, sadly, there seems to be very little ‘won.’

These Violent Delights is a book that takes a difficult subject (rape in general and child molestation particularly) and presents clearly all of the ways society makes it hard on victims who come forward.
That said, I expected a novel and got a sermon. This is not a book you need to read if you already have any understanding of how rape culture works. The author does not show, she tells. Repeatedly. It felt like she was really afraid we might miss the point if she wasn't extra explicit in giving ways that every female character in the book had faced sexism and rape culture and said something witty about why it was bad.
That said, I do appreciate that she let her characters be different from each other and didn't force us to see them as angels throughout.

This book focuses on current events like sexual assault. This books focuses on women coming forward after the fact to accuse a former high school teacher of sexual harassment.

The book is much to swallow, but it is carefully written! These violent delight talks about the wrongness of a teenager/ teacher relationship, and what it can do to the psyche of every still evolving human being. It is a hard topic, but I think the author handled it very well! She used different stereotypes of characters to explain every side of this dilemma and in some sections really spoke to my heart!
In my opinion it is a good book with an important message to tell! Never be afraid to tell the truth, and never let someone else tell you, how you should feel about yourself .
But sometimes it was a bit slow and there weren’t many surprises for me, on the bad side.
If you want to read a book about the victims of sexualism and abuse, this is just the right book to explain the insight of their feelings and what it changes inside them!

Honestly more of a 3.5 for me story wise but the authors writing style is very good so upping it to 4.

With a title like it has I picked this up thinking it would be more of a thriller, wrong on that. This is adult fiction that at times feels like non-fiction. Not my normal wheelhouse but I really ended up enjoying this.

The story feels right in line with our current climate and the prevalence of men in power being accused of inappropriate sexual actions towards women. In this story multiple women come forward with experiences of sexual relationships with a teacher.

I actually really liked the fact that the story focusing on the women and their experiences as compared to the teacher. This made it feel more personal and less exploitive. However some of the characters were still really hard to connect with, while you feel for them you don't necessarily feel them.

It did a great job showcasing the long term effects abuse has on people. I also really liked that this was not a "man-bashing" read, I think it makes the story more impactful and believable.

The relevance of this book as of right now, December 2 ,2017 would be ironic if it wasn't something that has been an ongoing problem for hundreds of years.

These Violent Delights by Victoria Namkung hold no punches. It gets straight to the point. This is a book about victims of a predatory popular teacher at a private all girls school. Alternating chapters between victims and a talented reporter, the story unfolds quickly.

This isn't an easy book to read. There are stories of a man taking advantage of young women and the aftermath. We learn how the assaults and manipulation of one single man affects the lives of these women.

There was a really profound sentence that I liked. "These men don't know the first thing about the violent truths of being born female." What a statement. What a statement to make in 2017.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and Victoria Namkung for the opportunity to read and review this book.

These Violent Delights is a deep, multi-faceted novel which touches upon a very emotive issues: teacher relationships (of a sexual nature) with pupils.

This subject matter is, of course, very pertinent to today’s issues, and though it might not be right to say it is an ‘enjoyable’ read, I did nevertheless enjoy it as it was engagingly written and very interesting. There was plenty of suspense, but it wasn’t a mystery because the reader knows from the beginning what has happened to certain people and who did this to them, but you’re never sure if Dr Copeland is going to get what he deserves - and, as the novel goes on, more and more of the teacher in question's behaviour is revealed.

These Violent Delights is an interesting - and at times, shocking too - read and I found it made me consider how I'd react to this, both as a young impressionable girl still at school and also as an adult, knowing how topical this issue is today. It's easy to see why someone very young would not know how to react, but not at all easy to see why the school in question would not take more direct and immediate action.

The story incorporates developments from a journalistic perspective and from the perspective of the victims themselves which I thought was really impactful. Both accounts are horrifying in their own way - we learn of some of the awful responses the public, school and other people have to the story breaking, and of course learning more about the calculated grooming by Dr Copeland himself is also really disturbing. The story presents everything in a realistic way and at some parts the story really hits home. I would recommend this to anyone looking for an interesting, thought-provoking read.

The subject matter of this book is very important and also very topical with all the sexual harassment stories in the news recently, but I don't think this book brought anything new or interesting to the discussion. From the premise I thought this would be set on campus and that the student comes forward with allegations of sexual harassment while she is still at school, which I thought could be really interesting, but that was not the case. It actually takes place some years later and was more like a news story as we follow the main character deciding to bring her story to the public, and what follows from then is very predictable and as you would probably imagine a story like this playing out. This could have still been an interesting read if the characters were written better but unfortunately they were very flat and cliched. The fact that a character with tattoos and dyed hair is the one with mental issues is such a lazy stereotype it's insulting. I read the whole book so I could review it fairly but I really had to force myself at times to get through it. I felt that certain parts of the story were interesting and could have been expanded upon, whereas other parts should have been edited down. Overall I didn't think this was an enjoyable or an important read.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect when going into this book. I loved the cover and when I skimmed the blurb, it definitely seemed like something up my alley. While the book had several positive points, it was overall underwhelming for me and kind of fell in the middle of the road as far as enjoyment went.

Overall, the message in the book was great. It was extremely supportive of survivors from all over the spectrum -- the MC often feels guilty and like her assault wasn't "bad enough" and is quickly disagreed with by the other characters. I also like how all of the survivors were their own people, they had different experiences, different histories, and different reactions. It demonstrates that anyone can be a survivor and that there isn't one "right way" to deal with things.

I felt like the writing itself could have used some more work. I didn't feel emotionally connected to any of the characters, and so the book wasn't as hard-hitting for me as it should have been. There was a romance that felt largely out-of-place to me and I wasn't sure why it had been included. There was some stuff toward the end that I felt was mostly for the sake of shock value and that added very little to the story, for me anyway.

I wouldn't steer anyone away from this book if they're interested, but I also don't see myself recommending it to anyone. I feel like there are better portrayals of assault survivors out there to read.

Before we start, can we talk about this cover? It’s eye catching and elegant. Definitely attracts a reader to want to read the synopsis, IMO.

This story couldn’t be more relevant to what we have been experiencing as a society. In the wake of the increasingly alarming stories of sexual assault being shared this book provides perspective from the victims; it will make you pause and evaluate how you, and others around you, support victims – or lack thereof.

The story follows 3 women who have been taken advantage of by their adult teacher: a family man who preys on 15 year-old students. They did not know each other then, but one’s story brings the unlikely group of friends together to expose a school’s beloved teacher and said school’s negligence in investigating previous complaints. It is such an important story, and the author did a great job of creating 3 different characters who experienced similar abuse but each were affected in different ways.

“Furious about a society that so easily casts doubt and blame on women as though we have nothing better to do than make up stories.” In reality most victims prefer to not speak out in fear of being shamed. Author, Victoria Namkung, takes you on a journey that will make you question what you would do, or how you would judge, in a similar situation.

The book is a quick read, and one I highly recommend to all.

I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.
This was my first experience with a NetGalley book and I am very impressed.

The publisher provided me with the opportunity to read this in exchange for providing feedback. (via NetGalley)

"Don't you find it interesting that these types of crimes against women --whether it's violence, sexual assault, rape-- are the only kinds where we force the victim to make a case about their own innocence before even investigating?"

That quote really stuck with with me throughout the book. In light of recent revelations, this topic of this book is kind of telling of how those react to an event similar to what occurs in the book. The victim shaming. The denial that there is a problem because they seem like a "nice person." How the victims react and cope with the trauma. Though there were some formatting issues that I suspect are largely due to this being an arc copy, I found the story to be well written and moved at a good pace and illustrated a topic that is often swept under the rug.

These Violent Delights is an easy-to-read novel that deals with a very important topic nowadays. Following the Hollywood scandal and all the Spotlight-like cases, I can't think of a more timely book today. However, although the topic is not a happy one, I didn't think the book was a particularly tough read, and that was kind of weird.

I enjoyed this book and I'm certainly interested in the topic, but I didn't feel emotionally attached to the characters, perhaps because of the structure or the writing (too much dialogue/articles/e-mails). It felt a bit like non-fiction in the sense that the importance relies on the case per se and not on the characters' experiences. We never witness their pain directly, only through their e-mails and texts.

Have you ever read a book and thought that you liked what was said but not so much how it was told? This was my experience with These Violent Delights.

I had recently read a book that dealt with domestic abuse and had not been too happy with the way the author had handled that subject matter. This author did not have that same problem. I felt that the issue of sexual abuse and abuse of power by authority figures was handled delicately and maturely. The story revolved around a former student who was interning at a newspaper and decided to share her incident through the news. This later led an investigative journalist, who was this student's mentor, to help track down other women who had faced similar issues with this same teacher. The author really showed what investigative journalism is like. I also liked that the author did not shy away from difficult aspects of abuse. The story was also very real about the physical and mental damage that comes with abuse, as well as the negativity that comes when people accuse someone of perpetrating the abuse. It was very insightful. I will say that I don't think this was really a story. From the way it was written to the actual events that were happening in the story, it felt more like a nonfiction book, which may throw off some readers. Either way, kudos to the author for doing a good job in chronicling sexual abuse in schools. I'm giving this a solid 3/5 stars.

This is a ripped from the headlines story of an abusive male teacher at an exclusive all-girls private high school, and the women that both live with and fight in the aftermath of his actions. When college student and newspaper intern Caryn writes an explosive expose about this Dr. Copeland's attempts to start a relationship with her at 14, many other women come out of the woodwork. Guiding the coverage of the events that follow is Jane March, Caryn's mentor at the paper and award-winning journalist. The reader follows Caryn, religious Eva and wild child Sasha as they come forward in the investigation and attempt to finally send Dr. Copeland to jail.

No doubt that this is an important topic, but as a reader I do not feel we got to know any of the women truly well, which made me less invested in their stories overall. We are told Jane is an amazing reporter, but instead of hearing about some of her past accomplishments we get a random romance with a former colleague (whom we barely get to know at all) and a one-page, also random story that is supposed to explain why she became a reporter in the first place.

Similarly we were told, not shown, that Caryn had strict parents who did not support her goals or dreams without one interaction/scene with her mother or father. The one character I got to know - and like - was Eva, mostly due to insight into her family life, interactions with her husband and openness with the other main characters.

Overall, a 3-star read that I wish would have been a bit more in-depth.

Thank you to Netgalley for this preview!

Blog review will go live from 3;30pm on Friday 24th November (UK time)

I received an ARC of These Violent Delights through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review. Although I wasn't able to read this book before its November 7 release date, I started it three days ago and flew through it.

The story follows three former students of the fictional Windemere School for Girls in Los Angeles, all previous victims of a predatory teacher who's been teaching at the school for nearly two decades. The novel is told largely through the perspective of main character Caryn, whose journalism internship at the Daily Trojan gives her the space and audience to write a personal essay detailing her experiences with this teacher. The publication of the story inspires several other victims to speak out, and the novel follows the investigation (journalistic and legal) and consequential actions of Caryn and the other victims' accounts.

Victoria Namkung weaves a very important narrative in These Violent Delights, one that is peppered with research of real-life statistics and that is especially relevant in today's media climate, when predatory, cis men are finally being held accountable for their abhorrent actions. This novel is uncomfortable to read, but not because it's poorly written - simply because of the sensitive subject matter and triggering content, including sexual abuse of minors, victim blaming, overt descriptions of rape, and suicide of a major character.

I think this book is well worth the read.

This book is a topical read amidst the #MeToo movement. You could feel that Numkang did her research very well, the story felt very realistic. But half of the time the book felt like nonfiction rather than a novel, I couldn't form any overly emotional bondings with the characters.