"This idea that an occasional false accusation is a more serious problem than thousands of actual instances of abuse or assault or rape enrages me like nothing else." <----- THIS.

This book is so important and so relevant. It focuses on numerous women who were sexually abused as teenagers by the same man. The story felt so realistic and the book itself was very gripping and addictive. I enjoyed reading this and I think everyone should read it.

We got a look into the different character's minds through different POV's but it felt like a very shallow look into their thinking and their life (outside of the sexual abuse). It was easy to see how the sexual abuse impacted them but I felt like I needed more because they didn't feel entirely three-dimensional. I also found it hard to connect with the main characters. Although I could sympathise with them, I felt quite distanced from them. The one really good thing about some of the characters is that you could feel the anger that they had, it was so palpable that it felt like it was just pouring out of the book. I feel like that anger was Namkung's and of course she is angry because I'm angry and women and men all over the world are also angry at the way society deals with sexual assault and harassment. So I felt like Namkung was good at putting that anger and frustration into some of the characters but the characters needed more.

The writing was very good. Namkung wrote quite logically about the facts of sexual abuse, rape, victim-shaming, etc but I could still feel her frustration and anger coming out. The book was a good blend of logic and emotion while still telling the story.

I would recommend it and I would read more books by Victoria Namkung.

*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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“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?”

"He could claim that I made the entire thing up for attention, although why any young woman would want this type of attention is beyond me."

"Contrary to our society’s everyone-getsa-ribbon mentality, not all opinions need to be amplified."

"It’s so bizarre because I haven’t spent much time thinking about him in recent years, but I guess the past is always there, simmering."

"They also write to say that most sexual assault and rape accusations are false. They don’t cite studies or crime statistics from police agencies. They just know."

"I didn’t think anyone would believe me because in our culture, being a woman often means no one believes you until it is too late."

"I’m still furious. Furious on behalf of myself and other victims. 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. Furious about the fact that men like this believe they are entitled to do what they please, regardless of laws, common sense, or decency."

“Sometimes getting the thing you want most feels different than you thought.”

"The stigma around sexual abuse, and child sexuality in general, is pervasive, and survivors often mention not coming forward sooner (or ever) due to deep shame, confusion, and an unyielding fear of not being believed."

It took me a few days to get through this book, but mainly because it wasn’t what I expected. It was slow to take off, but the ending was outstanding. I’d give the final 40% of the book five stars.

3.5 Stars for this interesting look at sexual abuse by educators. Explores the typical guilt, blame, shame of any exploitative situation. Nothing really new here, but fairly well done.

As an intern, Caryn didn’t expect her writing to get too much exposure, but when she submits an article about the sexual abuse of her former teacher at Windemere Academy, she unleashes a firestorm as other women come out to state their claims that the same teacher did something similar to them, the teacher who happens to still have a job at the same school. These Violent Delights by Victoria Naming is a raw and uncensored peek into the world of sexual harassment, adolescence, and culpability, as well as consent and justice. It seems that now more than ever, we need a book like this to shake up the conversation.

The story Caryn tells is one that many people have probably heard before, a teacher gets too close, she feels uncomfortable, then when she brings it up to the authorities, or the people that are supposed to protect her from the perpetrator, they don’t do much about the situation. A little slap on the wrist, at best. This happens more than we can ever know in this country. Hearing Caryn’s story makes me sick, especially have I have a daughter. When Caryn starts to receive emails from other girls who have been in the same predicament that she was in with the same teacher, she starts to feel less alone, and more like they can actually do something about the trauma that they all endured.

This book is written beautifully, it’s not too heavy where you feel like your re getting punched in the stomach by the information, and you will be rooting for Caryn to get her justice after all these years. Naturally, there are the naysayers within the book, the people that don’t believe her, and of course the person that’s screaming “WHY NOW?” but as you watch Caryn rise above them, you can’t help but be proud as if she was one of your own children.

Thankfully, I have not experienced the trauma of sexual abuse, though I have been sexually harassed before (to be honest, I don’t think there is a woman alive who hasn’t been at some point in her life), but reading this story made me want to stick up for all the people who have been treated wrongly, unfairly, and to seek justice and get the answers they deserve. When your family and your school won’t stick up for you and do what’s right, then you have to do it yourself. I give this book 5 out of 5 stars, it was incredible. Thank you to Netgalley for sending me this book.

THis is the book to read this year! What a fresh take on a delicate subject. The writing is so crisp, clear, and concise. I could not put this book down. I ravenously read this book, like it was the last book on Earth. In the end, I wanted more.
I thought that the author really looked at the subject of sexual abuse by a teacher and offered many view points from the victims, the school, and even how it would affect a victim later in life.
A breath of fresh air to the genre....LOVED IT!

These Violent Delights is a poignant story of three women who were sexually assaulted in the past, by a well loved English professor from their all girls private school, Windemere. In the present they come forward with their stories. The stories are gripping, and a very REALISTIC look at how a predator seeks out, grooms, and abuses a victim. It's also an all too real story of the failures of our justice system. Victoria Namkung does a fantastic job combining relevant message with entertaining story.

This story as a whole highlights the failure of our culture surrounding sexual assault. The shaming and blaming of victims. Raising young women to think that being assaulted is ok or their fault. That being sexually assaulted is a shame they should keep private. It is an extremely relevant story, and I hate giving it less than five stars because of that, BUT even though this story was told in multiple POV's I never really felt connected to any of the characters. Even though each characters stories were extremely emotional, outside of them it was hard to connect.

Do I think this book is a game changer? Yes. I think young women/people should read this, because it could make them feel brave, and realize that they are not alone. I think they should read this because it could open up their eyes to what they may have been naive to before. I think that this book gives a reality that is hard, but is REAL.

This book may cause tears. It may cause anger. You may even feel happy. It's worth every emotion.

This started out a little rocky for me I wasn’t immediately drawn in. Perhaps I needed a little more world and character building before jumping into the heart story. I also found the dialog to be slightly strange and a little hard to follow at times. But as the book progress it got really good and I was glad that I stuck with it.

This story itself is an important one, it shows just how easy it is to be a victim and not really understand what happened and to even blame oneself for what occurred. In this case a popular teacher with a since of power and charm prays on his young students for years while the school seems ignore any warning signs that something might be going on. Each victim having a different experience with similar threads of how they were impacted. This book does a good job of highlighting different levels of abuse and the effects it has on the victims; even many years after the crime. It also explores the many reason victims stay silent and how sexual assault still seems to be a crime that has many people questioning the victim’s role.

I would recommend this book and it would a be a great book club book so many things to talk about.

Thank you NetGalley and Griffith Moon Publishing for the ARC of These Violent Delights by Victoria Namkung.

This was a difficult novel to read, yet an important one. When a private girls' school alumnae writes an essay for a leading newspaper about her experiences with her high school English teacher's sexual advances, the flood gates open with other girls sharing similar experiences. The novel takes the reader from from the writing and publishing of the essay through the lives of some of the women involved and the aftermath. I am thankful to the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to be an early reader in exchange for my fair and honest review.

The story of women who years later, speak out about sexual assault at the hands of a trusted high school teacher.
Well written with extra detail in each subsection of the story. The stories of several women and their lives ,the past and the unfolding story play out in chapter form while leading the reader through the novel.
I truly enjoyed the wordiness and descriptive detail in every statement. I found myself interested in and enjoying to be learning more about Korean mothers as an added bonus because each detail is so well described and discussed. I appreciate the extra time and detail in the book, the penal codes referenced in the legalese, the detailed description of Sashas eyes in the salon chair,
This book is a great medium between a casual read and an in depth detailed drama.

I didn't finish this. The characters seemed too stereotypical to hold my attention.

I gave this book five stars, but I would give it way more if I could.

These Violent Delights: A Novel adresses a topic of such importance I feel like everyone should read this book.

As the blurb indicates, the plot is rather serious. Four women team up to get justice - for themselves, for other women with the same history and for the girls who might be suffering from the abuse of the very same teacher now just like they did some years before. The novel addresses all the parts relevant to such an undertaking: The publishing of the first voice, the public outcry, the hate comments and threats, the aftermath. What I personally appreciated the most was that the novel does not (how I initially expected to be quite honest) end with the trial; it does not give the impression that everything is going to be alright afterwards.

The writing style is impressing and every woman is given her own, individual voice. I found it remarkable how it is achieved that I pictured every single character in my mind and deeply felt with her even though this novel is comparably short.

The only negative thing I could possibly say about this novel is that the beginning felt a bit abrupt to me at the time, but considering what follows I really didn't mind that at all in the end.

I could say so, so much more - how this novel made me angry, had me giggling, broke my heart and finally reminded me of the importance of my role as a teacher - but I would like to simply leave this here and urge everyone to read this book themselves. I found it terribly sad, empowering and highly important.

This book could not be more topical. Namkung deals with the issue of sexual abuse in the elite private schools in a stunning way. The book is a wonderful read, moving swiftly between the characters who co-narrate the story.

It fictionalizes everything we have seen in the news during the past months as so many scandals have been brought to light. I happened to have read the book during the days of the Harvey Weinstein sex abuse scandal.

The writing is so clear, concise and fascinating that it almost reads as non-fiction written by an ace investigative journalist. It is certainly the first cousin to the true life SPOTLIGHT. The catalyst of the story is Caryn who is an intern at an LA newspaper. Caryn writes an essay about her seduction by a very popular teacher, Gregory Copland. Of course, other victims come forward, as do his supporters who blame the vulnerable victims for the crime.

Namkung manages to infuse a lovely note with the touching relationship between Caryn's mentor, Jane, and a fellow journalist. The conclusion is satisfying since we do understand that victimization of the young leaves lasting scars that cannot be erased even when the criminal is punished.

I work with future teachers and a charter school network, so this book is a must read for every teacher, administrator and parent. I consider reading this book both an awakening and a privilege.

This is undoubtedly an important book dealing as it does with sexual grooming and abuse in an exclusive girls school. Namkung has lots of strong things to say about cultural pressures on girls, sexualisation, power politics, cover-ups and so on - but for all the good stuff, she's not a natural novelist and this frequently felt clumsily put together. A powerful, necessary story wrapped up in a narrative that feels more YA than adult.

I literally read this book in one sitting, I could not put it down! This is a great book! It is a heartbreaking story of young women introduced much too early to real life and how that introduction has shaped them.

Sharing a similar encounter three women from very differeant walks of life are brought together to take down a shared demon, with the help of a strong journalist who wants to see said demon brought to justice. This story hits so close to home for me, personally, and for many of my friends. In some ways it hits quite close to home for all women.

Such a good story and a must read, especially for men and women who find themselves judging the victim.

'There are so many sharks circling around young girls- in the streets, online, and in their very own “safe” schools- it truly makes me sick!'

Dr. Gregory Copeland, chair of the English department, now a married father, beloved, popular with parents, staff and students and for many years seducer of young, lonely girls. The past is about to come calling, karma is ready to collect from Dr. Copeland a pound of flesh! Caryn is an intern working at a newspaper, under her idol Jane, she composes an essay, exposing a secret from her past as a student at the prestigious school Windmere and the sexual abuse she suffered while there. They want to go forward and publish the essay in the paper, and Caryn is struggling, she knows it will ruin a life, divide the community. She isn’t a victim in the sense of the usual word, you can’t see her wounds, she wasn’t left bleeding to death somewhere in an alley or ditch. Just what is a victim composed of? She feels sorry for her abusers children, wife, and for all those people who are going to see their favorite teacher’s darkest side. Is it worth ruining so many lives over such a small transgression, one she feels complicit in, as so many young girls are made to feel? But what about the school, Windmere and it’s own complicity in turning a blind eye? What will her family think? Shouldn’t she have just put this all behind her?

Sometimes it takes one person to give other victims the courage to speak. Dr. Copeland has an eye for the girls that need something, whether it’s praise, attention, a shoulder to cry on, literature, and he knows how to manipulate them into sexual favors. 15 seems to be his lucky number, girls on the cusp of womanhood, still unsure in their developing bodies, just noticing male attention, both unwanted and sometimes welcome. Some stay silent, even from affluent families, hesitant to ‘bring shame’ upon their grand family name. Others know maybe they won’t be believed, but too- the girls believe this is love, deceived into thinking the shame is solely their burden.

Eva is a mother now, has kept her shameful secret from even her husband, and she must face the repercussions of omission in her life. It’s an interesting spin, I think, for the author to take on. That on top of carrying around the shame of having been manipulated as a young girl, Eva as a wife must too feel shame for ‘not being completely honest’ with her husband, appearing again as ‘deceptive’ through omission. Of course he feels wounded, spouses are supposed to share everything, no? But how is a woman to share all when she hasn’t come to terms with it herself? Jesse is a good man, there are good men in this novel, it’s not a ‘man- hating’ story. Of course, not all women are so lucky in real life. Many cultures over, the shame always seems the woman’s to wear.

Sasha’s fury is fueling her on. Far more angry than the others, the pain radiates off her skin still. He knew just how to work each girl into giving in. With Sasha’s bookish ways, lonely home-life, and lack of friends, Copeland knew how to win her trust. Sasha enjoyed it, the attention, the forbidden love that made her finally feel special, struggling with guilt because she began to seek him out too. He brought literature to life, those deep love stories with his words. That is how they hide, these abusers, knowing how to leave young naive victims hungry, both enthralled and disgusted with themselves. When things got too real for Sasha, a problem very ‘adult’ he tucked tail, shut her out and left her with the aftermath. The taint of it is still staining her soul, it’s time to see him brought down, it’s time to come together with other victims.

This special ‘club’ of victims, one no one ever wants to be a member of, come together under the support of Jane, a reporter whose big story becomes personal. The community is divided, and the support some people feel for Dr. Copeland, rallying behind him, is like a gut punch, like being victimized all over again. As the investigation picks up steam, it seems everyone has something to say, more stories come out from other former students, and it becomes eye-opening just how many girls are victimized, but let it go, seeming like such a ‘small thing’, like a creeping hand on the knee, or intimate, inappropriate private conversations. In a time when we teach our children to speak up if something happens, so much still does, because navigating an adult’s world and actions can get muddy in a young child’s mind. Women have a hard enough time exposing abuses, how much worse is it when a young girl is lured in and shamed by the pleasure she feels of attention? How does a girl expose and label something when she isn’t even sure anything has happened? Maybe in her naive mind she just ‘misinterpreted’ what the adult intended to say? Abusers know just how to lurk on the edge, they test the waters, they are always keeping themselves safe until they know they have control of the situation, then the arrogance is shocking, as with Sasha and her encounters with Dr. Copeland.

Why do cover-ups even happen, in the most progressive and prestigious institutions? Sometimes, the silence is worth keeping dirt off the illustrious school’s name, even if it means leaving a wolf in the mix. Some victims heal, some were broken before being further victimized by life and where it takes them. There is triumph, and tragedy. The important thing this novel does is open a conversation, it’s chilling to think that a mother or father may read this novel, and their own child could be experiencing such a seduction by a teacher, a coach, etc. These things are happening more than we think, just turn on the news.

Most women can remember being in school and I think at least one girl who bragged about being with an ‘older guy’, which seemed ‘star-crossed’ or exciting maybe. Maybe some of you were shocked, disgusted, envious? Ask any two people, male or female, if they think the young girl is complicit? There will be many who think she is, because we’ve forgotten how insecure and needy the young are. How adult they trick themselves into feeling, but an evolved mind should know adults should never cross that line. That with young girls, and let’s not forget boys too, it’s easy for someone more experienced to manipulate them, what place in time is lonelier and more confusing than your teenage years? It’s exciting to play at being a grown up. It happens to the wealthy and the poor, every ethnicity and social standing, there isn’t a child alive that it couldn’t happen to.

Sexuality can feel powerful too, in both boys and girls. Adult attention can feel both humiliating and empowering, it’s a strange time in life. To be both a child and adult, in everything happening with hormones, the mind becoming so much more aware, testing their sexuality, flirting with the edge, some get too far ahead before they are aware of the danger they’re in. But what of that adult, guiding them over the cliff? You hear it all the time, ‘well look how old he/she looks and acts.’ As if a teen with an adult body is game. Let’s really think about the victims here, because it is not the ‘adult.’

Provocative, a wonderful selection for any reading group. As important today as it will be tomorrow.

Publication Date: November 7, 2017

Griffith Moon Publishing

I devoured this compelling novel thanks to brilliant writing from Victoria Namkung, through the voices of each of her well developed characters, as she chronicles the aftermath of trauma!

I didn't like this book at all, for such an important issue, I feel that the writing style was very robotic and disconnected.

I didn't think the romance of th editor Jane and Ben added to the story either.

I truly could not get myself in to this book. The writing style was very editorial and did not make me feel even remotely invested in the characters. I appreciate the attempt at tackling an important issue, but the author couldn't even make the victims sympathetic in the slightest.

It is hard to call this a novel, because it certainly read like a journalistic essay more so than a story with a solid plot and good characters. While it's an extremely important subject, and I commend the author for taking on something of this magnitude and handling it in a responsible and thoughtful way, it is not what I expected. I felt much more as though this were being explained to me rather than going along with the journey of the story. I also couldn't keep up with all the characters switching into 1st person narratives.

These Violent Delights
Victoria Namkung
Available: November 7, 2018
Thank you to NetGalley.com for the opportunity to read an Advanced Reader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I was lucky enough to be able to attend a “elite” all girls high school in Los Angeles – I really hope none of the grody male teachers at my school ever thought of doing something like this. I know it does happen; my heart goes out to anyone who has been manipulated by someone in a power position like this. The way each victim deals with their experiences was beautifully written – each was at a different stage; each was trying to move through it the way they knew best.
What I loved: I loved how three very different women came together to fight the injustice of what happened to them in high school – and that the outcome for a majority was favorable. By showing that being open about the experiences and having a support system there to help, these women were able to show that you can get through even the worst of experiences.

What I didn’t love: The romance between Jane and Ben seemed a little out of place within the story – why? I would have rather seen more of Caryn’s relationship with her parents with the juxtaposition of Eastern vs. Western values and cultures or Caryn try and date someone. Her scars were deeper that she was realizing and that would have made an interesting aspect to the novel.

What I learned: Every person needs to be taught they are worthy so that no one can take advantage of them.
Overall Grade: B

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