(SPOILERS) Beautifully written book about the author’s experience in high school and beyond with a predatory teacher obsessed with the book Lolita.

This was a difficult book to enjoy. The teacher was a repulsive “character” grooming his teenage student victim through flattery and secrets and humiliation. Throughout the wonderfully-written small chapters, I was uneasy and angry. My heart hurt reading page after page of his manipulation of his student.
The author reflects as an adult on her experiences with the teacher. There seemed to be gaps to the story that I’m sure were intentional but I wanted more. As a reader I wanted more information about how she healed and grew following the abuse and manipulation. As an avid reader and an English major I loved the new things I learned about Poe and Nabokov as well as how it felt to read about how much a teacher can help us grow from reading and questioning literature.

This would be an excellent book discussion choice.


Thanks to Flatiron Books and Netgalley for the electronic book. #bookstagram #books #bookstagrammer #flatiron_books @flatiron_books #alissonwood #beinglolita @literarytswift

“He read to me from the book in his bed, Nabokov’s lines, the opening of Lolita’s part two: It was then that began our extensive travels all over... I understood how romantic this all would be. How much like Lolita this really was.”

The year is 2001, 17 year old Alisson just returned to high school after bouts of depression and ultimately ECT therapy. She feels empty and unmotivated until a certain attractive English teacher starts to take an interest.

There have been and always be “Lolitas” in this world but damn, Alisson’s story is eeriely parallel to Nabokov’s Lolita - from her Humbert Humbert (re: Nick North), to the diary entries and everything in between. While some of these parallels Alisson admitted her 17 year old did on purpose (Nick gave her a copy of Lolita and glorified it in every way so she often embodied Lolita in her actions when she didn’t know what to do), most of them were just a coincidence and clear only on later reflection.

At the core of this story is ultimately the heart-wrenching story of a teenager and her abusive, manipulative, perverse, gas-lighting, Lolita-obsessed older lover.

I hate to say that I “liked it” but i couldn’t put it down. “Being Lolita” is a very well-written, raw, emotional, vulnerable and impactful book. I have no doubt it will leave a lasting impression on many.

Trigger warnings: sexual/verbal abuse, pedophilia, depression etc.

Cover art: 5/5
Audience: Adult
Memoir/Non-fiction

This book had so much potential but due to the format on the e-book not being edited yet, it was extremely hard to get through with all of the words smashed together in certain places which really took away from the book. I felt like it could’ve been written in a way that was easier to understand as it felt a bit choppy for me.

Alison Wood’s brave story should be required alongside reading whenever “Lolita” is required to be read. This side of the teacher/student relationship is rarely shared.

A compelling story, and I appreciate what it must've taken to write this, but the writing felt a little basic. And maybe this is because it was written from the teenage perspective, but the tone felt a little too lighthearted for the seriousness of the subject matter. Also worth mentioning that this is incredibly similar to My Dark Vanessa.

This book will break your heart, then pull it back together again through moments of healing. Alisson Wood is a gifted storyteller who uses a propulsive sense of plot to grip her reader and keep you turning pages. This is a story about a woman who decides to confront her past traumas from an abusive relationship with her high school teacher to better understand herself as an adult through a journey marked by tremendous self-awareness and unlearning of false narratives. What really elevates "Being Lolita," for me, is Wood's way of bringing her story full-circle and breaking the cycle of abuse in a classroom environment. As a teacher herself now, she writes movingly of being the kind of caring mentor who can see aspects of herself in her students. This is an urgent, timely read for our current moment.

Being Lolita by Alisson Wood, has been a heartbreaking privilege that has captivated me for the last week. I made the decision to read this memoir slow, a few chapters each night so that I could let each word resonate in me.

The author tells her own story, as it parallels the life of the ever popular, Lolita. Both young, both beautiful, both manipulated, both preyed upon, by older men.

This book is raw. This book brings up buried emotions. This book is uncomfortable. This book is important.

A coming of an age memoir of a young girl whom is groomed by her writing tutor while in high school. It is a shocking portrayal of the dark side of a man exoiting the innocence of a young girl. Fabulously written. Emotionally compelling.

Beautifully written memoir about the relationship between the author and her high school English teacher that lasted for two years, as he groomed her to be his Lolita. He was fixated on the novel and basically their entire abusive relationship revolved in a perverted way around the book.
Thanks to FlatIron Books and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

A sad story of abuse that read a bit like high school gossip; lots of details about notes and after school meetings. Tone didn’t meet the gravity of the topic.

The Kindle version had so many formatting issues it was impossible for me to read. No spacing between words for a page at a time. The book was interesting and I stuck with it as long as I could.

I look forward to reviewing an updated copy.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC for an honest opinion.

An important book a book through the eyes of the victim a young girl.A student who was groomed by her teacher step by step the author shares with us her memories.A book that would make for excellent book club discussions.#netgalley#flatironbooks

Being Lolita. Is an excellent book. This is a book which explores the grooming of a young girl by an high school English teacher. It is told by the young girl This is an excellent read for an young adult. To better understand. Why sometimes what we think of as love is obsession