Review by Booklist Review
In her second book, award-winning journalist Percy (Demon Camp, 2014) trains a wide lens on sexual violence and how it's dealt with. Rather than seeking answers to the inhumane ways humans treat one another, Percy is concerned with how victims cope with the trauma and suffering caused by these cruelties. At its most interesting, Percy's inquiry embraces contradiction, particularly in studying how rape victims often behave counter to general assumptions (particularly by law enforcement), such as genuinely asking abusers if they had a good time, "freezing" and leaving their bodies, and even experiencing bodily pleasure, "something more unbelievable than nothing." She also intentionally muddies the narrative with the story of a rape victim who admitted to Percy that she lied under oath, and the ripple effects of this untruth. In perhaps the most damning testimony to the current state of things, Percy profiles three women serving time for killing their abusers, none of whom have been allowed clemency even after recent legislation makes the abuse they suffered newly relevant. Accessible reading on a difficult and necessary topic.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Percy (Demon Camp), a New York Times Magazine contributing writer, offers a groundbreaking exploration of women's often shamed and silenced responses to sexual assault. Confused by her own "accumulation" of passive reactions to sexual harassment, Percy wonders, "Why aren't we getting up and walking out?" Through extensive, empathetic interviews with sexual assault survivors, she examines a range of trauma responses, from freezing during a rape (known as tonic immobility) to post-assault symptoms like agoraphobia, dissociation, seizures in response to stimuli reminiscent of attacks, and increased sexual activity as a way of regaining agency. While these methods of self-preservation are deeply ingrained (Percy compares tonic immobility to prey animals playing dead), they also have "imprisoning powers," leading victims to suffer feelings of extreme guilt. Noting that "there is hardly any historical record" of these experiences from women's perspectives, she tracks down unconventional literary references and probes her own family's generational trauma. The latter helps reveal how she, like many women, learned passivity as a girl, taught to "accommodate the pain of others." Percy also emphasizes that the justice system's continued reliance on "believability" prevents victims who react to trauma in passive or "strange" ways from getting justice--but that fighting back, as women are exhorted to do, can lead to even worse outcomes (she relays the harrowing stories of three women imprisoned for killing their attackers). The result is a vital record of a little discussed aspect of women's lived reality. (Nov.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Trying to understand trauma. With an immense capacity for empathy and nuance, journalist and author Percy (Demon Camp, 2014) examines the challenging subjects of rape and sexual assault. It's only now, as accounts of women's experiences of sexual harm are beginning to be told--if still not always believed--that the field of analysis can begin to be explored with any great depth. Stories of rapes and assaults have long been out there, as Percy shows, from Ovid toThe Exorcist. Today, though, sexual violence is analyzed collectively and understood as a pattern. Percy deserves kudos for not shying away from even the most complex and controversial subjects, including the ways in which cut-and-dried prosecution and policing are in disharmony with the often confusing reactions that a person might have during an assault. "A lawyer had once told me that a majority of sexual assaults are not initiated by an attacker forcing somebody to acquiesce," she writes. "And she wondered, how are they able to do it? Why aren't we getting up and walking out? This was another question that troubled me. A question that contained my own passivity or, at least, accusations of passivity." In compelling, strong writing, Percy demands that we look at assault as a complex, multifaceted issue, one that stems from women's patriarchal conditioning--"we sometimes learn that pleasing is the best way to react." If the book falters, it might be in trying to be so comprehensive. A survey approach at times denies a degree of depth to subjects or creates disjointed elements. Nonetheless, Percy has done an excellent job of discussing an essential topic with understanding and sensitivity. The openness and willingness to consider the most difficult aspects of an already difficult subject are remarkable, as are the research and the understanding needed to tell these critical stories. A compassionate exploration of the history of assault against women. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
