when vanessa is looking at the mirror trying to see what strane sees but is frustrated because all she sees is a little kid my heart broke and i had to put the book down
When I saw the title I immediately thought “ugh it’s gonna be all self help books” but then the thumbnail had none and I was intrigued and then when Hannah said “I despise self help books” and that none were being read - I got very excited.
@AFL Rookie my issue with self help books mostly lies in that it’s not interesting watching people read and review them. I have no issue with anyone reading a self help book and enjoying it. To be fair, I don’t read them due to finding a lot of them engage in too many generalisations and suffer from pressures of the publisher in requiring page quantity over content quality, though I am sure there are much better ones than I have found. In any sense, due to the intimacy relating to the nature of one’s engagement with a self help book, watching someone engage with it is not wildly interesting.
My dark Vanessa for me was definitely pure catharsis. Obviously, everyone is different and has a different reaction to the trauma but I found this book to be so accurate in the description of coping mechanisms. One of the best books I've ever read!
i love these experimental videos of yours! maybe you could try a sort of "5 books from around the world" or "reading a book from every continent" or country/continent specific books?
There’s too many countries to choose from to represent a continent, after all, different areas of a continent can be VERY different to other areas. Unless, you choose to read multiple books from each continent (If you were to read a book from the north, east, south, and west of that continent), even then, the more popular countries will always get their literature chosen.
I really appreciate your response to Dark Vanessa! I haven't read it yet, but Lolita is my all time favourite book. I wrote my dissertation on the manipulation techniques used by the narrator. People often tend to mistake positive reviews for books of this kind, but I can't agree more that I despise what this book is about, yet love they message it touches upon. Thank you!
Lolita is my all-time favorite too. 💕 I first read it many years ago when I was 16 and it defined and formed both my taste in literature and my sense of aesthetics like nothing else. Pale Fire is brain-meltingly brilliant as well. No one can do it like Nabokov.
Have you read Being Lolita by Alisson Wood? It's a memoir about her story of a teacher grooming her using Lolita as the basis of their "love story". Highly recommend it.
My Dark Vanessa really helped me to address some of the internal shame I have for the way I thought and acted as a 15 year old in a heavily sexualised society.
You described "My Dark Vanessa" perfectly. I have read reviews where they call this a "romance" - this is not a romance people. It is EXACTLY as described in this video. Hard to read; brilliantly written.
My Dark Vanessa really brought to life the *nuance* of grooming via a 15yr old’s perspective. As adults reading about it, we KNOW the legal, ethical, and psychological ramifications to grooming, but a 15yr old DOESN’T - or doesn’t really believe it. I really could understand where Vanessa was coming from in the beginning when she talked about her relationship with the teacher. It was new, exciting, people wouldn’t get it. You feel mature because you’re dating an adult, and you assume that they are treating you like an equal partner. Some of the scenes almost read as erotic, because *they would be* to a young girl who’s got no real concept of relationships and sex. And as the book goes on, you start to see the cracks in the fantasy she’s built in her mind, and how it’s difficult for her to separate her 15yr old fantasy for what was, and how it damaged her. As readers we see it, but she spends half the book debating with herself - and other people - about what that relationship truly did to her.
As a chubby, brown, frumpy person, I have never been THAT girl. Now, with two kids and staring down middle age, I've decided to give up trying. It's amazingly freeing.
Interesting to me that "THAT girl" is supposed to be an aesthetic that celebrates health, clean eating, exercise etc when "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" is ostensibly the opposite of everything that the aesthetic stands for. I re-read "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" when I'm feeling burned out or in a depressive episode, so it's weird to think that it's been adopted by girls practicing an aesthetic that's all about health and wellness
I mean maybe they do that to plunge themselves in stuff that they really don’t understand? Realistically, I know that for most people being that girl is extremely tiring and “burning-out” if I may so reading about a horrible privileged prick being hella depressed is probably cathartic to them. But, in an attempt to be positive I’m just going to say that they are trying to experience something just so far from their own personal experience, like how I enjoy reading about absolutely horrible people because I just can’t understand how they perceive the world.
I think Urban Dictionary is wrong or Booktok has it wrong. Because all the "that girl" books are about depression and sadness and bad mental health choices. P.s. I reread The Bell Jar every time in a depressive episode. I feel like we could be sad girl soulmates lol.
im honestly surprised that these are the books recommendations to be "that girl", coz in bookstagram these selections are recognized as "sad girls" recommendations instead of promoted as the latter. since mostly the recommendations for "that girl" selections are mostly... well, booktok recommendations, aka the classic coleen hoover stuff, and lots of romance books.
That girl is definetly not a"wealthy lifestyle" or at least not neccesarily. I'd define "that girl" as a sad hot girl, and also a girl who is hard to reach if you are jst like everyone else
@Trinity M Talk about projecting… As my comment made it pretty clear, it was an hypothesis of why people would enjoy the book based on what the video told me about it. I have absolutely not an ounce of interest in my body to read it and I haven’t. Where do you see me claiming to have read it ? Like the comment I’m replying to is curious about how girls focused of health and productivity enjoy something at the antithesis of their own motto and lifestyle, so I offered guesses based on context clues because I thought it was an interesting question. How do you have the nerve to go around telling people that intellect “has died on this platform” (as if early youtube was ever the intellectual sanctuary 💀) meanwhile you can’t even pick up on basic context clues I-
I love how Russel showed that Strane was able to groom Vanessa bc he took advantage of the fact that she felt out of place and lonely and didn’t have a good support system. He ingrained in her that she’s different and unique, she’s mature and dark, so Vanessa didn’t question why Strane was even talking to her, she should’ve just been grateful Strane liked her. Russel did a great job in portraying his behavior as “nice and sweet” but when put into context you can see how he was manipulating her from the start.
The fact Vanessa wanted to wear her mom’s lingerie while he bought her cute pajamas showed that she wanted to appear mature bc that’s what he told her he thought of her, but him buying her those pajamas is a clear indication that he never liked Vanessa bc of her “maturity”, he knew she was a child and wanted to emphasize that.
i just want you to know that the subtitles have corrected “that girl” to “batgirl” like 75% of the time (or at least given context clues i assume you are not talking about batgirl) and it’s absolutely hysterical
something I love about my dark vanessa is an emotion she experiences towards the end where she meets with the other girl, and she gets really angry with her because ‘how is that bad? how is that worse? how is something a little as that worse than what I felt’ and I remember feeling that way at 15 when someone would vent that problems which while I knew were totally valid but their reactions only pissed me off because in my mind I’d be thinking how is that worse than my life right now- I read my dark vanessa the week it came out and I still think about it to this day
I loved that scene too. I just finished reading the book a few days ago. I appreciate how I could get frustrated with Vanessa because she dismissed another person’s trauma but I also still sympathized with her
Oh my GOD yes!!! That little nuance was BRILLIANT. Bc I have actively thought that, I know in a moment of pain I’ve said it as well, but the thought still bubbles up sometimes & I don’t think it’s an emotion that gets addressed enough. And it’s crazy bc obviously, you feel guilty for feeling that way, but you also need your experience & your own pain to be valid, more so than someone else’s, like if anyone has the right to be hurt, it is me- so why are you making such a big deal about it when you experienced a fraction of what I did??And obviously it’s pent up anger & confusion, a lack of understanding & perspective. Like now I know that peoples thresholds for trauma are different, like some people who experienced things I did wouldn’t be able to go on & other people would be able to cope much better than I did. Or two people can go thru the same thing, one can come out traumatized & the other can just accept it & move on..sorry for the rant, but I’m just in awe of how well she captured these thoughts and feelings
i loved hearing your thoughts on My Dark Vanessa so much. that book has stayed with me for so long, especially the part when she talks about how it feels kind of inevitable, ”that threat of violence. You grow up wondering when it’s finally going to happen.“ just. disturbing, deeply relatable, phenomenal.
At first when I saw my dark Vanessa described as a “that girl” or a “hot girl” book I was super offended because that book is deeply personal to me and I think is way more than a tik tok stereotype.. that being said your review alleviated that anxiety and I agree with everything you said, particularly the stuff about being inside and outside of a situation as well as thinking you know everything when you’re younger but knowing nothing now. You put it very eloquently :)
‘hot girl books’ on tik tok are more supposed to be about dark things like depression, grooming, eating disorders, anxiety, etc…. Not self help and fitness. That’s more like the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic.
I DID read My Dark Vanessa again shortly after the first time, because it made such an impact on me. It was one of my best reads last year, hands down.
I think that books by Joan Didion, Eve Babitz and Donna Tartt would also fall under this category - although I'm still trying to fully grasp the "that girl" concept, I'm too millennial lol
I definitely agree with you about My Dark Vanessa. It is impactful, hard-hitting, and thought-provoking without relishing in the trauma and disturbing nature of the topic as some other books do. It is written in a way that sheds light on a situation that no one wants to look closely at because it's disturbing and unthinkable to those of us lucky enough to have never experienced it, while being respectful and gentle. I have loved your videos so much lately! I'm glad you've been posting more!
I read My Dark Vanessa when it was released back in 2020, and you put into words everything i felt/feel, but haven’t been able to express ever since i read it.
I’ve read all of Sally Rooney’s books from Normal People, Conversations with Friends,to Beautiful World, Where Are You? And among the three I like Conversations with Friends more.
I'm so glad you ended up liking Conversations with Friends! I had a similar experience of being underwhelmed by Normal People and then taken aback by Conversations with Friends. It's a book that really made me think and feel things, and it has stuck with me! I am definitely interested to see what you think of Beautiful World, Where Are You? if you get a chance to read it!
i just finished it yesterday actually! i unfortunately didn't like it 😅 i found it pretty boring apart from one chapter towards the end. overall it felt like it had some of my least favorite aspects of normal people but it was even more boring loll
@@AClockworkReader Lol I had a feeling you might not like it! I feel like the characters were more unlikeable and not much of anything interesting happened. I did appreciate the conversations she tried to create with the letters between the friends, but it has been a few months since I read it and I honestly couldn't tell you anything else about it lol
i’m reading my dark vanessa right now and your POV is SPOT ON. I saw some negative reviews of people saying it was glorifying abuse but I think they are reading it in the lena of a love story which is missing the whole point
Love two Taylor references! Loved this. Also intrigued to read my dark Vanessa, it’s been sitting on my shelf. When you said “it’s not black and white” I gasped because the cover is black and white, thus the whole point. !!!
This just sold my dark Vanessa for me. I initially had no desire to read it since it's such a heavy topic that I knew it would piss me off if it wasn't handled with care & nuance but hearing you talk about it made me so intrigued that I literally had to pause the video to order it from Jeff Bezos 💀
My favourite part of conversation with friends is that due to it having very few characters the slightest change in dynamic can be observed in the nuances. For example, before Francis slept with Melissa’s husband Melissa asked Francis if she wanted red or white wine and Francis said white and Melissa mentioned later in the conversation that there’s something “appealingly evil” about red wine. After Melissa found out about the affair she immediately gave Francis a glass of red wine... SALLY ROONEY’S MINDDDDD!!!
Those quotes you read from My Dark Vanessa were the exact moments that hit me, too. This story means so much to me & I'm so glad you saw all the nuance in it.
just wanna say how HAPPY i feel every time i see you plug your journal!! i always look over to my shelf and give it a wink and/or finger guns (i accept judgement for this, but not criticism). anyway, i've always wanted to get into journaling but i don't feel artistic enough to attack a blank page. your journal has finally unlocked that for me. i can't make the pages be pretty, but that's ok because you already did it for me! so i just gotta fill in the blanks and i love that. ok enough gushing, back to watching the video.
I had the same reading experience that you did with My Dark Vanessa. It’s beautiful, and awful, and such an important read, but so hard to recommend. I’m recommending that my husband read it though. We are the parents of two white daughters and I think it’s important that he sees this perspective of a young white cis gendered female. Also, I gave it four stars for the exact same reasons!
@@AClockworkReader I’d love to see what you think of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, if you haven’t read it already. Definitely has some very creepy scenes. It was almost cathartic to me to read though, I love it :)
i know that it’s still quite a few months away but maybe for the winter months you could do a “5 cosy mysteries” type thing. i’ve been loving these video btw 🫶🏻
VIDEO IDEA: take a book you dislike, and re-read it backwards to see if you'll like it better. Details: So you would read through the epilogue first if one exists, then read through the last chapter, then the penultimate chapter, and so on until you get through the first chapter or the prologue. Testimonial: This experiment actually worked for me with _The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry_ by Gabrielle Zevin. The reading experience becomes a set of nested flashbacks (flashbacks within flashbacks) like it's Inception or something.
okay im all emosh: these videos are so warm and comforting and hilarious. i hope youre having a blast with this series, and that youre just well in general. 💕
My Dark Vanessa is the type of book that really stuck with me. I read it a while ago, but I still think about it sometimes. Which rarely happens to me. Not an easy topic to read about, but I loved it. Brilliantly written also.
After this I definitely need to read My Dark Vanessa but it'll probably take me a while to get to. I read Know My Name by Chanel Miller last month and I had a lot of the same feelings about it as you had about MDV. I would definitely recommend it if/when you feel like you can read another book about SA.
Based on the last book in this video, a video reading feminist theory or just 'feminist' books could be interesting. On one hand, I think most people don't know where to start with feminist theory so having recommendation would be nice. On the other there are a lot of 'feminist takes on X' books that would be interesting to read all in a row and see what is successful and what isn't. Or even what tropes there are. If the fact that a book is trying so hard to be feminist actually makes it a not-like-other-girls kind of book (see Circe).
Great analyses. I'm definitely not going to read Dark Vanessa, but it was really interesting to hear from you about it. Also, your hair is so so so beautiful
I loved Moshfegh's "Death in Her Hands" which is her most recent book. Granted, I'm a huge fan of MYORAR (although I agree, the way people talk about it always feels off to me), but I thought it was a very different kind of book in terms of character and plot, while still having that Moshfegh style. I think that Moshfegh is a master of first person narratives, and getting into the psyche of her characters is always the major pleasure for me. I think "Death in her Hands" is r more subtle with the pain and strangeness of the character. It was a little more intellectually challenging, while also more thrilling.
@@happyjellycatsquid it was the first book i read after getting back into reading (i stopped for a couple yrs cause i was busy) and it made me contemplate quitting reading again lol
I'm so afraid about getting another Sally Rooney's book cos I really got bored at reading Normal People, and like what you said it lacks depth, I think the book isn't for me but I get it if others enjoyed it because it is super relatable especially when you're on your 20's. Btw I'm happy to know you liked My Dark Vanessa, it's one of my favourite book, it's disturbing yes, it's heart wrenching, everything you said about it is just how I felt ☺️
really enjoyed this experiment video! I feel like you really captured the spirit of the "That Girl" reading aesthetic, and I enjoyed your thoughts. The only book that really jumped out for me personally in this video was My Dark Vanessa. I have owned it for a couple years now but know its not one to go into lightly. Your analysis of it was really interesting though, and I'm definitely interested in what my own thoughts will be
I came to get your thoughts on My Dark Vanessa and I think you hit the nail on the head. I totally agree with your take. That book was so deep and thought provoking.
I just finished My Dark Vanessa and I completely agree, it's definitely the kind of book that I'm glad I read but I hated reading it. I don't think I had understood how statutory rape really played out before I read this and it that sense, I needed to read it. One of my favorite quotes was "Now, it only strikes me as embarrassing, like every other outgrown phase"
When she said something like that my dark vanessa felt like the most important thing she had read, i thought of Thirst by Kerry Hudson. It is one of my favourite books for that reason. It is very well written, an important story to be told, but it is very dark.
I love these videos - and I love watching how much you clearly enjoy making them, even when the books don't turn out. Hearing you've got a bunch of other theme ideas for videos makes me so happy!
I liked my year of rest and relaxation. And the ending made me see IT in a totale different light and totally shocked me tot me all emotional all of a sudden. Especially the racism you mentioned that dame together in the end.
Hannah! Your channel was the literal first one I ever found that introduced me to booktube and I'm so happy to see you posting more regularly again. 😊 that being said, your feelings on My Dark Vanessa matched mine exactly - I couldn't really explain to others why I liked it, but your words touched my heart. Loved this video and hope to see more from you!
I’m so ready to read, “My Dark Vanessa” and sob my eyes out honestly❤ I think the way you describe it is so nuanced and articulate! If it describes healing and empathy then I am hopefully this book will impact me in a heartbreaking and heartfelt way❤
Me: born in 1995 Hannah: slightly historic Me: 👵🏼 😂😂 but seriously Hanna how do you manage making a 42 min video seem like 10 mins cuz it was sooo goooood ❤️!!
Definitely not that girl,literally on my bed working and procrastinating and listening to music till it hurts my ears and reading fanfiction. Also...I DESPISE self help books too Except I bought atomic habits because Pinterest told me to and I have read two pages which kind of did sound good.... Love ur videos:)
14:26 I love how u relate it to New Year's Day because Taylor Swift loves this book a lot and her bf Joe Alwyn is starring in its upcoming series adaptation
ohmygosh, finally found someone who loves conversation with friends more than normal people. i had literally the same reaction as you. when I watched the series at first, I was BLOWN away, the acting was phenomenal, the directing was superb, everything was just perfect. but when I read the book afterwards, I was soooo underwhelmed. i thought sally rooney wasn't for me. but THEN came along conversation with friends. its sooo well written and as you mentioned, there's this certain vulnerability that was decisively absent from normal people. i was also pleasantly surprised with how relatable CWF was, to the point where I felt like miss sally was literally inside my brain. all in all, CWF> NP
I like these videos so much! Taking books from a certain category and still having them be very different is so much fun! Here are some of my ideas: • 5 middle grades to make me feel like a child again • 5 scary books to make me sleep with the lights on • 5 short books to make me feel like a fast reader • 5 academia books to make me feel like a professor/student • 5 cover buys to see is you can judge a book by its cover 🤷🏼♀️🥰
I just binged all your experiment videos and I really want more! I'd like to see you do a horror novels one, a thriller and a sci-fi novels video! I think you would have a lot better time with those because honestly the fantasy genre especially the YA fantasy genre and the YA genre in general is just absolutely saturated with the same 10 tropes and bad writing and the exact same main character. There are just a lot of really bad books in YA because it's so popular that a bunch of people are just trying to cash in on the craze. So they're writing to make money not because they actually have a story to tell or they're a good writer.
I think you should read Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan since you really liked Conversations with Friends and My Dark Vanessa. I feel like Acts of Desperation is very similar to those books. It’s one of my favorite books of all time!! It’s so good and so important!
This is a great video! I have “ My Dark Vanessa “ sitting on my shelf so I was excited you spoke about it also just purchased your reading journal 💫☺️📚
My Dark Vanessa made me feel SO seen, and I loved your analysis of it. It’s such a heartbreaking, beautiful story. I guess I’m a *tHaT gIrL* now. 💁🏻♀️
Really enjoying all the videos in your experimental series! I love your critique of books -- very insightful and emphatic and bold. I truly cannot wait for the next one!
I completely agreed with what you said about Conversations with Friends and Normal People being similar & either liking one or the other. Personally I liked Normal People better but that was just because I related to Marianne a LOT. I had an incredibly similar experience of high school to her (being an outcast etc), and I'd hardly ever read a book that actually showed that experience (I think Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is the only other book that really came close) so it just made me feel incredibly seen, and it helped me to process a lot of the high school trauma I still have even now. Reading Conversations With Friends after that, I honestly just found it kind of... okay, but maybe not brilliant because it was a bit too similar. So I definitely agree that it depends on the reader and which book they relate to most
when vanessa is looking at the mirror trying to see what strane sees but is frustrated because all she sees is a little kid my heart broke and i had to put the book down
I haven’t read my dark Vanessa and holy shit even reading it summarized by you that’s hard to read
When I saw the title I immediately thought “ugh it’s gonna be all self help books” but then the thumbnail had none and I was intrigued and then when Hannah said “I despise self help books” and that none were being read - I got very excited.
my self help is not reading self help loll
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I subscribe to idea put forth by Alice Cappelle that fiction can be used as self-help
why would it be self help lol
@AFL Rookie my issue with self help books mostly lies in that it’s not interesting watching people read and review them. I have no issue with anyone reading a self help book and enjoying it. To be fair, I don’t read them due to finding a lot of them engage in too many generalisations and suffer from pressures of the publisher in requiring page quantity over content quality, though I am sure there are much better ones than I have found. In any sense, due to the intimacy relating to the nature of one’s engagement with a self help book, watching someone engage with it is not wildly interesting.
My dark Vanessa for me was definitely pure catharsis. Obviously, everyone is different and has a different reaction to the trauma but I found this book to be so accurate in the description of coping mechanisms. One of the best books I've ever read!
Agreed. I loved it.
Loved this book. Top 10 for me
Yes. Author was so smart to narrate a story using victim’s POV then made it seems romanticized while actually portraying how horrifying it is
totally agree!! want to reread it soon :)
@@daisyfruity3040 I have not read my dark Vanessa, but I did read a book when I was younger called Treacherous Love and it sounds pretty similar!
i love these experimental videos of yours! maybe you could try a sort of "5 books from around the world" or "reading a book from every continent" or country/continent specific books?
ohhh I love that!!
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I love this idea, feel like doing it myself. Just got to get myself motivated!!
There’s too many countries to choose from to represent a continent, after all, different areas of a continent can be VERY different to other areas. Unless, you choose to read multiple books from each continent (If you were to read a book from the north, east, south, and west of that continent), even then, the more popular countries will always get their literature chosen.
you should do “i read 5 popular horror/psychological thrillers” :)
I second this!
Yess this would be amazing!
agreed!!
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I just finished "The Perfect Marriage" by Jeneva Rose over 3 days ago, and I'm still thinking about that book....I'm reading "My Dark Vanesssa" now
“I don’t do anything and I don’t go anywhere” - literally me not leaving my bed for 3 days straight cause I literally had nothing to do yaaaaasss
me for the past 3 days editing this video nonstop
@@AClockworkReader we love the pointlessness of life woohoooo
@@kirbysnap *yes we do :D*
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Dude I wish because even when I’m deeply depressed I just physically have to pace around hysterically 💀
I really appreciate your response to Dark Vanessa! I haven't read it yet, but Lolita is my all time favourite book. I wrote my dissertation on the manipulation techniques used by the narrator. People often tend to mistake positive reviews for books of this kind, but I can't agree more that I despise what this book is about, yet love they message it touches upon. Thank you!
Lolita is my all-time favorite too. 💕 I first read it many years ago when I was 16 and it defined and formed both my taste in literature and my sense of aesthetics like nothing else. Pale Fire is brain-meltingly brilliant as well. No one can do it like Nabokov.
Have you read Being Lolita by Alisson Wood? It's a memoir about her story of a teacher grooming her using Lolita as the basis of their "love story". Highly recommend it.
@@carolandrews Cool! Thanks for the recommendation:)
My Dark Vanessa really helped me to address some of the internal shame I have for the way I thought and acted as a 15 year old in a heavily sexualised society.
I’m thinking I should maybe pick it up now. I’m only 18 though I feel it might be too fresh and recent
@@katiefield3396 potentially still sensitive!
You described "My Dark Vanessa" perfectly. I have read reviews where they call this a "romance" - this is not a romance people. It is EXACTLY as described in this video. Hard to read; brilliantly written.
My Dark Vanessa really brought to life the *nuance* of grooming via a 15yr old’s perspective. As adults reading about it, we KNOW the legal, ethical, and psychological ramifications to grooming, but a 15yr old DOESN’T - or doesn’t really believe it. I really could understand where Vanessa was coming from in the beginning when she talked about her relationship with the teacher. It was new, exciting, people wouldn’t get it. You feel mature because you’re dating an adult, and you assume that they are treating you like an equal partner. Some of the scenes almost read as erotic, because *they would be* to a young girl who’s got no real concept of relationships and sex. And as the book goes on, you start to see the cracks in the fantasy she’s built in her mind, and how it’s difficult for her to separate her 15yr old fantasy for what was, and how it damaged her. As readers we see it, but she spends half the book debating with herself - and other people - about what that relationship truly did to her.
As a chubby, brown, frumpy person, I have never been THAT girl. Now, with two kids and staring down middle age, I've decided to give up trying. It's amazingly freeing.
Interesting to me that "THAT girl" is supposed to be an aesthetic that celebrates health, clean eating, exercise etc when "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" is ostensibly the opposite of everything that the aesthetic stands for. I re-read "My Year of Rest and Relaxation" when I'm feeling burned out or in a depressive episode, so it's weird to think that it's been adopted by girls practicing an aesthetic that's all about health and wellness
I mean maybe they do that to plunge themselves in stuff that they really don’t understand? Realistically, I know that for most people being that girl is extremely tiring and “burning-out” if I may so reading about a horrible privileged prick being hella depressed is probably cathartic to them. But, in an attempt to be positive I’m just going to say that they are trying to experience something just so far from their own personal experience, like how I enjoy reading about absolutely horrible people because I just can’t understand how they perceive the world.
I think Urban Dictionary is wrong or Booktok has it wrong. Because all the "that girl" books are about depression and sadness and bad mental health choices. P.s. I reread The Bell Jar every time in a depressive episode. I feel like we could be sad girl soulmates lol.
im honestly surprised that these are the books recommendations to be "that girl", coz in bookstagram these selections are recognized as "sad girls" recommendations instead of promoted as the latter. since mostly the recommendations for "that girl" selections are mostly... well, booktok recommendations, aka the classic coleen hoover stuff, and lots of romance books.
That girl is definetly not a"wealthy lifestyle" or at least not neccesarily. I'd define "that girl" as a sad hot girl, and also a girl who is hard to reach if you are jst like everyone else
@Trinity M Talk about projecting… As my comment made it pretty clear, it was an hypothesis of why people would enjoy the book based on what the video told me about it. I have absolutely not an ounce of interest in my body to read it and I haven’t. Where do you see me claiming to have read it ? Like the comment I’m replying to is curious about how girls focused of health and productivity enjoy something at the antithesis of their own motto and lifestyle, so I offered guesses based on context clues because I thought it was an interesting question. How do you have the nerve to go around telling people that intellect “has died on this platform” (as if early youtube was ever the intellectual sanctuary 💀) meanwhile you can’t even pick up on basic context clues I-
I LOVE THAT YOU'RE SO DAMN CONSISTENT NOW ILYSM
i’m trying my best 🥲💗
🤪
I love how Russel showed that Strane was able to groom Vanessa bc he took advantage of the fact that she felt out of place and lonely and didn’t have a good support system. He ingrained in her that she’s different and unique, she’s mature and dark, so Vanessa didn’t question why Strane was even talking to her, she should’ve just been grateful Strane liked her. Russel did a great job in portraying his behavior as “nice and sweet” but when put into context you can see how he was manipulating her from the start.
The fact Vanessa wanted to wear her mom’s lingerie while he bought her cute pajamas showed that she wanted to appear mature bc that’s what he told her he thought of her, but him buying her those pajamas is a clear indication that he never liked Vanessa bc of her “maturity”, he knew she was a child and wanted to emphasize that.
@@fernydykeomg this is so dark its not even something that rlly dawned on me while reading But ouchie thats so sad
I think the only good thing about the “that girl” trend is that it’s encouraged people to read more books!
100%. books are flying off of the shelves these days due to tik tok. Honestly kinda proud of gen z lol
i just want you to know that the subtitles have corrected “that girl” to “batgirl” like 75% of the time (or at least given context clues i assume you are not talking about batgirl) and it’s absolutely hysterical
at one point, I thought she said ‘fat girl reading list’ I felt attacked lmaoo
@@io2255 lol
@@io2255 I heard that too!
I did not have subtitles on. So thank you for informing me about this! I’m so happy now
something I love about my dark vanessa is an emotion she experiences towards the end where she meets with the other girl, and she gets really angry with her because ‘how is that bad? how is that worse? how is something a little as that worse than what I felt’ and I remember feeling that way at 15 when someone would vent that problems which while I knew were totally valid but their reactions only pissed me off because in my mind I’d be thinking how is that worse than my life right now- I read my dark vanessa the week it came out and I still think about it to this day
I loved that scene too. I just finished reading the book a few days ago. I appreciate how I could get frustrated with Vanessa because she dismissed another person’s trauma but I also still sympathized with her
Oh my GOD yes!!! That little nuance was BRILLIANT. Bc I have actively thought that, I know in a moment of pain I’ve said it as well, but the thought still bubbles up sometimes & I don’t think it’s an emotion that gets addressed enough. And it’s crazy bc obviously, you feel guilty for feeling that way, but you also need your experience & your own pain to be valid, more so than someone else’s, like if anyone has the right to be hurt, it is me- so why are you making such a big deal about it when you experienced a fraction of what I did??And obviously it’s pent up anger & confusion, a lack of understanding & perspective. Like now I know that peoples thresholds for trauma are different, like some people who experienced things I did wouldn’t be able to go on & other people would be able to cope much better than I did. Or two people can go thru the same thing, one can come out traumatized & the other can just accept it & move on..sorry for the rant, but I’m just in awe of how well she captured these thoughts and feelings
i loved hearing your thoughts on My Dark Vanessa so much. that book has stayed with me for so long, especially the part when she talks about how it feels kind of inevitable, ”that threat of violence. You grow up wondering when it’s finally going to happen.“ just. disturbing, deeply relatable, phenomenal.
I love these videos! You should make one reading your 5 star predictions!!
I’ve been so excited for this video! You’re literally THE comfort booktuber for me. 💓
hope you enjoy it! 💖
At first when I saw my dark Vanessa described as a “that girl” or a “hot girl” book I was super offended because that book is deeply personal to me and I think is way more than a tik tok stereotype.. that being said your review alleviated that anxiety and I agree with everything you said, particularly the stuff about being inside and outside of a situation as well as thinking you know everything when you’re younger but knowing nothing now. You put it very eloquently :)
‘hot girl books’ on tik tok are more supposed to be about dark things like depression, grooming, eating disorders, anxiety, etc…. Not self help and fitness. That’s more like the ‘clean girl’ aesthetic.
@@io2255 that is the most insane thing I’ve ever heard. One day this comment will be in a textbook
I DID read My Dark Vanessa again shortly after the first time, because it made such an impact on me. It was one of my best reads last year, hands down.
I think that books by Joan Didion, Eve Babitz and Donna Tartt would also fall under this category - although I'm still trying to fully grasp the "that girl" concept, I'm too millennial lol
your intro quotes always hit. also the amount of effort put into this hannah you truly are a gem
thank u 💕💕
hearing your opinions on conversations with friends is my top priority rn
Hannah could be THAT girl or whatever girl she wants to be. 💕💕
I definitely agree with you about My Dark Vanessa. It is impactful, hard-hitting, and thought-provoking without relishing in the trauma and disturbing nature of the topic as some other books do. It is written in a way that sheds light on a situation that no one wants to look closely at because it's disturbing and unthinkable to those of us lucky enough to have never experienced it, while being respectful and gentle.
I have loved your videos so much lately! I'm glad you've been posting more!
I read My Dark Vanessa when it was released back in 2020, and you put into words everything i felt/feel, but haven’t been able to express ever since i read it.
I’ve read all of Sally Rooney’s books from Normal People, Conversations with Friends,to Beautiful World, Where Are You? And among the three I like Conversations with Friends more.
I'm so glad you ended up liking Conversations with Friends! I had a similar experience of being underwhelmed by Normal People and then taken aback by Conversations with Friends. It's a book that really made me think and feel things, and it has stuck with me! I am definitely interested to see what you think of Beautiful World, Where Are You? if you get a chance to read it!
i just finished it yesterday actually! i unfortunately didn't like it 😅 i found it pretty boring apart from one chapter towards the end. overall it felt like it had some of my least favorite aspects of normal people but it was even more boring loll
@@AClockworkReader Lol I had a feeling you might not like it! I feel like the characters were more unlikeable and not much of anything interesting happened. I did appreciate the conversations she tried to create with the letters between the friends, but it has been a few months since I read it and I honestly couldn't tell you anything else about it lol
i’m reading my dark vanessa right now and your POV is SPOT ON. I saw some negative reviews of people saying it was glorifying abuse but I think they are reading it in the lena of a love story which is missing the whole point
Love two Taylor references! Loved this. Also intrigued to read my dark Vanessa, it’s been sitting on my shelf. When you said “it’s not black and white” I gasped because the cover is black and white, thus the whole point. !!!
ideas:
- read the first 5 books tiktok recommends you
- books inspired by taylor swift songs/albums (you pick!)
This just sold my dark Vanessa for me. I initially had no desire to read it since it's such a heavy topic that I knew it would piss me off if it wasn't handled with care & nuance but hearing you talk about it made me so intrigued that I literally had to pause the video to order it from Jeff Bezos 💀
Lol from Jeff Bezos 😂
My favourite part of conversation with friends is that due to it having very few characters the slightest change in dynamic can be observed in the nuances. For example, before Francis slept with Melissa’s husband Melissa asked Francis if she wanted red or white wine and Francis said white and Melissa mentioned later in the conversation that there’s something “appealingly evil” about red wine. After Melissa found out about the affair she immediately gave Francis a glass of red wine... SALLY ROONEY’S MINDDDDD!!!
I am taking a year of relaxation too.
Every year.
Those quotes you read from My Dark Vanessa were the exact moments that hit me, too. This story means so much to me & I'm so glad you saw all the nuance in it.
i never would have thought these books would be related to "THAT girl" aesthetic 😭
just wanna say how HAPPY i feel every time i see you plug your journal!! i always look over to my shelf and give it a wink and/or finger guns (i accept judgement for this, but not criticism). anyway, i've always wanted to get into journaling but i don't feel artistic enough to attack a blank page. your journal has finally unlocked that for me. i can't make the pages be pretty, but that's ok because you already did it for me! so i just gotta fill in the blanks and i love that.
ok enough gushing, back to watching the video.
this made me so happy (no judgment or criticism from me) i'm so glad you're enjoying the journal 💖💖💖
This girl has got me into reading, and now I'm living it BTW love your videos😊❤
I had the same reading experience that you did with My Dark Vanessa. It’s beautiful, and awful, and such an important read, but so hard to recommend. I’m recommending that my husband read it though. We are the parents of two white daughters and I think it’s important that he sees this perspective of a young white cis gendered female.
Also, I gave it four stars for the exact same reasons!
You should read cottagecore books to see if you'll become a cottagecore girl!
hey could you recomend me some cottagecore books?
Hannah do be the most eloquent and well-spoken booktuber out there 🙌🏼🙌🏼
I’m replying late but real. I trust her opinions the most
Love this video!!
You should read 5 scary books to keep you up at night!!
that's definitely on the list!
@@AClockworkReader yayyy!! I can’t wait for it!!💖
@@AClockworkReader I’d love to see what you think of The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, if you haven’t read it already. Definitely has some very creepy scenes. It was almost cathartic to me to read though, I love it :)
i know that it’s still quite a few months away but maybe for the winter months you could do a “5 cosy mysteries” type thing. i’ve been loving these video btw 🫶🏻
Your analysis of My Dark Vanessa was just excellent it made me want to read it so much !
VIDEO IDEA: take a book you dislike, and re-read it backwards to see if you'll like it better.
Details: So you would read through the epilogue first if one exists, then read through the last chapter, then the penultimate chapter, and so on until you get through the first chapter or the prologue.
Testimonial: This experiment actually worked for me with _The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry_ by Gabrielle Zevin. The reading experience becomes a set of nested flashbacks (flashbacks within flashbacks) like it's Inception or something.
I think these experimental topics have reignited a spark in your channel. I'm really enjoying them. 🙂
okay im all emosh: these videos are so warm and comforting and hilarious. i hope youre having a blast with this series, and that youre just well in general. 💕
i'm loving your new content. it feels fresh and you definitely seem to be enjoying making it as well. please do more videos of this kind.
My Dark Vanessa is the type of book that really stuck with me. I read it a while ago, but I still think about it sometimes. Which rarely happens to me. Not an easy topic to read about, but I loved it. Brilliantly written also.
Can you narrate an audiobook because your voice when reading quotes is so beautiful and you just read so well ☺️
After this I definitely need to read My Dark Vanessa but it'll probably take me a while to get to. I read Know My Name by Chanel Miller last month and I had a lot of the same feelings about it as you had about MDV. I would definitely recommend it if/when you feel like you can read another book about SA.
I approve. I've read both and they are both hard to read but so important
Based on the last book in this video, a video reading feminist theory or just 'feminist' books could be interesting. On one hand, I think most people don't know where to start with feminist theory so having recommendation would be nice. On the other there are a lot of 'feminist takes on X' books that would be interesting to read all in a row and see what is successful and what isn't. Or even what tropes there are. If the fact that a book is trying so hard to be feminist actually makes it a not-like-other-girls kind of book (see Circe).
The way you talked about My Dark Vanessa was spot on. Literally put it perfectly.
Great analyses. I'm definitely not going to read Dark Vanessa, but it was really interesting to hear from you about it. Also, your hair is so so so beautiful
I loved Moshfegh's "Death in Her Hands" which is her most recent book. Granted, I'm a huge fan of MYORAR (although I agree, the way people talk about it always feels off to me), but I thought it was a very different kind of book in terms of character and plot, while still having that Moshfegh style. I think that Moshfegh is a master of first person narratives, and getting into the psyche of her characters is always the major pleasure for me. I think "Death in her Hands" is r more subtle with the pain and strangeness of the character. It was a little more intellectually challenging, while also more thrilling.
Everything you said about Sally Rooney, Normal People, and CWF is spot on. 100000% agree
@noha lee me too, I did not like it :(
Normal people was the dullest, most boring, privileged and baffling thing I have ever suffered reading. And I read a lot of baffling sh-t
@@happyjellycatsquid Same here!!
@@happyjellycatsquid it was the first book i read after getting back into reading (i stopped for a couple yrs cause i was busy) and it made me contemplate quitting reading again lol
@@tehelea It made me contemplate quitting booktok because what??? This is what you bunch have been singing the praises of ??? Seriously?
This 34 year old hears “1995 so it’s slightly historic” and oof, felt there one. 😅
I was counting something and lost track when I heard that. I had to start over. Hahahaha
The pain I felt with that 😂
I had to look up at the screen to make sure I heard her right LOL Definite oof!
You're a sunshine Hannah!!! I love you! ❤️❤️❤️
💖💖💖
I'm so afraid about getting another Sally Rooney's book cos I really got bored at reading Normal People, and like what you said it lacks depth, I think the book isn't for me but I get it if others enjoyed it because it is super relatable especially when you're on your 20's.
Btw I'm happy to know you liked My Dark Vanessa, it's one of my favourite book, it's disturbing yes, it's heart wrenching, everything you said about it is just how I felt ☺️
I read My Dark Vanessa in one day…so disturbing but compelling.
really enjoyed this experiment video! I feel like you really captured the spirit of the "That Girl" reading aesthetic, and I enjoyed your thoughts. The only book that really jumped out for me personally in this video was My Dark Vanessa. I have owned it for a couple years now but know its not one to go into lightly. Your analysis of it was really interesting though, and I'm definitely interested in what my own thoughts will be
I came to get your thoughts on My Dark Vanessa and I think you hit the nail on the head. I totally agree with your take. That book was so deep and thought provoking.
I read My Dark Vanessa in February this year, and it is definitely one of my best reads this year. It's just accurate, real and brilliant.
“I don’t go anywhere and I don’t do anything” I have never related to anything more
I just finished My Dark Vanessa and I completely agree, it's definitely the kind of book that I'm glad I read but I hated reading it. I don't think I had understood how statutory rape really played out before I read this and it that sense, I needed to read it. One of my favorite quotes was "Now, it only strikes me as embarrassing, like every other outgrown phase"
Hannah i m loving the consistency🤩
I absolutely adore this 5 book video series
When she said something like that my dark vanessa felt like the most important thing she had read, i thought of Thirst by Kerry Hudson. It is one of my favourite books for that reason. It is very well written, an important story to be told, but it is very dark.
it’s literally one am which is (obviously) the best time to watch the new 40 minute Hannah vid
you're posting consistently now which is so great for us, but don't stress yourself out ;) we can wait.
💖 thank you! don't worry, i'm not putting too much pressure on myself!
@@AClockworkReader ofc ;) thats good 😊
When I saw My Dark Vanessa, I had to click. Completely agree with your analysis, it was so beautifully written and painfully heartbreaking
thank you so much for giving books content warnings, i really appreciate it ❤️
UGH YOUR HAIR IS BEAUTIFUL IM SO JEALOUS
i'm polish girl and you're by far the best channel on booktube to improve my english
excited for you to hopefully read some more moshfegh - i just love how she constructs sentences!!
I love these videos - and I love watching how much you clearly enjoy making them, even when the books don't turn out. Hearing you've got a bunch of other theme ideas for videos makes me so happy!
I liked my year of rest and relaxation. And the ending made me see IT in a totale different light and totally shocked me tot me all emotional all of a sudden. Especially the racism you mentioned that dame together in the end.
Hannah! Your channel was the literal first one I ever found that introduced me to booktube and I'm so happy to see you posting more regularly again. 😊 that being said, your feelings on My Dark Vanessa matched mine exactly - I couldn't really explain to others why I liked it, but your words touched my heart. Loved this video and hope to see more from you!
I’m so ready to read, “My Dark Vanessa” and sob my eyes out honestly❤ I think the way you describe it is so nuanced and articulate! If it describes healing and empathy then I am hopefully this book will impact me in a heartbreaking and heartfelt way❤
okay but hannah out here making the best content for us
i have so many more ideas and not enough time to film them all ahhhhh
@@AClockworkReader it's okay take your time
Me: born in 1995
Hannah: slightly historic
Me: 👵🏼
😂😂 but seriously Hanna how do you manage making a 42 min video seem like 10 mins cuz it was sooo goooood ❤️!!
i’m here for the conversations with friends >> normal people talk because i agree completely
Definitely not that girl,literally on my bed working and procrastinating and listening to music till it hurts my ears and reading fanfiction.
Also...I DESPISE self help books too
Except I bought atomic habits because Pinterest told me to and I have read two pages which kind of did sound good....
Love ur videos:)
Bro the way this has been me this whole week. And it's literally finals season so my grades are holding on for dear life.
@@ggparadelo3588 I am done with mine!Actually scored pretty good
All the best to you:)!!
@@ggparadelo3588 same here :(
And all the best to u! U got this
Thank you😭
14:26 I love how u relate it to New Year's Day because Taylor Swift loves this book a lot and her bf Joe Alwyn is starring in its upcoming series adaptation
ohmygosh, finally found someone who loves conversation with friends more than normal people. i had literally the same reaction as you. when I watched the series at first, I was BLOWN away, the acting was phenomenal, the directing was superb, everything was just perfect. but when I read the book afterwards, I was soooo underwhelmed. i thought sally rooney wasn't for me. but THEN came along conversation with friends. its sooo well written and as you mentioned, there's this certain vulnerability that was decisively absent from normal people. i was also pleasantly surprised with how relatable CWF was, to the point where I felt like miss sally was literally inside my brain. all in all, CWF> NP
I agree 100% with you about My Dark Vanessa. I felt the same way after finish reading it 🥺
This is such a unique and interesting video idea, I love it!!
I feel like a lot of "that girl" girls read a lot of memoirs as well, especially crying in h mart
Your youtube revamp recently has been amazing!
I like these videos so much! Taking books from a certain category and still having them be very different is so much fun!
Here are some of my ideas:
• 5 middle grades to make me feel like a child again
• 5 scary books to make me sleep with the lights on
• 5 short books to make me feel like a fast reader
• 5 academia books to make me feel like a professor/student
• 5 cover buys to see is you can judge a book by its cover
🤷🏼♀️🥰
I just binged all your experiment videos and I really want more! I'd like to see you do a horror novels one, a thriller and a sci-fi novels video! I think you would have a lot better time with those because honestly the fantasy genre especially the YA fantasy genre and the YA genre in general is just absolutely saturated with the same 10 tropes and bad writing and the exact same main character. There are just a lot of really bad books in YA because it's so popular that a bunch of people are just trying to cash in on the craze. So they're writing to make money not because they actually have a story to tell or they're a good writer.
I think you should read Acts of Desperation by Megan Nolan since you really liked Conversations with Friends and My Dark Vanessa. I feel like Acts of Desperation is very similar to those books. It’s one of my favorite books of all time!! It’s so good and so important!
So glad you enjoyed conversations with friends!! i enjoyed that one the most also :)
This is a great video! I have “ My Dark Vanessa “ sitting on my shelf so I was excited you spoke about it also just purchased your reading journal 💫☺️📚
My Dark Vanessa made me feel SO seen, and I loved your analysis of it. It’s such a heartbreaking, beautiful story. I guess I’m a *tHaT gIrL* now. 💁🏻♀️
Same, hugs to you!
You are like the highlight of my day!!!
Really enjoying all the videos in your experimental series! I love your critique of books -- very insightful and emphatic and bold. I truly cannot wait for the next one!
I feel like Exciting Times could be on this list, would be so curious to hear what you think!
I completely agreed with what you said about Conversations with Friends and Normal People being similar & either liking one or the other. Personally I liked Normal People better but that was just because I related to Marianne a LOT. I had an incredibly similar experience of high school to her (being an outcast etc), and I'd hardly ever read a book that actually showed that experience (I think Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson is the only other book that really came close) so it just made me feel incredibly seen, and it helped me to process a lot of the high school trauma I still have even now. Reading Conversations With Friends after that, I honestly just found it kind of... okay, but maybe not brilliant because it was a bit too similar. So I definitely agree that it depends on the reader and which book they relate to most