Post-traumatic
Books | Fiction / Literary
3.7
Chantal V. Johnson
A "deeply original" (Elif Batuman), "violently funny" (Myriam Gurba), "brilliant and unforgettable" (Deesha Philyaw) debut about a young Black Latina lawyer finally confronting her dark past To the outside observer, Vivian is a success story--a dedicated lawyer who advocates for mentally ill patients at a New York City psychiatric hospital. Privately, Vivian contends with the memories and aftereffects of her bad childhood--compounded by the everyday stresses of being a Black Latinx woman in America. She lives in a constant state of hypervigilant awareness that makes even a simple subway ride into a heart-pounding drama. For years, Vivian has self-medicated with a mix of dating, dieting, dark humor and smoking weed with her BFF, Jane. But after a family reunion prompts Vivian to take a bold step, she finds herself alone in new and terrifying ways, without even Jane to confide in, and she starts to unravel. Will she find a way to repair what matters most to her? A debut from a stunning talent, Post-traumatic is a new kind of survivor narrative, featuring a complex heroine who is blazingly, indelibly alive. With razor-sharp prose and mordant wit, Chantal V. Johnson performs an extraordinary feat, delivering a psychologically astute story about the aftermath of trauma that somehow manages to brim with warmth, laughter, and hope.
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More Details:
Author
Chantal V. Johnson
Pages
312
Publisher
Little, Brown
Published Date
2022
ISBN
0316264237 9780316264235
Community ReviewsSee all
"“The best writing was like a good friend, in the way that it gave you permission to be yourself.”<br/><br/>This belongs in the unhinged women literary canon, and that's a compliment. I struggled at the beginning to get into the book because the main character had some awful things and fatphobic opinions, but as you dig deeper into the story, you can tell that said opinions are integral to explaining what's going on in her mind. The MC is problematic and struggling and oversharing and constantly collecting her thoughts in the hope of becoming something more than her thoughts, and I thought this book was one-of-a-kind. <br/><br/>Thank you NetGalley & publisher for the free review eARC.<br/><br/>Post: https://www.instagram.com/p/CmE0m5hLH5M/"
kelsey