Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Acts of Desperation

"Acts of Desperation" is a confession of a woman's heartbreak, and her descent into chaos as she unravels due to being in a toxic relationship. The story follows our narrator, who is a young woman who is in a relationship with an older man named Ciaran. To our narrator, Ciaran is the definition of a dream man and she is deeply infatuated with him. Her affection grows into obsession, and as Ciaran reveals his true colors in their relationship, we watch our narrator desperately lose herself to keep the man she is deeply in love.

I love watching women come apart in fiction - it's one of my favorite narratives. This work is messy, vulnerable and raw. Our female protagonist is honest about her desire, and her need to find herself int his toxic relationship. We watch her spiral into chaotic decisions, and can only be left stunned with what unfolds with her circumstances. The inner dialogue that reflects on life, love, body image and self esteem rings true of any woman navigating the turbulence of life in her early twenties.

This work is courageous - and the lens in which the author deep dives into love is one that we shouldn't look away from. I didn't expect to love this work as much as I did, but by the end I knew that this was a five star read.

This book reminded me of "The Days of Abandonment" and "Hausfrau". I think if you enjoyed both of those works then you might really like this novel. I also recommend this to fans of literary fiction and fans of Irish literature.

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macncheese_pdf's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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everydayesterday's review against another edition

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dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

It doesn't stand out in any particular way, and there's not exactly a plot, but it's just well-written.

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phoebew29's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

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mi_nk's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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bigdaddyreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

Better than I expected! I have so many thoughts and feelings about this book.

What struck me most was how much the book is rooted in self-loathing to a point where she allows the most undignified things to be done to her. She literally moulds herself into different person, a martyr of love, and is initially loved for it. How tragic it is to be loved for who you are not, but rather the mask you’ve worn, validating your deepest fears that you are not good enough.

I think it was never about the love of a man, rather it was what their love symbolised. That perhaps if we can make someone love us, there is something worthy in us to be loved, a proxy.

“I didn’t ask love of him. I didn’t want him to look in my direction and see me; for there was no thing I could say, with confidence, was me”

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hannahwillacy's review against another edition

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reflective fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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folklorisms's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

i’ll be straight up i didn’t like this book for like 30% of it but then something changed and i went full 180. tbh i thought this was going to be a commentary on a woman being violently obsessed with an awful guy but it turned into a commentary on the complexities of human nature and self-worth. like what in the actual. and there were so many banger lines that blew my mind so much that i kind of had to sit with it for a second. anyways sorry megan nolan my bad

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