Close Menu
LiveHealthNews
    What's Hot
    Weight Loss

    Friday Faves 1.12 – The Fitnessista

    Fitness

    Why the 5×5 Workout Might Be the Key to Serious Strength Gains

    Lifestyle

    The 3 Month Rule for Dating Is Kind of Flawed

    Important Pages:
    • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions
    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    LiveHealthNews
    • Health

      Something Weird Is Happening With Halloween Chocolate

      How to Choose the Right Skin Specialist for Glowing Skin

      Pediatricians Are Rapidly Losing Incentives to Offer Vaccines

      Why Grip Strength is Vitally Important (and How to Improve It)

      When to Visit a Dentist if You Have Misaligned Teeth

    • Lifestyle

      Could Taylor Swift Be The Key To Bringing Back ‘The OA’?

      Your Patron Saint, Based On Your Zodiac Sign

      RIVIKO Infinity Heart Symbol Necklace for Women 925 Sterling Silver Love Heart Pendant Valentine's Day Mother's Day Anniversary Birthday Christmas Jewelry Gifts for Women Mom Wife Sister Her Friends – The San Joaquin Valley Sun

      Here’s Everything We Know (So Far) About Taylor Swift’s Orange Door Scavenger Hunt

      There’s A Difference Between People Who Reject You And People Who Are Actually Toxic

    • Wellness

      Nordstrom Anniversary Sale 2023 Picks!

      Why and How To Develop a Daily Writing Routine

      How Long Should You Workout a Day?

      I Tried Journaling in the Morning for 30 Days

      What Is the Best Time To Walk During the Day?

    • Beauty

      Homemade Herbal Lip Balm

      Why an Essence Toner Deserves a Spot in Your Routine

      Exactly How Your Skin Changes in Your 40s, 50s, and 60s

      Is It a Terrible Idea to Get Botox at a Medi-spa?

      Do Biotin Supplements Actually Do Anything for Hair Loss?

    • Fitness

      Anaerobic training for endurance athletes

      Kim Kardashian NikeSKIMS: Inside Her Vision for the New Activewear Brand

      10 Pushing Exercises to Light Up Your Shoulders, Chest, and Triceps

      Five ways to use Garmin Coach on your watch

      Best Workouts for Insomnia: These Exercises Are Proven to Help You Sleep Better

    • Weight Loss

      Staying Fit While Traveling: My Go-To Workouts + Tips

      10 gluten-free pumpkin recipes for fall

      Can you lose weight in a calorie deficit?

      Turkey Barbacoa

      195: How Peptides Can Transform Your Wellness Journey with Tina Haupert, FDN-P

    • Garden

      15 Varieties With Striking Seasonal Color Shifts

      How to Grow and Care for Fraser Fir Trees

      13 Perennial Bulbs to Plant in October

      How to Manage Frost Damage in the Fall Vegetable Garden

      Your October Kitchen Garden: What to Plant Now

    LiveHealthNews
    Home » ‘Swanna in Love’ Review: Girlhood at Its Most Grotesque | Arts
    Lifestyle

    ‘Swanna in Love’ Review: Girlhood at Its Most Grotesque | Arts

    Share Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp
    ‘Swanna in Love’ Review: Girlhood at Its Most Grotesque | Arts
    Share
    Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp

    In her first novel in over ten years, Jennifer Belle presents a very trustworthy and nearly unpalatable model of adolescence. Prioritizing actuality over pleasantries, “Swanna in Love” depicts feminine progress rising from fairly rotten experiences.

    “Swanna in Love” particulars the trials and tribulations of Swanna Swain, a 14-year-old woman whose expectations for her triumphant remaining weeks of summer season are more and more squashed. When her mom comes to choose her up from summer season camp as a substitute of her father, Swanna should stick it out sleeping in a truck mattress together with her brother as a substitute of her luxurious New York Metropolis condominium. In hopes of each escaping her state of affairs and discovering love, Swanna seduces Dennis, a forty-year-old father, and will get what she needs. Belle has acknowledged that at the least the primary half of the premise relies on an actual expertise she had rising up.

    Thus, it is sensible that one of the best function of “Swanna in Love” is Swanna’s unyielding and hyper-specific teenage voice. Her 14-year-old thoughts regularly spirals into tangents, discussing childhood reminiscences and reflecting on the present state of her fractured household. These tangents create a splendidly naturalistic expository kind. By no means do these flashbacks really feel overly explanatory or hamfisted. As an alternative, they entertain whereas concurrently explaining how Swanna ended up at these crossroads.

    Earlier hints of her sad household life and her dread for the incoming college 12 months progressively turn into clear as Swanna remembers these richly textured vignettes. Each interplay between Swanna and her youthful brother is especially pleasant — these moments present a mild reprieve from the remainder of the novel’s darker themes. Nonetheless, some tangents also can appear needlessly unsavory. For instance, Swanna recalling her historical past with wetting herself feels indulgent. To Belle’s credit score, what they lack in tastefulness they make up for in characterization. These particulars add to that sense of Swanna’s teenage awkwardness. Intrusive ideas about her physique really feel as pure because the ideas she has about her mom’s infidelity. Moreover, this realism ensures that the extra absurd components of the plot stay grounded. For instance, Swanna’s mom’s new boyfriend Borislav — a broke artist who makes unappealing sculptures out of tar — initially appears laughably ridiculous. But, Swanna herself refusing to just accept his story as fact acknowledges the reader’s considerations and assures them of his actuality.

    Along with her inside voice, Swanna herself shimmers with life. Moments really feel irritating however by no means insurmountable, and Swanna tackles each problem with headstrong dedication. Each state of affairs is a problem ready to be solved with Swanna’s wealth of data from teen magazines and secondary college. Swanna might imagine the world revolves round her, however her dynamism makes that true in some kind. She makes readers root for her, even when what she needs isn’t wholesome. This relatability softens the blow of the guide’s extra stomach-churning content material, and hooks the reader alongside for her journey.

    “Swanna in Love” deftly captures the contradictory emotions of powerlessness and hopefulness in teenhood. Chafing in opposition to her lack of company, Swanna turns to seduction as a way of escape. Sadly, her restricted expertise means she can’t conceptualize how her effort to claim sexual autonomy doesn’t make her resistant to the untoward intentions of an older man. She views her sexual experiences as intrinsically indicative of maturity — and thus essentially at odds with somebody perceiving her as a baby. On the guide’s most tragic, Swanna cries, believing she pressured him to molest her by mendacity about her age — one thing the textual content itself contradicts knowingly when different characters acknowledge how younger she appears.

    The guide by no means absolutely condemns Dennis, as a substitute leaving Swanna on this depressing place. Books will not be ethical codes to stay our lives by, however this remaining scene is nearly too heartbreaking for consolation. Leaving Dennis sans punishment and even closure feels fairly unsatisfactory to Swanna’s total character growth. As an alternative of Swanna studying about her personal vulnerability, this ending means that as a substitute Swanna simply made the wrong determination together with her boundless authority, which leaves the reader depressing and unhappy. But on the identical time, Swanna’s emotions are, depressingly, throughout the realm of actuality. It’s tough to disclaim that this predatory habits exists. But, ending with this conclusion is much less of an acknowledgement of the methods of abuse however fairly an absence of acknowledgment of her struggling.

    “Swanna in Love” by no means holds again from heavy content material, however its peppy teenage tone prevents the guide from feeling too burdensome. The intense content material will not be pointless however stays unresolved, leaving the reader and Swanna unfulfilled. Nonetheless, the steadiness of ludicrous and somber content material is a effective balancing act that Belle succeeds at. Coming to know Swanna is a deal with, and it’s solely by way of Belle’s deft hand that readers depart wanting so significantly better for her.

    What's Your Reaction?

    • OMGOMG
      0
      OMG
    • LOVELOVE
      0
      LOVE
    • CuteCute
      0
      Cute

    Share. Facebook Twitter Pinterest WhatsApp
    Previous Article21 Best Flowers for Gardeners with a Short Growing Season
    Next Article How to Grow and Care For Red Twig Dogwood

    Related Posts

    Lifestyle

    Could Taylor Swift Be The Key To Bringing Back ‘The OA’?

    Lifestyle

    Your Patron Saint, Based On Your Zodiac Sign

    Lifestyle

    RIVIKO Infinity Heart Symbol Necklace for Women 925 Sterling Silver Love Heart Pendant Valentine's Day Mother's Day Anniversary Birthday Christmas Jewelry Gifts for Women Mom Wife Sister Her Friends – The San Joaquin Valley Sun

    Lifestyle

    Here’s Everything We Know (So Far) About Taylor Swift’s Orange Door Scavenger Hunt

    Lifestyle

    There’s A Difference Between People Who Reject You And People Who Are Actually Toxic

    Lifestyle

    5 Horror Films Based on True Stories To Watch This October

    Lifestyle

    Who’s Still Together from Love Is Blind Season 9? – Netflix

    Lifestyle

    For When You Want A Love That’s Real (Not Perfect)

    Add A Comment
    Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

    Good Deal
    Don't Miss
    Garden

    How to Plant, Grow, and Care for ‘Luna’ Hibiscus

    With their flamboyant flowers, hardy hibiscuses are a good way to deliver tropical vibes to…

    On Watching Your Friends Struggle With Mental Health

    17 Hanging Basket Flowers for Decorating Your Front Porch

    Tennis Is the Ultimate Lifetime Sport

    How Some of the World’s Top Athletes Rest and Recharge

    May You Like This

    LiveHealthNews is a Professional Health & Lifestyle Blog. Here we will provide you with only exciting content that you will enjoy and find useful. We’re working to turn our passion into a successful website. We hope you enjoy our Content as much as we enjoy offering them to you.

    Facebook X (Twitter) Instagram Pinterest
    Categories
    • Beauty (230)
    • Fitness (800)
    • Garden (1,514)
    • Health (1,217)
    • Lifestyle (1,101)
    • Weight Loss (947)
    • Wellness (150)
    Most Popular
    Garden

    Learn How to Grow Cucumbers in Pots and Containers

    Health

    21 Things an Independent Woman Never Does

    Fitness

    Prime Day Sneaker Deals: 40 Best Sales to Shop Now | 2025

    © 2025 LiveHealthNews.
    • Home
    • About Us
    • Contact us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

    Ad Blocker Enabled!
    Ad Blocker Enabled!
    Our website is made possible by displaying online advertisements to our visitors. Please support us by disabling your Ad Blocker.