Book Review: You Have a Very Soft Voice, Susan

You Have A Very Soft Voice, Susan: A Shocking True Story of Internet Stalking by Susan Fensten
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is a wild ride of a true crime memoir, recommended if you are looking for something completely different. It is frustrating, in more than one way. Susan befriended her stalker and felt sorry for him–she is refreshingly forthcoming with her faults, and with the problems in her family and her background that led to her choices–but it’s hard to read. When someone repeatedly violates your boundaries and endangers you, do not feel sorry for them and stop all contact. I have been stalked, I speak from experience.

The other frustration for me was the uneven writing. Susan penned phrases that were just gorgeous, and then she would use the word “awkward” three times in two sentences. She works in the publishing field, and had a co-author, so such a roller coaster in the prose was surprising.

I guessed what had happened to her, who the perpetrator(s) were, and I was well chuffed with myself. My psychology and counseling degrees aren’t going to waste.

What I noticed was (view spoiler)

I’m glad I read this book, yet I felt uncomfortable and strange after reading it. I don’t know if this was a result of the things I’ve mentioned in my review, or my own history, and my own CPTSD.

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Susan on Dan Zupansky’s True Murder podcast

Susan on Roberta Glass True Crime Report podcast

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