... spirited ... Although the novel revolves in some way around abuse, Johnson isn’t interested in indulging the reader with intricate and voyeuristic details of her protagonist’s primary trauma. In Post-traumatic, Johnson approaches the issue by focusing instead on the reverb of trauma that manifests in Vivian’s real and fantasy life ... recognizes the nature of trauma as a very real, disorderly, and lingering spillage, an invasive stranger all too often mistaken for a companion. Vivian’s awareness of her 'particular kind of female suffering' is a first step to compassion for herself and other women in her life. It’s also a step toward falling out of love with her suffering.
The reader discovers that Vivian embodies the titular 'post-traumatic' to the fullest, setting the tone for this somewhat depressing novel with a wounded, difficult protagonist. Vivian ruminates endlessly about her interactions with others, from strangers to men she dates, and she is always hyperaware of her surroundings ... Readers get a glimpse of the root cause of her deep trauma when she goes to the extreme to avoid her immediate family. Vivian is high-strung, funny, and cynical, musing about social and racial injustices, the objectification of women, and the complexities of relationships. Johnson’s prose hurries along, embodying Vivian’s anxiety, intelligence, and vigilance, resulting in an uneven novel that veers between edgy entertainment and resonant drama.
Brutally funny and poignant ... Dark humor is another coping mechanism for Vivian, which Johnson deploys with tremendous skill ... Throughout, Vivian’s confrontational interactions feel achingly true to life. This is revelatory and powerful.
Johnson’s debut opens with a bang ... While Johnson’s theme—how unresolved personal traumas can cripple a life—is compelling, her execution is marred by clunky prose that makes it difficult to connect with the story ... In trying to capture her protagonist’s anxious and obsessive state of mind, the author often gets bogged down in details that disrupt the narrative flow. An entire paragraph describing calorie counts as diet-obsessed Vivian agonizes over which snacks to purchase doesn’t make for compelling reading. Aside from brutally honest Jane, who calls Vivian out on her self-absorption, the other characters are barely fleshed out. And strangely, the novel hardly delves into the abuse at the core of Vivian’s troubles. Her abuser is simply called 'the violent man' ... Buried under excess verbiage, there's a thoughtful novel struggling to come out.
