Post-Traumatic

By: Chantal V. Johnson

Narrated by: Tiffany Smith

In this “deeply original” (Elif Batuman) and “violently funny” (Myriam Gurba) story, a young lawyer finally confronts her dark past so she can live in a more peaceful future.

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.

©2022 Chantal V. Johnson (P)2022 Little, Brown & Company

Critic reviews

“Deeply original, socially important, psychologically revelatory, propulsively and idiosyncratically readable. Post-Traumatic is a gem.” (Elif Batuman, author of The Idiot)

"Stunning and riotous, Post-Traumatic took me right under and then revived me, like only the best fiction can do. Johnson's delicious, meticulous prose delivers such intimacy and hilarity on the page, I laughed and cried all the way through. This is a raw, brilliant, and unforgettable debut. I love everything about it!" (Deesha Philyaw, author of National Book Award Finalist The Secret Lives of Church Ladies)

“Chantal V. Johnson has blessed us with a cool, stylish, and violently funny novel about survival. It made me smile, laugh, cringe, shiver, and think. Like life, Post-Traumatic is richly triggering and highly recommended.” (Myriam Gurba, author of Mean)

Vivid, Visceral Storytelling

Post-Traumatic is a very human story that will resonate with anyone who has suffered childhood trauma and toxic family dynamics. The main character Vivian verges on reverse racism at times, making assumptions that only or more people of color experience child sex abuse, rape, incest, and physical abuse. She also lumps all white people and their level of privilege together, not considering gender identities, sexuality, religious minorities, or people with disabilities. At first as a survivor of childhood trauma, it was jarring, but I realized the dramatic irony and the obvious biases the author highlighted that drove some of Vivian’s tilted world views and apprehensions. Chantal fleshes out three-dimensional characters beautifully with details you can almost touch, and the narrator gives the story the perfect soundtrack. The dialogue flows naturally. Also, I love the references to Elliot Smith and Fiona Apple, truly two of the best breakup song artists. It’s a great read to challenge thinking around what we owe to our families and ourselves.

Great content and delivery.

loved the book, it was very real and direct. couldn't wait to finish it.

Loved this one!

Just a wonderful, real book. Highly recommend for anyone who likes good literature and a unique story.

Not sure why I listened to this story.

I can't say I like/loved or enjoyed this book. I'm not even sure what drew me to it. Although once I began listening to Chantal's story I became a curious and a non-judgemental observer with no expectations. We all (me included) have childhood memories that taunt us in so many ways making our journeys anything but straight and forward.

I gave it 5 stars because I thought it was a riveting story and kept me through the end, though there were times I wanted to put it down. I kept asking myself, what is her story saying to me or is it another piece of literature to just absorb and reinforce how complicated we are.

Interesting title, though I saw Post-Traumatic in multiple contexts, historical in a transgenerational sense, contemporary battles we face and fight and those personal demons we struggle to control.

Severely disturbing

The author really needs to warn the reader about the content. It is very disturbing. I could not finish the book because of the offensive and triggering nature of the material.

One of the worst

The Storyline was extremely shallow. The main Characters never had any depth. Story was fragmented.

Hard to Finish

Narrator was totally fine, it was the story that did nothing for me. The subject of abuse is a very real and awful experience, but I found this tale to be bland and filled with lackluster. The main character was so off putting to me that it took all I had to finish this book. I found myself listening to it to get it over with. As I’m not familiar with the author’s overall method of writing, I would give them another try and hope for the best. Not sure exactly what I was expected other than knowing my expectations were not met.