Bare: The Blessers’ Game

Review by Koketso Ratsatsi

Author: Jackie Phamotse

Release date: 2017

Based on a true story, Jackie Phamotse exposes her experience as a blessee in the upmarket Sandton through a character called Treasure in this read.

With an ill mother and an abusive father, Treasure grew up as a troubled teenager who fell victim of gang rape, lesbianism and abuse. Though the book could have been more descriptive, it talks about the extent of living lavishly at the expense of self-worth.

Bare prolonged childhood and school background, where she was raped by her teacher’s son during her visit and how his alcoholic father emotionally and physically abused them as a family, perhaps this is a justification of how her life had turned out when she moved from Westonaria to Johannesburg, in a quest to find greener pastures.

Upon Treasure’s arrival, her friend Dintle, takes her in as a roommate and introduces her to the slay-queen lifestyle. Already feeling worthless from her troubled childhood and life experiences, she swiftly moves from being poor with dreams of becoming a model to sacrificing her body in return for fancy apartment, dinners and clothes.

She pays a hefty price as her blesser shows signs of being controlling and demanding in their relationship.

However, she drags the storyline in the beginning and then leaves a reader hanging as the ending occurred abruptly.

Gender-based violence and femicide have been rife for a few weeks, so this would be a good read for young women growing up in SA to shed light on how one can naively get involved with the wrong crowd.

It’s simply written in a language that can appeal to everyone and is filled with motivational quotes.

Though it’s what happened to her in real life, names have been changed so the book automatically falls under the adult fiction genre.

READ: Book reviews of Battle Sight Zero & Blind Side