This was a stunning + vulnerable exploration of trauma. I will absolutely be recommending this book to friends and family, and book clubs alike. Although horrific details of trauma endured is mentioned, the bravery in sharing this story is matched by the strong storytelling.

I’m writing this late at night because I want to put it behind me, something that the author and her family unfortunately can never do.

The content in here is horrific. It will affect you deeply. It’s hard to stomach. I can’t imagine finding out that your father drugged and raped your mother and facilitated dozens and dozens of rapes by at least SEVENTY TWO men over a ten year span.

Gisele Pelicot, Caroline Darian’s mother, is unbelievably courageous, choosing to make the trial public, to bring to light the existence of chemical submission and how it is a lot more prevalent than you might think. Gisele showed serious signs of trauma over the years—memory problems, passing out, oversleeping, losing clumps of hair, losing weight—and yet none of the many doctors she consulted ever suspected the true reason for her health problems. Her husband had the gall to go with her to all appointments, including OBGYN visits!

I took a break about 2/3 of the way through to walk my dog, and I was constantly on edge throughout, hyper aware of my surroundings and almost feeling a sense of impending doom. It was this book; I know it. Once you learn that those who appear to be perfectly good family men are in fact capable of committing despicable crimes—it becomes very difficult to trust males. I speak from experience—last year some shocking revelations were uncovered about some relatives, and what had always appeared to be THE perfect family was decidedly not. It’s a betrayal of the highest order. The crimes in my extended family are absolutely horrible, but still do not come close to the depravity manifested by Gisele’s husband (I refuse to name him), and yet I find myself still traumatized—I can’t imagine what it will take for Gisele and her children and grandchildren to heal. I think Ms. Darian’s memoir was a way for her to work through her trauma, and I applaud her bravery in having such intimate, raw details published. She is now active in spreading the word about chemical submission and helping victims of abuse to find and receive the help they so desperately need.

I applaud Caroline and Gisele. Ask yourself if you would be brave enough to publicize your trauma to the world. I bet even the ones who answer in the affirmative would hesitate to do so, when it came right down to it. Their bravery cannot be overstated. Thank you, Ms. Darian, for publishing this and helping others to know that people are not only drugged at clubs, but that it’s most often closer to home, by the ones who are supposed to love you the most. Thank you for helping others to realize that they are not alone.

My thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the eARC. All opinions are mine alone.

***I do want to mention that although the content is highly disturbing, there is nothing extremely explicit in here. You’ll find those details more in news articles, should you choose to do some research (no, thanks). It does mention some scenes and photos a few times. Exercise caution with reading age.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I'll never call him dad again: turning our family trauma of sexual assault and chemical submission into a collective fight by Caroline Darian, is an incredible retelling of an intense and very messed up event in her and her families life.

Caroline is the daughter of Gisele Pelicot and Dominique Pelicot, her father's trial in Avignon for the chemical submission, tape and trafficking of his wife has made headlines all over the world.

Caroline took her family's devastation and used it to help others by raising awareness of the issues of domestic chemical submission. She founded a charity called M'endors Pas (Stop Chemical Submission: don't put me under) to campaign for better support for victims and training for all professionals involved.

Five stars doesn't even begin to cover what I could give this book if I could. Thank you Caroline for sharing your story and your family's story and for letting the world see what the family members go through when we hear horrific stories like these in the news.

Thank you also for partnering with NetGalley. I received an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion and review.

Still feel like I’m recovering from this incredibly heartbreaking yet inspiring book from Caroline Darian. I’ve followed the case of her mother Gisele Pelicot from the start and couldn’t believe some of the hidden details that were revealed in this book. What a devastating discovery to come across about your life by a matter of sheer coincidence and then to find out the true depths of his betrayal was absolutely mind blowing. I found Giseles story so incredibly empowering and inspiring and her strength and resilience absolutely blows me away. I highly recommend everyone checking this out - it is only a short read (or listen) but so worth it.

“It is impossible to help other victims if you are ashamed of being one yourself”.

Me and many women in my life have been following Gisèle Pelicot's case from the moment it broke the international news. I've had discussions about it over breakfast, during night shifts, at work lunch. Always with other women. It's an endless source of horror that's left me cringing with disgust in front of my phone screen more than once, and yet I seek it out. We pretty much all do.

Maybe the reason why women especially like to discuss it among themselves is the same reason why the true crime genre and all of its media facets have so many female followers: Perhaps it makes us feel more prepared to recognize evil once it has its sight on us, before it can strike and hurt us. But you could in fact read a thousand books about cases like Pelicot's, you could peruse articles and listen to interviews all you like - you would never be ready. Evil is everywhere, even hiding right under your childhood home's roof, and you won't see it coming then.

I'll Never Call Him Dad Again is the chronological account of what Caroline Darian, the daughter of Pelicot, lived through, from the moment she was informed of the allegations against her father, to the day she realized she might have also been his victim. If she really was, and in which way, she will likely never find out. It is, to me, the most difficult part of this narrative, and it's the bit I would like to warn you about.

This is definitely not an easy read - not one for the beach, not one for a sad Sunday blues evening, not one for happy days where you feel confident and want to wind down to some non-fiction before bed time. There is never a good time to read this book, but I suggest you find a moment to do so anyway.

This book is such an important read, Thank you Caroline Darian for sharing your story with the world.

The courage of Caroline Darian and her mother, Gisèle Pelicot, is truly remarkable. In her own words, Caroline has documented her family's very personal trauma with the hope of raising awareness of domestic chemical submission.

On broken justice systems and the lack of support for female victims, Darian astutely observes, “We take the walking wounded and abandon them in front of an obstacle course.”

It's not often the police are praised these days (and often for good reason) but a huge debt of gratitude must go to the officers who acted quickly to turn this investigation around in just two months, wading through tens of thousands of still and moving images and identifying over 50 perpetrators.

“Shame must change sides”, indeed. Best wishes to M. Pelicot and her family, and thank you to M. Darian for her brave honesty and commitment to effecting change. Both mother and daughter are truly incredible women. I fervently hope that some good (and some long overdue changes to legal process and victim support) can come from the experiences of these wonderful women.

This was an incredible book with a story that was really important to share. This was well written and translated and i'm glad it exists.

I'll Never Call Him Dad Again is a poignant, often excruciating, memoir a family's tragedy, written by Caroline Darian. Released 18th March 2025 by Sourcebooks, it's 224 pages and is available in the English translation in paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links.

This is an unvarnished memoir from the daughter of the woman whose husband drugged and abused her over a period of years, filming his own (and others') abuse. She was unaware of what was happening for *years*.

The writing is plain and unembellished. It's set up as a journal, with dated entries. It's very difficult to read in places, and readers who have experienced sexual/domestic abuse should be aware going into the read that it's not at all easy to read. It's not prurient or sensational at all, and the author/investigators/legal representatives involved are respectful throughout.

The author uses her platform to provide some sobering statistics about the prevalence of "chemical submission" and the associated depressing statistics of prosecuting crimes when often the victim can't remember the trauma accurately (or in the case of Ms. Darian's mother, at all, over a period of years when she was misdiagnosed and feared she was in early onset Alzheimer's).

The author's strength, her mother's incredible resilience, the glimpses of hope and rising advocacy are all important, but it's not clear if the balance is to the positive column at the end. The alternative, remaining silent in the face of actual, real, evil, is even more unthinkable.

Awful (in the literal sense), very well written, and definitely important. It would be a good subject for a book club reading and although it's written accessibly and without technical jargon (and not annotated), it would have value for healthcare professionals and educators/advocates.

Four and a half stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

A woman recounts her awful experience learning her father was a diabolical man. As I was going from page to page I couldn’t imagine going through her experiences.

What a brave soul she was to write about her experiences. I did find the translation to English was not very well written. I found myself having to reread parts just so I could figure out what the writer was saying. At times it would jump from one to be totally off topic. Like she was writing in her diary and all of a sudden had a random thought that came to mind. The notes to her father also seemed out of place.

My rating of 3 is mostly because of the format and not the story. It just wasn’t the style of writing for me.

One of the most powerful books I’ve read. Caroline’s story is something everyone should read. I cannot recommend this book enough.

Devastatingly brave. My heart aches for Gisele, Caroline and their family. This gorgeous book uncovers the messy reality of something so unthinkable happening to a family. I won’t forget about this for a long, long time.

This book opened a new line of research for myself. This account opened myself up to a new form of crime that we truly need to survey more. There is not many accounts of Chemical Submission and certainly next to no reports focusing on statistics or studies! Im hoping to see that area of study expand sooner rather then later.

This book is wonderfully written and gives a heartbreaking and detailed depiction of this case focusing on the daughter of Gisèle Pelicot. I'll Never Call Him Dad Again is such a powerful explanation of this case. This book is heartbreaking, powerful, and truly important to read for those who are in the criminal justice world or really in any area.

Bravery, redefining fighting back, and more, this book will have you sat start to finish and you will feel like you are there every hard step of the way.

This was a story about a man who used chemical submission, drugging his wife for nearly a decade. It was learned by the family that the man had been doing this for years for a shocking reason. He was allowing other men to come over and rape his wife while he filmed it, when she was knocked out. This case was over in France and the man was caught when his phone was seized after he was busted doing “upskirt” videos in public. The full extent of all he was doing may never be known.

A brilliant piece of writing which somehow manages to balance useful facts with deeply personal impacts. Its basis is horrifying - the drugging and raping of a spouse and others over time by multiple perpetrators. The author captures with dignity the wider impact and trauma caused by the crimes, crossing multiple generations, and identifies the desperate need for legal, health and social systems to join up in supporting victims of crime. Cleverly using prose directed towards the perpetrator as well as narrative writing, the author has created a book which is at once educational and heart wrenching.