Have you ever felt like an author writes their books with you specifically in mind?

I've come to the conclusion that Courtney Summers is one of my favorite authors. Like, at this point she just has to be. I've read three books by her (Sadie and All the Rage were the other two) and I've given them each 5 stars. That pretty much never happens with me, even with authors I love. This is my first 5 star book since 2019 and I am in love.

For me, it's not so much the story that draws me in. Which is not to say anything negative about it. It's told in dual perspectives and dual timelines as two sisters get involved in a cult in different ways, and it deals with the unraveling of their lives a bit. It's a fine story, but I don't think I would have loved it had it been written by anyone else.

Summers's writing style is gorgeous. Nothing I can put my finger on exactly, but her storytelling draws me in completely. I spend the first twenty pages of each of her books worrying that I won't love it as much as the others, and then the next three hundred pages forgetting to breathe because I am utterly absorbed in the story. What I want more than anything when I'm reading is to be so involved in the book that I forget reality exists, and Summers delivers that every time.

I'm terrible at reviewing books I adored beyond reason. I can't sit here and critique the minutiae because to be perfectly honest, I don't remember it. I enjoyed the experience so much that any tiny flaws that may have existed were totally erased in my mind. And everything good is mostly just, wow amazing yeah loved it.

So here's a potentially unhelpful (and incomplete) list of what I loved:
-the fact that the two sisters are almost never have screen time together throughout the whole book, but their relationship is so visceral
-how present the entire book feels (okay yes it's in present tense, but I usually prefer past and Summers is basically one of the only people I love in present tense)
-the circular nature of the story/events
-the minor cast of characters all felt like real people, even though some of them barely had any screen time
-the ending
-Lo's personality. She's bitter and she's allowed to be bitter without being cast as a wholly negative person
-the constant question of what makes a cult, and who these people really are from the perspectives both of insiders and those already biased against
-how characters are allowed to fall and rise again, without needing redemption arcs because they're just people making mistakes
-everything, just everything I think I may have cried not because it was sad but because it was so good

What I didn't love:
-???????

No, I'm kidding. There were a few moments and events at the end that I felt needed more development. Not that I didn't feel like they fit the story, but some of them seemed to happen so quickly and be such an abrupt turn for those involved. I think a little more time could have been spent to ease the flow between point A and point B.

I loved it, though. I managed my one somewhat negative thought, but eventually I will buy this book and add it to my Courtney Summers collection that grows ever larger on my shelf. I don't think I would recommend this as your first of her novels, though. I think All the Rage and Sadie were both just a touch stronger, ever so slightly. But considering I'm comparing three of my nine 5 star reads from the past five years, I'd take that with a grain of salt.

I recommend this book. I recommend Courtney Summers. If you haven't read her yet, just do it. Can't promise she's for everyone, but she's definitely for me.

After a full year of only rating books 2-4 stars, I had a 5 star and a 1 star back to back. Reading at extremes is what I do best, apparently. I do mention that upfront because perhaps my opinion on this book is ever so slightly skewed by the fact that I just read The Project by Courtney Summers and it's literally the best book I've read since 2019. Perhaps I would have been a bit more inclined to give this book some sort of benefit of the doubt if it had followed something mediocre. I try not to give one stars unless it really makes me cringe. But uh this really made me cringe.

Annie was kidnapped and held over a year. As far as that kind of story goes, this plot line was pretty basic. It's told in dual timelines, first in the present post kidnapping while she's in therapy trying to deal with her trauma. And second in the past, starting right before the kidnapping and basically at some point they kind of meet up and it feels a bit jumbled toward the end, but whatever.

My biggest problem with this book was the present bits. It's literally told through a monologue with her therapist. Like Annie is addressing her therapist directly. ("You know, Doc, you're not the first shrink I've seen since I got back." -first line of the book) It's like those really cringey introductions where the main character is like "hi nice to meet you I'm so and so, I look like this, and here's my story," only every single chapter of this book started and ended with this monologue. No description, no response from the therapist. Nothing but Annie speaking. And it didn't sound real either. People don't speak like that. I mean people in general don't just monologue for five straight pages with literally no input from the other party, but it sounded like the fakest thing I've maybe ever read. I hated those sections. I hate books written like that. The rest of this book could have been amazing, and I still don't think I could have given it more than two stars just for how much I suffered every time she felt the need to talk to her therapist about what kind of tea she brought her for the session or how she looked like a sexy grandma.

But that wasn't the only problem. Alas. Beyond that my next struggle was the disconnect I felt. The way I felt reading this book is the way I feel when someone tells me a story about a friend of a friend. It doesn't matter what the story is. I'm inherently bored because I don't know those people. I don't usually feel that way when reading books because through the story, you do know the characters and you do care. The caring is my favorite part of reading. I want so badly to care immensely about every aspect of the world. But I cared about basically nothing in this book. I guess there was kind of a mystery of if anyone else was involved in the kidnapping, but I didn't realize that was actually an important element until like two thirds of the way through. I felt like I was waiting for something that was never coming.

The only character with any personality in this book was Annie, and that was almost unfortunate just because of how annoying she was. Not unlikeable, I feel it's important to specify. There are plenty of characters who are unlikeable yet compelling. Annie was just annoying. Insufferably so. She was honestly pretty likeable in every way and seemed like a pretty decent and caring individual despite her trauma, but my god every second she was speaking I considered putting the book down. I could not stand her voice. Nothing she said or did felt like it had real motivation behind it. She'd cry hard about a specific trauma that occurred while she was in captivity, and then two pages later it would be like it never happened. Not that she stopped talking about it, but that it only informed on her actions when she was literally talking about it. Nothing felt like it had staying power, which was hard since this whole book was about her deeply traumatic experience. She'd talk about sleeping in the closet because she was afraid, but it felt like going through the motions of "here's a behavior a traumatized character might have" rather than something that actually made sense for Annie specifically.

The other characters were basically black holes. She had an annoying mother, and a former boyfriend who seemed kind of lovely, and a best friend who I think was supposed to be the most meaningful connection in her life but said things like comparing her to her rapist for wanting to go to art school or accusing her of running away. My personal favorite was when she complained that it had happened to all of them, not just Annie, so Annie needed to be a little more aware of that. Which sure, I understand the intention there, but oh boy that did not come across how the author wanted it to at all. None of them had actually personalities. They were just voids where personalities should have been.

Nothing about the plot really made sense. Annie gets kidnapped immediately. Like within twenty pages, she's met the therapist, introduced all the side characters, been kidnapped, and is starting to learn to survive with her kidnapper. Literally in the first twenty pages. It was a lot and it kind of just threw it at your face, and then the whole rest of the book went like that. It needed to slow down, first of all, but also it didn't really seem like it had a point. Most of the first half was just Annie complaining to her therapist and Annie being abused by her kidnapper. It took until right near the end for me to realize there was going to be a massive plot twist and the book had (apparently) been leading up to that. It felt very slapped on. It didn't work and it wasn't developed, but without the plot twist there was nothing to this book. So it was simultaneously the best and worst thing.

Technically a spoiler because it's the last sentence, but personally I don't think it was really important to the overall story so read at your own risk:

Spoiler

So throughout the book, Annie talks about her daughter. She was impregnated in captivity and the baby died, and she's obviously grief stricken over it. But we never learn the daughter's name. I suppose it was meant to be a big deal, but to be perfectly honest, I never thought about it because I didn't particularly care. But the final sentence she's having a moment with her friend and she finally says she named her daughter Hope. I'm pretty sure I cried. From laughter. Like it's a very sad moment, it's sad her daughter died, but she named her Hope. So that means when her daughter died, her hope literally died. Literally. I just can't. That's one of those things that's too on nose. And maybe I could have gotten past it, except that's what the book ended on and I couldn't. I cackled and that was not the appropriate reaction.

There's more I could say, but I'm at the point of why bother. I wouldn't recommend this. Like read it if you want, I'd never want to talk someone out of a book that sounds good to them because we've all got different tastes, but I really cannot think of one single positive thing to say about this book. I can't fathom why someone might enjoy, although more power to you if you do. I got nothing out of it and will be quite pleased to get it off my shelf.

I also read Those Girls by Chevy Stevens and didn't like that either. It was a few years back so I don't remember anything about it, but I think after two attempts I will not be picking up anymore of her books.

This book was such a fun ride. I don't necessarily think it was mind blowing, but from start to finish I was invested in the story and the characters' lives. There was never a page where I wasn't intrigued to know what would happen next. I love when I'm just along for the story and don't find myself questioning too many plot aspects because I'm having fun. I bet I could nitpick this book to death, but the thing is, I don't want to. I was just having a good time.

I had a few issues with the writing style. I think a good bit of the book is overwritten, and Crouch could have toned down his overly flowery descriptions. Not everything needs a unique description. Sometimes basic is the way to go so it doesn't awkwardly stick out, and I kind of felt like there were a fair few things that stuck out (like describing his wife's smile as "architecturally impossible-" there were a number of lines like that).

Crouch is also very heavy on dialogue. It felt like sometimes he'd go a whole page without any description, just dialogue and the occasional dialogue tag. I tend to prefer a heavier description to dialogue ratio, but once I got decently into the book it stopped being so distracting.

I mostly skimmed the extra science-y bits, so I could not being to tell you how well the science/pseudo science was handled. That really isn't a complaint on the book. I'm just not a science type person and with books like this, I'm more likely to skim through any science sections that aren't crucial to understanding the story. If you're like me, this book is plenty easy to follow even without that. I was never confused over the big concepts, even if I didn't care for any explanation on how the science worked.

Mostly, it was just an exciting read. I'd probably stick this more in the thriller category just because it dovetails with my thoughts on a really good thriller. I don't mind some holes in the plot or a little extra melodrama if I'm having a good time. I'm not looking for a book like this to change my life. I just want to be entertained for a few hours, and this was thoroughly entertaining. I read it all in a day and I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who likes thrillers with a heavy sci-fi focus.

I feel like the most interesting part of this book was reading it so closely beside The Survivor's Club, one of Lisa Gardner's older books. It's fascinating to see how her style has changed, both in the writing itself and her storytelling, while still seeing how much of what makes it quintessentially her remains.

I really liked this one. I did think about giving it four stars, but it was just a little bit shy for me.

One thing I liked was the focus on an entirely amateur main character as the cop. Frankie shows up months or even years after the initial disappearance, so she works pretty much solely with people's stories and how they've changed. She gets people to open up to her as an outsider. I liked this in concept, but I don't think it was always executed very well. Sometimes it felt like the unfolding of the case was more of a coincidence than Frankie actually achieving much with her methods. Like it just happened to coincide with her arrival rather than her pushing the story forward. It made her feel a bit unnecessary and the story just a tiny bit passive. But I still liked it as an element. Gardner is great at writing cop thrillers that deal heavily with civilians, and I always appreciate that.

I dunno, it's hard to have too much to say over a thriller, especially by an author I've read and reviewed so many times before. There were some odd moments (using rickrolling to send a message for help, for instance) or questionable choices in story direction as Frankie was solving the case, but overall it was a fun ride. Not my favorite of Gardner's books, but I'd recommend it if the story sounds like your kind of thing.

This was an interesting concept to me. Helga Schneider's mother abandoned her at age four to become a guard at Auschwitz, and this book is about the second time she's seen her mother since then. Schneider is in her 60s and her mother in her 90s. I wanted to like this a lot because there's so much to unpack there. She clearly has a great deal of unresolved issues toward her mother, and a complex relationship with having a mother in general, but at the end of the day, it felt like this book lacked a purpose.

With nonfiction, it feels like there needs to be some reason behind telling a story. Like why do I, the reader who knows none of these people, care? There needs to be some kind of point for me, and in this book there wasn't anything. Schneider has basically no relationship with her mother and continues on that path, she doesn't learn much of anything new (her mother was awful, remains awful), she doesn't resolve any issues, doesn't shed light on past events. I almost question why she bothered to meet her mother one last time at all.

This is the kind of book where I can see why the author wrote it and how it would be meaningful to her, but as a reader I didn't feel a whole lot of anything. The whole book felt lacking and I wanted something more.

At the very least, it was interesting to hear bits of a first person account from a guard at one of the Nazi concentration camps. The book wasn't really about that so much as it was set in the present, but Schneider interrogated her mother a bit looking for reasons to hate her or forgive her or feel anything at all. That part I enjoyed, but because the only information we got was from an ailing 90 year old with dementia who was inclined to lie, there honestly wasn't much of it. And it wasn't the focus of the book, so I'm not blaming Schneider for that.

I think if you're interested in the concept, it's probably worth picking this up. It's a quick read and I did enjoy it. Everything about it is fine at worst and much of it is interesting on at least a superficial level, but below the surface it felt a little hollow to me. I'm still glad I read it, but it won't be one that sticks with me.

I'm gonna go ahead and start this review with the fact that I rate based on personal enjoyment, not necessarily how worthwhile a book is. I didn't realize quite how academic this book was going in and I don't usually read academic books. So I did struggle quite a bit with the overall tone and writing style.

The other main thing I struggled with was how short it was. I read an ebook version so when I initially picked it up, I didn't realize that it's only about 200 pages long. Considering it covers about a hundred years of history, that's not very much time to delve into anything discussed. It's brief and only highlights the most important moments, movements, and people.

However, that is kind of the nature of this book. It's only meant to be a short introduction to the history of transgender people in America, and it succeeds very well. I think it's a great jumping off point if you're looking to start your education and I found reading it to be quite worthwhile. I could never get through more than a couple pages at a time, but I did so much appreciate it.

So in short, maybe don't expect this to be the greatest thing you'll read, but I do think it's a good one to start learning.

Additional note: The ebook version I read had a few issues in terms of formatting. Granted I do read on my phone, so that may have been it. But I'd recommend looking for a physical copy if you're able. Still perfectly readable, though.

I absolutely flew through this audiobook. It's really rare for me to choose listening to an audiobook over reading a physical book when I have the opportunity, but I could not put this down. I loved this book so so much.

Janet Mock has the ultimate memoir formula- she's a good writer with an interesting story and something to say. Those three elements are so necessary to a good memoir and this is an absolutely fantastic one.

Like so much of this I struggle to offer any sort of opinion on whatsoever, just because the part I enjoyed was her story and her storytelling. I was so sucked into her life for this entire book. She writes with such a fantastic voice. I loved hearing about her childhood in Hawaii and her father's addiction and her struggles with sex work as a teen because she is such a fantastic storyteller. It helps that her life is interesting, but she put all the pieces together in a masterful way that made it so meaningful.

To be honest, one of the hardest things for me in this book was the romantic relationship. She discussed her boyfriend at length and how important their love and relationship was to her. However, I have the unfortunate habit of googling people whose memoirs I read (particularly the ones I hadn't previously heard of, like Mock), so I knew they'd broken up. It made every mention of true love or his love as acceptance just a little bit hard to swallow.

I honestly just can't recommend this book enough. It was one of my favorites of 2020 and one that I thought about for a long time after finishing. I could honestly see myself rereading (relistening) to this book again in another couple years, once I've had some more distance. If you like memoirs, I'd highly highly recommend giving this one a go. And the audiobook, read by Mock, was also fantastic.

I may be a little generous in my rating of this book, but what I enjoyed about it I really enjoyed. It's essentially four separate stories that are unrelated to each other, except by the common link of women involved in crime. Two of the stories were absolutely fascinating to me. One was about a wealthy woman in the 1940s who created intricate dollhouses, and honestly with the amount of research and effort put into that story, it seemed like the inspiration of the book or at least the one Monroe was most excited about. The other was about a woman who fell in love with a death row inmate she believed to be wrongfully convicted. Both of those were incredibly worthwhile and fascinating reads.

But there were four. One of the others involved the Manson murders years after the fact, and the last was about a girl who tried to commit a mass murder and failed spectacularly. I understand that Monroe was trying to go for a variety of stories and ways women can be involved in crime, but I was so bored by those two. It was mostly just biding my time until something interesting came up again. With regards to the last story of the attempted killer, I actually found it more interesting to do outside research instead of listen to this book.

It's hard when half the stories in a book don't do anything for you. That being said, I'd highly recommend this if you're interested in any of the specific stories because they're entirely unrelated. You really don't need to read all of them if only one or two sounds interesting to you. The only one I'd seriously recommend on its own is the first one about the dollhouses because that absolutely fascinated me. I've seen episodes in cop shows that dealt with that a bit, but never heard the real story. It was so well done and I think entirely worthwhile as a standalone.

Another thing of note, that I didn't actually realize until decently into the book, was that Monroe actually grew up very close to me. She referenced a few cases close to her heart that I remembered growing up as well (and I don't believe had much national media attention), so that was kind of an added bonus for me.

Overall, I think if you're interested in true crime, this is a solid book to pick up. I didn't get along with two of the stories, but even those were mediocre at worst and I definitely learned a lot. If you like deep dives in history, even if not specifically true crime, I'd also recommend the first section about the dollhouses. But if this book sounds like your kind of thing, it probably is and I'd highly recommend giving it a go.

I loved Tamora Pierce as a kid, but it was always her Tortall universe books that stole my heart. I read the Circle of Magic books as well, but for me there was a little something missing. I never quite connected with them the same way and I never fell in love with those characters and stories. Until this book. This was the book that finally hooked me, and it will forever be one of my absolute favorites of all her books, Tortall or Emelan.

Perhaps it's because the characters are older and have grown up. I came to this series a little bit later and being 13-17 reading about ten year olds can be a little difficult to relate to. (I find it easier again now that I'm an adult, funnily enough.) They're eighteen here and a mature eighteen at that. This is essentially new adult because most of their concerns by now are true adult concerns. They're no longer coming of age- they're discussing marriages and careers and buying property. They already have their place in the world and strong values, and their growth builds on top of that foundation.

I love the way the romantic relationships are handled here. With four main characters, it allows for such diversity in terms of the types of relationship. They fall in love and have casual flings and make poor decisions and get broken hearts. And every single one of them was so well developed. Their lives feel so full in every capacity.

I will admit, it's a little slow to start. The characters have all been apart for years travelling so a good portion of the beginning is spent bringing them together and convincing them all to go on one trip together. It can be the teensiest bit bland to get through, but they're all so familiar by this point, nine books into this world, that I don't really mind.

But by the final third, I'm beyond hooked. I think I read the last two hundred pages in one go because I literally couldn't put it down. It's like one long climax and even with this being my third or fourth reread, I was holding my breath with anticipation. It's so much fun and so so exciting. I love it.

I'm still not in love with the rest of the series, but I will always recommend them if only to get to this book because I think this is a masterpiece of YA fantasy. I continue to hold out hope that one day Pierce will write a book that takes place after this one. Just fantastic. Always a wonderful experience to return to this.

I absolutely adored this book. This is one of the first eating disorder focused memoirs I've read that discusses the longterm effects. It's not just about a few years or when Burton's eating disorder was at its worst. This book tackles the brutal cycle that never quite ends. It's also one of the only books I've read that centers around binge eating disorder as the main topic.

Burton talked about her periods of starvation, her anorexia in her teen years and how that shaped her relationship with her body. But she didn't go into treatment and return to healthy habits. Instead, she developed binge eating disorder and which further changed her mindset towards food and her body. She discussed feelings of purity when she was "good" and the shame and disgust of hiding her binges when she wasn't. All of it hit me so hard.

In general, I find that eating disorder memoirs can be very triggering, but I would like to say that this one was probably the least triggering of all that I've read. The topics were handled so well and so carefully. It felt real without being a rundown of all the numbers. Burton never actually gave her weight or any kind of calorie count, but everything she said still felt so honest. Those things just weren't necessary to her story. Obviously anyone who struggles with these kinds of issues should be careful, but I would highly recommend this book.

I really appreciated that this book wasn't as linear as a lot of books about eating disorders are. I feel like they often follow a very specific formula- eating disorder develops, gets really bad, is treated, the end. Throw in a relapse and sometimes death if it's an unhappy book, but that's it. Burton never really recovers. She admits that still, thirty years later, she struggles with her eating and her body. It's very circular in a way and while it may not be a how to in recovery, I found that very helpful in its own way. It's nice to see different kinds of representation and people who live with their disorders for years without winding up on death's door.

Overall, this was just fantastically done and so well written. I loved it, and if you're looking for memoirs of eating disorders, I can't recommend this enough. This is one of those books I'm glad I found. I think it contributes something important to the world and whether or not you've struggled with disordered eating, I think it's a good one to pick up.