Thank you to Sourcebooks, which sent me this copy. 

Sadly this did not work for me. I made it about 17% in after trying it out on audio as the physical copy wasn’t working for me either. 

17% in and it just felt like I was experiencing word salad? It seemed that after the introduction instead of each type of unlikeable female character being introduced and explained with analysis, they were all just thrown at the reader.

By the time I decided to pause the audiobook, I felt overwhelmed by how many actresses names and movies had been thrown at me back to back. It was just one after another

This is the first book I’ve read from Arden and I’m impressed. The setting was so atmospheric and I could tell that Arden completed a lot of historical research in preparation for this book.

We follow Laura, a combat nurse from Halifax that is determined to find her brother Freddie after she received a box of his belongings. The army says he’s dead, but she doesn’t believe it. Laura is employed in a Belgian nursery in order to find her brother.

As Laura heads back near the Forbidden Zone, she and the other clinic volunteers meet a peculiar violinist in an eerie hotel that shoes them their deepest desires. 

Freddie is trapped in a pillbox with a German solider. As the two attempt to get out, their bond deepens.

What kept this from being five stars is that Freddie’s story became repetitive and drawn out which lead me to want to get back to Laura’s sections. I was also disappointed in how obvious it was that Arden tried very hard to convince the reader that the ending could be tied up in a little bow.

Overall, I say this is a big win and recommend it on audio. I’m so glad this is one of the books Pages Aplenty bookstore in Mentone, IN picked out for me for the 2024 Book Flood.

A stark, quick read focusing built on guilt and processing. There’s not much plot and not much character development, but I still enjoyed it and can see why it was nominated for the Booker. 

Thanks to the publisher for this copy!

I stand by my usual stance that people in their thirties don’t need to release memoirs. 

I think the title was meant to be an attention grab, but it leads the reader to thinking this would be about someone’s deep dive into MAGA in some way. However this is really a memoir of a woman who is a libertarian (if you forget she’ll probably tell you in the next few paragraphs) as she goes through right wing college, internships, mentorships, and her job following the the first Trump office. 

There was a lot of name dropping in here and overall I was underwhelmed. 

Obviously she has respect for Tucker Carlson (one of her mentors) because she couldn’t even call him out on the sexist things he has said. 

I have a hard time believing that this is the writing of an award winning journalist. It felt so self righteous but also impersonal at the same time?

Right off the bat it left a sour taste in my mouth because this woman just automatically assumes the worst in all of the prisoners.