What do I say about this book? R.F. Kuang can do no wrong. I went into this book knowing very little about the premise (seriously, I skimmed the summary and description and jumped at the opportunity to read another book by Kuang - I LOVE HER), and I was instantly blown away.

Told from the first-person perspective of unsuccessful author Juniper (June), the book starts off with a bang: June's very successful author "friend," Athena, tragically dies in her apartment in front of June after a night out together. Athena had just finished writing the manuscript for a book she'd been working on for a while and June takes the only physical copy of this book that exists from Athena's department less than a couple of hours after her death. June convinces herself that her intentions are pure - she only wants to read Athena's last work and find a way to honor her genius and memory. But of course, she can't keep herself from acting as editor and finding ways to "fix" the manuscript. It's just an exercise to break her out of her writing slump...right?

Naturally, this only continues to escalate and quickly spirals out of June's control. All the while her actions become more and more outrageous and incomprehensible. Except that's just the point, isn't it? When portrayed in this way, we get a glimpse into the increasingly ridiculous ways June justifies her behaviors throughout this debacle. As a reader it's easy to watch June become more delusional as she digs her heels in further. What we are bearing witness to, however, is something that happens more often than we care to admit in the current publishing industry. Kuang manages to give a disturbingly accurate portrayal of a white woman victimizing herself and playing the "reverse racism" card at almost every negative encounter.

This book is timely, critical in wonderfully controversial ways, and gripping. The narrator, Helen Laser, hits the nail on the head and captures June's voice perfectly. After the first chapter, I didn't want to put this book down! It grabbed me by the collar and pulled me single-handedly out of my reading slump.
I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves Kuang's work, is interested in some dirty details about the publishing industry, or wants to painfully cringe-laugh at the current state of denial real-life people like June are in when it comes to racism, appropriation, and the theft of stories that aren't ours to tell.

I like the idea of this story, but my brain isn’t vibing with it right now, is all. Might try it again in the future.

I went into this book knowing next to nothing about Jennette McCurdy other than her being in iCarly. It was mostly the FOMO that got me to read this, but I wasn't disappointed. What I ended up getting out of it was so much more than I could've imagined. The story of an abusive parent whose abuse is so normalized that it isn't realized until Jennette's adulthood and, even once its recognized, she still struggles to come to terms with the implications of this abuse. 

Her mother is a narcissist (straight up) who guilt-trips Jennette into pursuing an acting, singing, dancing (you name it, she's tried it) career. All because she was "never able to pursue her dream of acting". Jennette goes along with this, taking her mother at her every word and trusting her completely - to her own detriment. At the beginning of puberty, Jennette begins to calorie-restrict and engages in unhealthy disordered eating habits that continue throughout the rest of her childhood and into early adulthood - all at her mother's encouragement and suggestions. Even by the end of the book, after Jennette's mother dies, she continues to binge and purge, abuse alcohol, and just generally treat herself less than she deserves.

This was a thoroughly engaging memoir with biting wit and a frankness you find only in someone who has reflected deeply on the story of their life. I read the majority of the book as a physical copy, but finished it with the audiobook and I would recommend at least checking out the audiobook to those who have followed or grown up with Jennette. Her voice narrating her own story is a powerful one. 

Yet another brilliant installment in McGuire's Wayward Children series. As always, there are heavy themes explored in these books, but this one came with a particular warning. McGuire has openly talked on social media, too, about her journey with this particular novella. As a victim of childhood abuse, she explored a young character who was almost exposed to the same horrors as McGuire. She makes a point before the beginning of the story that the character escapes and runs before anything bad can happen to her, and I think that makes all the difference.

The only other thing I really wanted to share from the book was this quote found near the end. I think it's a lovely and poetic way to think of death:

“The great tale of her being shall be extended no more; she is gone to the Library where all of us must one day be Returned, and she will pay no overdue fines on her soul.” (p. 127)