Genuine Fraud

Call me crazy, but this book is way better than We Were Liars.

 

Genuine Fraud is written so uniquely....I mean, it's backwards. The whole story is told in reverse which is a treat for someone like me who reads the endings first. Reading the story in reverse was such a cool experience because it's all hindsight. As soon as you read the next chapter, you're immediately going, "Ohhhhhhh, okay. I see."

Not to mention the unreliable narrator, Jule. I can honestly say she kept me guessing what was happening the entire book without ever landing on the right answer. But somehow everything fit together so well.

 

The premise of the book is simple, Jule is grieving the apparent suicide of her friend Imogen. But if that's all that happened.....why is Jule running? Things tend to have a way of getting buried, especially when everyone involved has money. The drama, the elitism, and the unreliability really make the story.

Looking for other books by E. Lockhart?

We Were Liars (WWL #1)

Family of Liars (WWL Prequel)

Go Ask Alice

I know what you're thinking, "Why are you just now reviewing Go Ask Alice?" 

Well, turns out I read it many years before I started A Reader's Diary. So, I apologize for not being able to give my unfiltered preteen review of this book.

Pretty much everyone knows about this book. While at a party, a 15 year old's drink get laced with LSD and this journal, her journal, chronicles her descent into substance abuse. I remember reading this and becoming obsessed with finding other books like it, other books that could show me a world so incredibly different from my own. It led me to advocate for everyone, regardless of the situations they were in. I believe this was an important book for me, personally, to read even as young as I was.

The thing about Alice is that she's relatable.

Point blank.

She's a naive teenage girl in the '70s who is literally just trying to fit in. That's why every single generation since then has found their way to this book. I was 12 when I first read it, and I'm 26 now, but I still feel the same way about it. The only difference is we now have a far better understanding of mental health and addiction.

This book was obviously written for shock value. The most intense scenes sucker punch you with no warning or explanation. We now know that Alice never existed and that the "real diary" was a complete sham. But as fiction, it's still holds up.

Looking for the rest of the Anonymous Series?

Lucy in the Sky

Letting Ana Go

Calling Maggie May

Breaking Bailey

The Book of David

Looking for books that feature this series?

Unmask Alice

Unmask Alice

You guys remember how obsessed I was with published journals, right?

Well, turns out they were all fake.

 

I was a freshman in college when it came out that the Anonymous editor, Beatrice Sparks, had actually written each and every single one of these journals. For nearly 40 years, the general public believed these journals were written by real teenagers struggling with real issues. I was 13 when I first found a copy of Go Ask Alice. I absolutely devoured the traumatic diary of a teenage drug fiend. I still am absolutely obsessed with crisis lit, and if it's told in a diary format.....even better.

 

Unmask Alice by Rick Emerson is the a nonfiction counterpart to the Anonymous Collection. It delves into the fraud of a woman, Beatrice Sparks, not a doctor, not a youth counselor, not an advocate for young adults. But a woman who created her own success by exploiting those who believed in her work.

 

The bulk of this book focuses on Jay's Journal, mainly because his family is one of the only families to come forward saying Beatrice Sparks is a fraud. Marcella Barrett contacted her after the death of her son, Alden. She handed Alden's journals over in the hopes that other suicidal teens may find solace in her son's words. But instead, Sparks took that journal and twisted it into a story of witchcraft, sacrifice, and ritualistic deaths......it was released at the beginning of the Satanic Panic.

My jaw dropped several times while reading Unmask Alice because it's just insane the amount of people who just blindly followed Beatrice Sparks and allowed her to "recreate" the journals of the teens she supposedly was working with. This was honestly one of the best books I've read this year.

I do still love the Anonymous Series, and I plan on re-reading them with this new information in mind. Regardless of if they are real journals or not, many teenagers struggle with issues found within the pages. It doesn't discredit the story in my eyes. I am appalled at the exploitation, but if you take these stories and read them as fiction, they are still compelling stories.

Looking for the Anonymous Collection?

Go Ask Alice

Lucy in the Sky

The Book of David

Calling Maggie May

Letting Ana Go

Breaking Bailey

You're the Only One I've Told

I, like many of you, am pissed about Roe v. Wade getting overturned.

After that historic injustice last month, someone recommended the book, You're the Only One I've Told: The Stories Behind Abortion by Dr. Meera Shah. I immediately ordered it.

These people did not have to share their stories with anyone. But they chose to share their stories in the hopes of reducing the stigma surrounding abortion care. What many people fail to realize is that abortion is health care. I had a law professor once say, "If you are not willing to help everyone regardless of your differences, you should not be in this field." Which I think is incredibly relevant when working as a healthcare professional, as well as within the legal field.

This is a book everyone should read, regardless of your stance on abortion. It really drives home the idea that abortion care is not one size fits all. This book really humanizes the women who are forced to make life-changing decisions for themselves. It sheds a light on people of all ages and races. It has stories from the pre-Roe era, up to 2020 when it was published. Post-Roe is going to be dangerous for so many people.

 

You may not know it, but someone you know and love has had an abortion. While some of you were celebrating the overturning of Roe v. Wade, your loved one were reading or hearing your victory cries and realizing how unsafe they will be in your world.

 

I am afraid for what's coming.

 

Looking for other books on reproductive freedom?

I Know What's Best For You

Bookends

Boy, oh boy, this was written for a demographic of women that I am not even close to a part of.

Bookends: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and Literature bounces around from teenage Zibby, to college bound Zibby, to mom of four Zibby. For me, I found the chapters about her best friend Stacey to be the most compelling. I honestly did not expect to cry but once I realized what was happening.....yeah thank god my kindle is waterproof.

 

This was like if Mommy Bloggers, Sunday Restock TikTokers, and the women from Girlfriends Guide to Divorce got together and wrote a book. That's not even a negative thing, because I catch myself wondering how they live lives so drastically different from my own.

It's very obvious that author, Zibby Owens came from a very privileged family. A family that has created a nest egg for generations to come. But Zibby set out to create her own personal brand....I just wished she would have talked more about her foray into the world of literature. It was interesting to hear how many publishers passed on her work for reasons like, "We aren't ready for a 9/11 story," or "Essay books just don't sell," even hearing "no one cares about this.' It almost felt like by publishing this book, she gave a big middle finger to everyone else and combined all of those negative remarks and did exactly that....AND IT WORKED.

The only thing that really disappointed me was how minuscule the bookish parts were. I was expecting more reflection through books and how each book helped her through a specific time in her life. But instead they are sprinkled throughout the book in only a line or two, usually just mentioning the book she was reading at that given moment.

But other than that, this was a quick, easy read!

Huge thanks for Amazon Early Reads for providing me an E-ARC!

Bookends by Zibby Owens is out July 1st!

 

Looking for books or authors mentioned in Bookends?

Tuesday's with Morrie - Mitch Albom

Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger

Room - Emma Donoghue

Seriously... I'm Kidding - Ellen Degeneres

The Happiness Project - Gretchen Rubin

Little Fires Everywhere - Celeste Ng

Where the Crawdads Sing - Delia Owens