Educated by Tara Westover
CW: misogyny, gaslighting, violence, psychological & physical & spiritual abuse, child abuse, use of N-word by family member
I have to thank Westover for writing this memoir. It must have taken her a lot of courage to relive everything and share her own life story with the world.
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.
Content warnings: animal killings, self harm, childbirth, alcohol abuse, cult, gaslight, pedophilia, blood, death, drowning, rape, attempted forcing of medication, torture, hallucination, brainwash, non-consensual medical experiment, reclaimed d slur, suicide, cannibalism?, voyeurism?, drug abuse, child abuse
The craft of fiction at its finest.
Sorrowland opens in the woods with the fifteen-year-old Vern—who is Black, albino (the term is used in text), and intersex—giving birth to twins Howling and Feral, the latter also has albinism. Vern grew up in the Blessed Acres of Cain, a religious compound that was supposed to be a Black utopia, but she had to escape because everything there seems to be a lie. Over the next several months and years, Vern’s body begins to change. She is both stronger and more vulnerable, and she starts to understand that the power of the past while struggling to raise the twins with the freedom she never had.
I used to wish for a book in contemporary settings that references history and beliefs while telling a brand new story deeply influenced by the past. And now I have found it in Sorrowland.
The Project by Courtney Summers
Click on the cover for my review on Goodreads.
Content warnings: cult, gaslighting, manipulation, child abuse, abuse (cigarette burn, scalding, etc.), panic attacks, death of family members, suicide (jumper), vandalization, pregnancy, car accident, substance-induced psychosis, threatening, possible PTSD, infidelity
The Project is a story about a cult, The Unity Project led by Lev Warren, and the unbreakable ties between sisters Lo (b. 1998) and Bea (b. ca. 1992) Denham.
Lo has always dreamed of being a writer but is currently, in 2017, stuck working as an assistant for Paul Tindale at SVO, a magazine company. When the opportunity arises for her to dig into The Unity Project, a religious organization Lo believes to have taken Bea from her, she risks her own safety for a series of exclusive interviews with Lev. With Lo being facially scarred from a life-threatening car accident that killed both her parents in 2011, she is recognizable everywhere at The Project’s compounds as Bea’s little sister. But Lo is tired of everyone else knowing Bea when she hasn’t heard from her sister in a long time, and she is desperate to find out what is really going on at The Unity Project.
The Politics of Love by Jen Jensen
Evangelical Republican attorney and writer Shelley Whitmore meets the liberal, transgender rights activist and psychotherapist Rand Thomas for an MSNBC show in Manhattan. The pair connects immediately with philosophical and political debates. But Shelley has yet to come to terms with her own sexuality and Rand is suffering constant harassment from her deceased wife’s parents. With their values clashing and own problems to tend to, will Shelley and Rand be able to reach out to each other and build something more out of their friendship?
In the Role of Brie Hutchens… by Nicole Melleby
Brie Hutchens lied to her mom in a panic when she almost got caught looking up naked photos of her favorite actress. Being a mediocre student at a Catholic school, her lie of being chosen to crown Mary was unlikely to come true. And it certainly did not help when Kennedy, the perfect girl in her class, gave Brie butterflies in the stomach.