Format: Audio 🎧

I really enjoyed listening to this memoir, and Brianna Madia does a fantastic job narrating her story. I can’t imagine the vulnerability it took not only to write this but also to read it aloud. Honestly, I was moved to tears while listening, and hearing her voice during some of the more emotional scenes tugged at my heart. I might have loved to hear Madia share more about her experiences, but I think where the book ended and its length made it the perfect quick listen that kept my full attention from start to finish.

Throughout the story, we're asked if we understand, and honestly, a lot of the subtext slipped past me. I’ve tried reading this book several times over the past few years and usually gave up partway through. This time, I decided to listen to the audiobook while reading, and although I managed to finish it, I felt like I still missed quite a bit. The plot itself isn’t bad; in fact, I found much of it interesting, but I just couldn't quite connect all the dots enough to fully enjoy it.

Format: Ebook

I wanted to like this book, but I found myself struggling to get through it at various points. Not enough to DNF it, but enough that I didn’t really look forward to picking it up again at the end of the work day. Part of my issue was that, unfortunately, the story felt hard to follow and incredibly chaotic, which can sometimes work well in storytelling. In this case, though, it mostly left me confused and feeling a little foolish for struggling so much to make sense of what was happening.