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bowienerd_82's review against another edition
This reads as a trashy confessional that is at best semi-fictionalized, and possibly mostly made up. Not at all what one would expect of someone who claims to be a therapist with a PhD.
kitchenbeat10's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
2.5
I'm quite disappointed with this book and the author, actually. When I was picking up this book, I was looking forward to getting some information about sociopaths and what has been her research that gained her the PhD.
Her childhood was covered well, but after that things derail. She keeps saying about her relationships but leaves out the actual research that she's doing or the results she's getting after being a therapist to other possible sociopaths.
Almost every other page mentioned she was a sociopath. It was fun the first 3 times to read that but then that got exhaustingly repetitive. I also felt that there were many contradictory points sure made in the book. She didn't even define exactly what makes someone a sociopath.
After reading up more about her, I have discovered that her PhD is from an unaccredited school and her dissertation cannot be found published? I want to empathize with someone singled out, want to understand how to be better for them, but this didn't help much. The fact that she didn't touch on any actual treatment methods she's using in her research or when she's helping patients, left me wondering what the point was. Even if a sociopath is reading the book, they would need to see some actual evidence, but that some be found in this book, I'm afraid.
Her childhood was covered well, but after that things derail. She keeps saying about her relationships but leaves out the actual research that she's doing or the results she's getting after being a therapist to other possible sociopaths.
Almost every other page mentioned she was a sociopath. It was fun the first 3 times to read that but then that got exhaustingly repetitive. I also felt that there were many contradictory points sure made in the book. She didn't even define exactly what makes someone a sociopath.
After reading up more about her, I have discovered that her PhD is from an unaccredited school and her dissertation cannot be found published? I want to empathize with someone singled out, want to understand how to be better for them, but this didn't help much. The fact that she didn't touch on any actual treatment methods she's using in her research or when she's helping patients, left me wondering what the point was. Even if a sociopath is reading the book, they would need to see some actual evidence, but that some be found in this book, I'm afraid.
thatnatiam's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book, and it was fascinating to be in the author’s head and see her thought process as she made decisions throughout her life. Such a unique book to actually be written by a sociopath, and I really appreciated her insights.
katelynprice's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
evanf's review against another edition
4.0
Definitely recommend. This was an interesting and informative memoir about a diagnosis we don't see much of beyond sensationalized, stigmatizing media. This memoir helps build understanding, compassion, and humanization for people with these diagnoses who deserve support and care like any other.
The writing was a bit trite or corny at times, particularly in scenes with reconstructed conversations, which often felt unrealistic and info-dumpy. But it was easy enough to just remind myself she's not a professional writer.
The writing was a bit trite or corny at times, particularly in scenes with reconstructed conversations, which often felt unrealistic and info-dumpy. But it was easy enough to just remind myself she's not a professional writer.