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livkarsch's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
2.5
Honestly, the author did a pretty poor job of making me feel bad for her. It felt like half the time, she was looking for sympathy and the other half of the time, she was bragging about all the cool experiences she gets with her job. That on top of the poor research done on Morocco as well as the use of the slur “Berber” (translating to barbarian) of the indigenous people of Morocco made me actively dislike reading this book at some parts. Finally, the end of the book was extremely repetitive.
issianne's review
4.0
First of all, I'm so confused by the poor ratings of this book that are solely based on their annoyance with the author. And I get it, I like to think I wouldn't have let my super rich friend charge $30k on my card and let her get away with pathetic excuses for two months, but you just don't know until it's you. And yes, Rachel is very lucky to even have had the ability to charge $30k to her credit card. Okay, enough of that rant. This book was like sitting down with a friend who's been through something traumatic and is ready to spill the tea. Does she spend a bit too much time discussing her personal life that doesn't always pertain to the juicy part of the story? Yeah, but you can't blame her because this is her story and her thousands of dollars down the drain by a narcissist.
When I looked at this story deeper, I realized this conflict was a direct effect of gendered ideas of womanhood. I felt as though Rachel felt confined to this idea of being a good friend and what it looks like for a young woman to take control over her own life. We're taught as women to never be too direct about what we want or we'll seem unlady-like. Meanwhile, Anna is trusted because she's a woman. And when Anna can't make payment, she's almost painted in a way of the innocent heiress waiting for her daddy's money--unable to control the troubles of life that pop up. The women that do step in to right the wrongs Anna's made are a breath of fresh air in this narrative.
Ultimately, this book will make you cringe, laugh, want to through it against the wall, and speed read to see how it gets resolved.
When I looked at this story deeper, I realized this conflict was a direct effect of gendered ideas of womanhood. I felt as though Rachel felt confined to this idea of being a good friend and what it looks like for a young woman to take control over her own life. We're taught as women to never be too direct about what we want or we'll seem unlady-like. Meanwhile, Anna is trusted because she's a woman. And when Anna can't make payment, she's almost painted in a way of the innocent heiress waiting for her daddy's money--unable to control the troubles of life that pop up. The women that do step in to right the wrongs Anna's made are a breath of fresh air in this narrative.
Ultimately, this book will make you cringe, laugh, want to through it against the wall, and speed read to see how it gets resolved.
blabbey13's review
4.5
I always give memoirs or things like this 5 stars because it’s not my place to judge someone else’s telling of their own life and experiences!
I did think this was going to be more about Anna going in to it. However, I was very anxious and stressed for Rachel (even though I know the ending), and read this in 2 hours.
I did think this was going to be more about Anna going in to it. However, I was very anxious and stressed for Rachel (even though I know the ending), and read this in 2 hours.
rebekahy's review
3.0
An interesting account. I actually found Rachel a bit self absorbed and annoying...
kazli's review against another edition
medium-paced
1.25
I’m not gonna lie, I’m not even annoyed the author got scammed she’s desperately trying to centre the story on herself and make her look like she wasn’t at fault for some of her actions
thephdivabooks's review
4.0
This is the type of story that is easy to judge if you don't delve into the details. A young woman stuck paying for an expensive vacation she took because she thought someone else was going to pay for it? Not exactly someone's grandmother being swindled out of her life's savings! But trust me when I say, the blurb cannot capture what Rachel went through. And the most interesting part of this is the power of trust and history. I couldn't put this book down!
Rachel DeLoache Williams begins the book at the time of the trip to Marrakesh and goes through the heart-pounding moment when she put her own credit cards down to cover the expenses her friend Anna Delvey assures her she can cover. These scenes had my heart racing, because Rachel describes that sick feeling that happens when you do something you know is a bad idea, but you have no other choice.
From there, the story actually goes back to the beginning when Rachel is working at Vanity Fair and meets Anna through a mutual friend. When I say you need to read the book to understand how Rachel fell victim to someone like Anna, this is the context you need. The headline makes Rachel sound opportunistic, but the story of Anna and Rachel's friendship will have you rethinking that assumption.
In fact, Rachel and Anna had built a friendship over time, and it was mutual at first. At the beginning, they both paid for things, though Anna had more money than Rachel. Overtime, Anna wanted to pay for them to do more expensive things and would cover the bill, but Rachel would also reciprocate in her own way. And as their trust built, I began to understand why Rachel second-guessed her own gut instincts that Anna was lying. This wasn't a casual friend, this was someone she spent most of her free time with for over a year.
The rest of the book documents what happened during and after the vacation, the financial implications of this amount of credit card debt, the slow realization the Anna wasn't the person she claimed to be, and ultimately how Rachel was able to help assist in the capture and conviction of Anna.
One thing I absolutely loved about this book was that it was grounded with primary source materials. As Rachel became more suspicious of Anna, she exported every communication they had, from texts to emails, phone time stamps, and logged all of the times they met in person. The texts are printed in full in the book, and it helped me understand not only why Rachel was conflicted over whether Anna was telling the truth or not, but also how committed of a liar and a fraud Anna was.
The communications about the payment went on for months and months, even including electronic wire transfer numbers, communications with Anna's family accountant, and continued back and forth about the payment. And peppered throughout this are the normal aspects of friendship. Anna doesn't disappear over this, and Rachel doesn't write her off.
Eventually, Rachel's efforts to reach out to Anna's parents through other friends of Anna reveals a troubling web of information that is part fact and part fiction. I was fascinated and appalled by Anna herself. Similar to Rachel (and many others defrauded by Anna), I found it hard to pinpoint how intentional her lies and fraud were. Did she go in with the plan to do this all along? Was it a fraud of circumstance? Does she regret it?
I'll let you form your own opinions on those questions. Personally, I think she did plan to defraud Rachel and I don't think she regrets it. Anna's pattern is to take advantage of people just like Rachel. She tests their loyalty and friendship, and then she does what she wants with no thought to the consequences for others. It resonated through the book for me that Rachel really had a hard time separating her friendship from Anna, even to the very end.
In fact the ending where Rachel helps the authorities locate Anna and ultimately capture her was so compelling. Even to the final moment where Rachel set Anna up for capture, I saw her struggle to follow through with the plan. I learned a lot about why people fall victim to these things. It's hard to have your guard up against someone you are close to. People like Anna take advantage of the goodness in others.
This is a fantastic book, and a must-read for those interested in the psychology of fraud.
Rachel DeLoache Williams begins the book at the time of the trip to Marrakesh and goes through the heart-pounding moment when she put her own credit cards down to cover the expenses her friend Anna Delvey assures her she can cover. These scenes had my heart racing, because Rachel describes that sick feeling that happens when you do something you know is a bad idea, but you have no other choice.
From there, the story actually goes back to the beginning when Rachel is working at Vanity Fair and meets Anna through a mutual friend. When I say you need to read the book to understand how Rachel fell victim to someone like Anna, this is the context you need. The headline makes Rachel sound opportunistic, but the story of Anna and Rachel's friendship will have you rethinking that assumption.
In fact, Rachel and Anna had built a friendship over time, and it was mutual at first. At the beginning, they both paid for things, though Anna had more money than Rachel. Overtime, Anna wanted to pay for them to do more expensive things and would cover the bill, but Rachel would also reciprocate in her own way. And as their trust built, I began to understand why Rachel second-guessed her own gut instincts that Anna was lying. This wasn't a casual friend, this was someone she spent most of her free time with for over a year.
The rest of the book documents what happened during and after the vacation, the financial implications of this amount of credit card debt, the slow realization the Anna wasn't the person she claimed to be, and ultimately how Rachel was able to help assist in the capture and conviction of Anna.
One thing I absolutely loved about this book was that it was grounded with primary source materials. As Rachel became more suspicious of Anna, she exported every communication they had, from texts to emails, phone time stamps, and logged all of the times they met in person. The texts are printed in full in the book, and it helped me understand not only why Rachel was conflicted over whether Anna was telling the truth or not, but also how committed of a liar and a fraud Anna was.
The communications about the payment went on for months and months, even including electronic wire transfer numbers, communications with Anna's family accountant, and continued back and forth about the payment. And peppered throughout this are the normal aspects of friendship. Anna doesn't disappear over this, and Rachel doesn't write her off.
Eventually, Rachel's efforts to reach out to Anna's parents through other friends of Anna reveals a troubling web of information that is part fact and part fiction. I was fascinated and appalled by Anna herself. Similar to Rachel (and many others defrauded by Anna), I found it hard to pinpoint how intentional her lies and fraud were. Did she go in with the plan to do this all along? Was it a fraud of circumstance? Does she regret it?
I'll let you form your own opinions on those questions. Personally, I think she did plan to defraud Rachel and I don't think she regrets it. Anna's pattern is to take advantage of people just like Rachel. She tests their loyalty and friendship, and then she does what she wants with no thought to the consequences for others. It resonated through the book for me that Rachel really had a hard time separating her friendship from Anna, even to the very end.
In fact the ending where Rachel helps the authorities locate Anna and ultimately capture her was so compelling. Even to the final moment where Rachel set Anna up for capture, I saw her struggle to follow through with the plan. I learned a lot about why people fall victim to these things. It's hard to have your guard up against someone you are close to. People like Anna take advantage of the goodness in others.
This is a fantastic book, and a must-read for those interested in the psychology of fraud.
mollyvh's review
4.0
I listened to the audio book and it was a very fast read (listen). Have been fascinated by this con for a while and so hearing about it from one of the people Anna actually scammed was very interesting.