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rileythomp's review
3.0
3.75 stars. I enjoyed this! I liked the more meta components - when she interrogated her reasons for writing the memoir and how she grappled with its content and purpose. I read Vanasco’s other memoir, ‘Things We Didn’t Talk About When I Was A Girl,’ earlier this year, and appreciated how there was relatively little overlap. She is a spare yet exacting author, but her prose is passionate and heartfelt.
standerson's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Car accident, Death of parent, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Drug use, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Death, Child death, Cancer, Self harm, Sexual assault, and Drug abuse
davenash's review
4.0
Vanasco promises her dying father she'd write a book about him.
Did she say so to show how great he was or how much she loved him?
She spent ten years and earned three degrees in the process.
Did she do it as a way to grieve or hold on for to long?
Does she find closure so she can finish?
How will her mental illnesses play out?
She's named after her dead half sister, does the need for perfection drive her to insanity or is her half sister just a metaphor?
Is the a memior or a meta-memoir? Is she really conversing with the reader on how to shape her narrative or is it a Didionesque device?
Did she say so to show how great he was or how much she loved him?
She spent ten years and earned three degrees in the process.
Did she do it as a way to grieve or hold on for to long?
Does she find closure so she can finish?
How will her mental illnesses play out?
She's named after her dead half sister, does the need for perfection drive her to insanity or is her half sister just a metaphor?
Is the a memior or a meta-memoir? Is she really conversing with the reader on how to shape her narrative or is it a Didionesque device?
tpanik's review
3.0
Vanasco’s memoir is a book-about-a-book, a memory-inside-a-memory, and a journey-within-a-journey. The Jeanne/Jeannie complex, combined with grief and mental illnesses make the author a consistently reliable unreliable narrator. This book is many things— all of them thought-provoking.
bookofmirth's review
4.0
Wow. This book was well-written but difficult to digest in large chunks. If you have any anxiety or other mental health issues, beware. I had to stop a few times.
lesausser's review
5.0
One of the best books I've read in a long time. It's hard to explain why I loved it so much. The way Jeannie writes I feel like she's not afraid to be honest, not afraid to admit when she might be leaving out details or remembering things differently. And yet she reminds us constantly throughout the book that she concealed so much from so many people throughout much of her life. Her willingness to reflect on the writing process and her memoir is so fresh and different that it made this reading experience unlike any I've ever had. And as a former student of her's, I could see so much of what she taught us in her own book, working in a way us undergrads could never quite conquer. This is a way of storytelling I feel like I've never seen before. It works.
itsbigman's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
Another stunner from this author who’s approach to memoir writing feels so original and engaging. At points almost as if you are having a convo with a friend, while at other times you are the author herself. I will be thinking about it for a long time.