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timna_wyckoff's review
3.0
Important story, well-researched, nice balance between anecdotes and larger issues. But, the narrator's voice *really* rubbed me the wrong way, and (maybe because of that?) the writing didn't quite do it for me.
bird_babe's review
4.0
read this to get better understanding if fracking and the damage it does. such a tragic story.
readingundertheradar's review against another edition
5.0
Maddening and infuriating, and I was disheartened but not surprised the government and big business was able to get away with poisoning water and people. Also a great (if sad-inducing) look at how rural America transformed from Democratic-leaning to Trump-voting—after being lied to, mistreated by, and poisoned by companies who claimed they were advancing resource extraction—with a nuanced explanation at the real people at the heart of the issue (many of whom regretted their vote after the fact, which doesn't excuse, but I did find interesting and comforting).
Content Warnings
CWs: discussion of opioid crisis and addiction; suicide ideation, death by suicide (17-yr-old); dog death, harm to pets, miscarriage and stillbirth of animals, horse illness and death, goat illness and death, and more; harm and sickness to children; guns and hunting
wanderlustsleeping's review against another edition
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.75
Horrifying and so frustrating. I learned a lot from listening to this book, and I'm glad I read it. The storytelling itself though was a little too repetitive, and long, for where the rage inducing case ends. A bit too lengthy and meandering to be an article, but that's what it felt like I was reading.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Chronic illness
terroreesa's review
4.0
this book was UPSETTING.
Griswold gets incredibly close to her subjects and manages to capture them at their most human. I want to say this is the book version of Josh Fox's movie Gasland, but this has more of a well-documented and precisely kept paper trail with genuine medical harm at the end of it. The stories of the animals are particularly heart-wrenching, especially Diva at the end. It is incredibly unfair that some people have to sacrifice their health and bodies so that I can heat my home. I wish there were a way to make it right.
Griswold gets incredibly close to her subjects and manages to capture them at their most human. I want to say this is the book version of Josh Fox's movie Gasland, but this has more of a well-documented and precisely kept paper trail with genuine medical harm at the end of it. The stories of the animals are particularly heart-wrenching, especially Diva at the end. It is incredibly unfair that some people have to sacrifice their health and bodies so that I can heat my home. I wish there were a way to make it right.
leslie_overbookedsocialworker's review
challenging
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Drug abuse, Medical content, Death, Chronic illness, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, and Miscarriage