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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
challenging
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
A very unabashed re-telling of a human and her love for the desert, her dogs, and her big ol’ van named Bertha. I personally am a fan of Briana through Instagram and was always drawn to her beautifully written and raw captions (obviously also love her for Dags, Bucket the Queen, Birbs, and Banjo). You could tell there was a writer hiding in the desert brush somewhere and I’m very glad she decided to give the world this book. She is very real in her account of her life, her problems, her shortcomings, her anxiety, her depression and my eyes didn’t stop leaking. Despite all that, she also captures how she sees the world and the crazy beauty behind it while bouncing along in her falling apart van. I wish we were all as brave as her at breaking out of societal binds. Cheers to this lovely wine aunt! Keep being you!
CW: severe pet injury with vivid descriptions , substance use
Overall, I really liked it but had a hard time getting over the privilege once in a while. Brianna was incredibly vulnerable and honest in this book, and I respect her immensely for that. It's hard to put on display some of your most shameful thoughts and actions. The book still gave me a heavy bout of wanderlust and I could empathize with some of the rebellious nature, but it was really difficult at times to ignore the ways her naivety led her to being obsessed with having her own adventure regardless of the impact on anyone. She does own up to this and consistently acknowledges that she chose to struggle to prove a point, but tells the story from a lens of who she was at the time she was living the stories so it still presented as a barrier for me from time to time.
Overall good book but don't think I'd read it again or recommend it specifically unless someone expressed interest in a book with exactly this topic. I'd likely give the above disclaimers to them as well.
Overall, I really liked it but had a hard time getting over the privilege once in a while. Brianna was incredibly vulnerable and honest in this book, and I respect her immensely for that. It's hard to put on display some of your most shameful thoughts and actions. The book still gave me a heavy bout of wanderlust and I could empathize with some of the rebellious nature, but it was really difficult at times to ignore the ways her naivety led her to being obsessed with having her own adventure regardless of the impact on anyone. She does own up to this and consistently acknowledges that she chose to struggle to prove a point, but tells the story from a lens of who she was at the time she was living the stories so it still presented as a barrier for me from time to time.
Overall good book but don't think I'd read it again or recommend it specifically unless someone expressed interest in a book with exactly this topic. I'd likely give the above disclaimers to them as well.
adventurous
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
An amazing writer! Everyone has their own story and Brianna has told hers with passion.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Until late in the book I was enjoying it a lot. Then I came across a difficult
passage in her life. I no longer want to keep the first edition copy that I
purchased because of it.
passage in her life. I no longer want to keep the first edition copy that I
purchased because of it.
adventurous
emotional
reflective
fast-paced
Wonderfully told story of van life, discovering yourself, and breaking the norm. I really enjoyed her view of the world. I was not expecting the twist at the end, which left me speechless!
Hmm, this book did not quite meet my expectations, even if I really wanted to like this. Some of the chapters felt more like Instagram captions instead of literature. I've followed Brianna on Instagram for such a long time, so I felt like I already knew the whole story and the book didn't add much to it. But yeah, having a dog and a van still at the top of my bucket list, so nice read nevertheless.