Review by aphares96 - Scammer

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aphares96 's review for:

Scammer by Caroline Calloway

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

All of the reviews about scammer that rage about the writing and the genius that is Calloway are spot on. But they miss one important detail: though the writing is beautiful and fun and engaging, it made me FEEL in a way that I rarely experience with reading.

Scammer is a reminder of why I fell in love with Calloway’s writing so many years ago - no matter the emotion, she demands that you feel it.

The minute details interwoven in the passages that seem pointless make reappearances later. She weaves a web with the precision that reminds me of Karin Slaughter, who, I believe, writes some of the most intelligent and seamless psychological thrillers. No detail is pointless.

Reading scammer was not reading about Caroline Calloway - it was reading about myself. And maybe I feel that way because I had the pleasure of watching her life unfold online throughout the years, before she was called a scammer and before snake oil and before only fans, but regardless, with every page, I was Calloway. I laughed, cried, despaired, and so much more with her throughout the entirety of the book. The honesty with which she writes about her life was breathtaking, heart-stopping, soul-crushing, just.. perfect.

As suggested, I finished it in one sitting. And as soon as I was done, I started it again. I have a habit of reading a book quickly for the plot, and then a second time for the details. I couldn’t do that with scammer. I read and reread passages the first time around. I reread sentences. I savored them in my head. I wanted to fly through it because OH MY GOD THE TEAAAA. But even the salacious details of her life could not propel me through this book - the words simply demanded to be heard and the emotions demanded to be felt. I only started reading it again because I wasn’t ready for it to be over.

And maybe I’m just simply a Calloway stan and have been along for the whole thing so maybe this is all bullshit lol. But even if that’s the case, the individual experience I had of this book was worth so much more than the $65 I paid to read it. I am in awe of Calloway.

I am impatiently awaiting the next one.

Content Warnings