A review by greenisthecolorofkale
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring sad fast-paced

5.0

this is the first memoir i've read in a while. i tend to read queer, emotional fiction and sometimes fantasy, but i almost never read nonfiction. fun fact, i used to detest it as a kid. i would have these books called "who was...?" with terrifyingly realistic bobble head paintings of the person the biography was about. my mom made me read one each day and i hated them with a burning passion.

needless to say, i've dragged myself back into reading the occasional memoir and i have to say, this book was an experience. it follows the author's life, jeannette walls, where it takes everything to get through life with an abusive alcoholic father and an absent mother who cared more about painting materials than putting food on the table. 

i wasn't really sure how many stars to rate this, because i couldn't rate it based off the plot or character development. that was what really threw me reading this book, actually, that it didn't have a steady plotline throughout the book. it took me a while to get through it. 

but holy shit, i am so glad i did because it is stunningly beautiful. walls recounts her life from an extremely young age of four (or three? i forget lol) up to her current experiences, and at times, i forgot that it was an autobiography. 

jeannette walls weaves exquisite language in along with cold, hard events she struggled through and sucks you in with bone chilling detail. her story will make you feel emotions you never knew existed with your whole being.
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