Nguyet Tran

This should be a standalone book, not a sequel. The characters changed so much that they seem to be different people in this book. I agree that two years of college can introduce many changes in one person, but the core values cannot be totally different like this. Wes used to be such a nice and considerate person and now he's just like a pervert obsessed about his ex's mouths and legs. Liz's charm was to be a confident quirky nerd who just minds her own things and ignores whatever people think about her, and now she's just a typical popular college girl who appeals to all the conventional popular standards. As the protagonists lost their charm, so did the story.

Very interesting premise. Both the writing and the audiobook narration were engaging. I was very hooked at first, but ultimately left disappointed.

The book seemed to lack sympathy for women, which feels contradictory because the book was meant for women. Natalie was undeniably misogynistic and abusive. However, she was also born into a traditional family, married into a misogynistic and dysfunctional household, suffered from PPD with no real support system, and was clearly mentally unstable in the final third of her life. Despite all of this, the book treated her with very little sympathy.

It was also unclear why her sister escaped that fate while Natalie did not. Of course, different people have different personalities, and one could argue that Natalie was too prideful to admit her marriage was failing. Still, what fundamentally made her so different from her sister, who was able to accept reality and leave? For a book seemingly aimed at exploring women’s experiences, I wish the author had examined more deeply how systems and societal expectations shaped each woman’s choices and behavior, instead of leaving it so vague and attributing everything to personality.

Additionally, when Natalie was clearly losing her mind, Caleb did almost nothing to help her. She went to jail for child neglect, but shouldn’t Caleb, the fully functional adult in the situation, also have been held severely accountable? Instead, the ending seemed laser-focused on Natalie’s downfall, portraying it in the most pathetic and humiliating way possible.

Overall, it felt like the author simply wanted the worst possible outcome for Natalie and forced the story in that direction.

That said, I still think it’s a very engrossing book. If you’re mainly looking for entertainment and plot twists, it definitely works.

Another memoir of a child actress exploited by a dysfunctional family and a broken industry. Alyson's audiobook narration is lively, engaging but also very gentle, which initially surprised me, then I remembered her years of experience as a voice actor on Phineas & Ferb. I'm genuinely glad she seems to be doing well now.

The final chapter, where she highlights the gaps in the current system, stood out to me. It shows she's not just recounting what happened, but actually cares about change and wants to make a difference. The chapter about her SA was heartbreaking. I really hope she got the justice she deserved, and that the man responsible was held accountable.

Finally, I'm a big fan of Step Up series and Disney Channel movies, so I was eager to learn about her experiences. However, it was sad to know how poorly she was treated in those productions.

Very readable, but ultimately not very memorable. I didn't find anything particularly striking about it. The characters felt flat, and I didn't see much organic growth, so I wasn't emotionally moved.

Margot, in particular, comes across as simply mean without much convincing justification. I also struggle with stories where privileged characters prey on the less privileged. It's a dynamic I find hard to sit with. I felt deeply frustrated by the unfair situation Funke was trapped in, as well as by Liv's reckless behavior and Margot's repeated atrocities without meaningful accountability. It reminded me of the protagonist in The Kite Runner, which I ended up DNFing because I was just so angry the whole time.

Bulgakov can be my new favorite author