Hayley Aldridge Is Still Here

This was sooo readable, I blew through it in less than 24 hours. It did feel very ripped from the headlines (it's basically the Britney Spears story, but what if actress instead of singer) but in an appealing way. I thought the frame narrative of her telling this story to her daughters like...was best not analyzed too closely, like if you really think about her re-enacting all of the conversations in here as written like...probably not. Especially times when it seems like she forgets she's talking to her kids and refers to “the twins” in the 3rd person as opposed to other times when she says “you two” or their names to them instead? But like, whatever. It had some fun early 00s nostalgia bombs as well as more serious evaluation of the way the culture of the time treated young women. Not necessarily a ground-breaking feminist tome or anything but like, does it need to be?

CW for eating disorder, sexual assault/grooming, drug abuse/addiction, eating disorders, suicide, ETC.