Unmask Alice

First I'm going to pick my jaw up from the floor.....Now I'll proceed.

Go Ask Alice was a very influential book for me in middle school and in high school (2000's era). I took so much away from the book and connected with it on such a personal level. It shaped me.

With that being said, the deep dive into the history of the publication, along with other diary style titles and how they impacted a toxic culture blew my mind. Satanic panic has been a topic I find endlessly fascinating and this book did not disappoint me in adding to my growing knowledge. The details on drugs and the war on drugs had me shocked. And I won't even begin to discuss Beatrice Sparks and the endless ways she slipped through every filter there was because I think reading about her with fresh eyes is the best way to go. The state of publishing, libraries, and bookselling is touched on and another interesting aspect of the book. I went through the emotions of shocked, sad, mad, furious, and heartbroken. This is a story that took so long to tell, which is such a shame, but Rick Emerson did a great job.

When it comes to non-fiction books, I enjoy them, but I tend to take a longer time to read. I need to really let the information sink in. With Unmask Alice, however, I couldn't read it fast enough. I needed all of the information ASAP. Emerson's writing is very readable and the mix of his personal touches (and opinions) I felt added to the readability. While authors' opinions can detract from the information in non-fiction, I thought it added to it (maybe this is because I agreed with all of them, but you never know).

There's so much more I want to add, but I don't want to spoil anything for readers. I highly recommend reading Unmask Alice!