Reading Counting the Cost by Jill Duggar Dillard resurfaced a lot of unresolved religious trauma for me—mainly anger. Not so much for myself anymore, but for my daughters and others. I always struggled to follow the rules, and while I tried to give my kids some exposure to the real world, I still sheltered them from a lot. That came from my own experience of being extremely sheltered, much like Jill was. I still struggle with feeling like I ...
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Book Review: Hollow by Celina Myers | More Hype Than Bite in This Vampire Tale
Hollow by Celina Myers—widely recognized as CelinaSpookyBoo—comes highly recommended in the paranormal and BookTok communities. As a paranormal investigator, I’ve noticed that mainstream paranormal media often lowers expectations for what a “real” investigation looks like. Many viewers are exposed to dramatized, sensationalized content, in which every unexplained sound is treated as proof of something sinister and as genuine evidence of ...
Book Review: A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard | A Memoir of Survival and Resilience
A Stolen Life by Jaycee Dugard is the emotional, heartbreaking story of a young girl whose innocence was stolen from her—the life she might have lived, and a horror most people can’t begin to fathom. In 1991, at just eleven years old, Jaycee Dugard was abducted while walking to her school bus stop. She spent eighteen years in captivity, hidden away from the world, before finally being rescued in 2009. Her story is both unimaginable and deeply ...
Book Review: Holy Disruptor by Amy Duggar King | When Disruption Means Telling Everyone Else’s Story
Holy Disruptor: Shattering the Shiny Facade by Getting Louder with the Truth is an overly convoluted title for Amy Duggar King's memoir—and, unfortunately, it perfectly sets the stage for what follows. I tried not to judge a book by its title, but in this case, my instincts were right. Side note: Gypsy Rose Blanchard owes Amy a coffee. I would have given Gypsy’s book a lower rating, but after listening to Amy’s, I found Gypsy much more likable ...
Book Review: My Time to Stand by Gypsy Rose Blanchard | A Story That Raises More Questions Than Answers
This isn’t a D.N.F.—it’s an N.D.F.: Narcissistic Dumpster Fire.My Time to Stand: A Memoir by Gypsy Rose Blanchard is so full of contradictions, I’m half convinced the co-authors were actively working against her. Here’s the problem: when it comes to Gypsy Rose Blanchard, facts are optional. They don’t matter to her, and they definitely don’t matter to her “gyp-babes.” It’s not just contradictions on the page—though there are plenty of them. ...
