I was utterly baffled as to why Krouse went on and on about how she’s changing names and descriptions, etc. etc. to protect the identities and circumstances etc. etc. BUT THEN goes on to describe very real and obvious things that take the reader 0.2 seconds on Google to confirm exactly what and who she is referring to. When you make an F-level effort, you need to do a better job of explaining why you’re bothering to pretend at all?!
Also, I was personally inordinately annoyed that a few times she referred to newspapers not publishing the names of sexual assault victims as a form of journalistic ethics, when really the baseline of that, especially the protection of SA victims’ identities, is per CORA statutes.

This was a really difficult but enthralling read. It's also a stark reminder of just how much violence women face in this country every day. Krouse's writing is emotionally raw and engaging.

I highly recommend this book but make sure you're in a space to read about a lot of horrific sexual assault.

Thank you to Netgalley and Flatiron Books for access to this free e-ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

THIS BOOK WAS AMAZING. The writing was thrilling and brutal, the mix of memoir and true crime was moving… I loved it even as it infuriated me.

This was an interesting read. On the one hand, I think the work Erika did was very important and I appreciated her sharing her personal story. On the other hand, I didn’t understand all the references to “this work wasn’t like the crime tv shows I had seen.” Was this supposed to add humor? I’m not sure.

Overall, a just ok read.

There were so many different pieces to this book that it feels almost impossible to rate. The case itself is compelling, and I thought that this perspective was a really interesting choice. But there was so much going on and so much movement between topics that I didn't feel like every piece worked. It felt choppy and difficult to get through at times. It was overall interesting, but not necessarily one I'd recommend.

Erika has a face that garners trust. Strangers tell her things they’ve never told anyone else and they have since she was a kid. This same feature led her to meet a lawyer in public who shared his stress then offered her a job as a PI.

She takes the job and spends years earning people’s trust, sometimes by rearranging her face, sometimes just by being quiet. They investigate a culture of rape at a public university in Colorado where the football team has allegedly raped multiple women and they have never been reported and if they were no charges were filed or punishments occurred.

Following the thread of these sexual assaults, Erika shares the pain of her own sexual assault. She was raped repeatedly as a child by her step-father. As she learns to value herself and set boundaries she loses relationships with her family.

This book is deep and personal. It is simultaneously about pain, hope, and justice, and it’s so well written it reads like a novel.