angieoverbooked's reviews
486 reviews

This was fascinating. Fans of true crime, especially fraud and con stories will enjoy this. Kari, formerly known as the "Hipster Grifter" tells the story of how she found herself scamming those who were the closest to her. (Before moving on to total strangers who shouldn't have trusted her at all.)

As an adopted Asian queer girl, in a White Mormon family and community, it makes sense that she would start stealing not for the goods but to fit in. It's wild how that grew into scams of thousands of dollars and getting a job at Vice in NYC with totally made up credentials. But honestly, she comes across as pretty funny and charming in this book, so I kind of get why people fell for her schemes! Fingers crossed that I CAN believe her when she says she's a different person now.

This was a tender, quiet story that I really enjoyed. I think the beginning and end were particularly strong, but I was invested all the way through. I naturally thought a lot about the idea of waking from a coma and coping with the time and living lost. In the case of Jack's story, that experience is also combined with second chances that wouldn't have happened without the coma. This made for a very compelling read that I definitely recommend. 

This was such a great story! A couple I easily rooted for with obstacles that really made sense. I was happy to just be with them and patiently wait for them to get to where they needed to be. 

This book focuses on friendship, grief and the fear of abandonment. There are so many heavy and complicated emotions, and Connolly does a great job of exploring them all. 

And in spite of - or in addition to- all of this, this book is also genuinely laugh-out-loud funny! Maddie has the best sense of humor, even though it is admittedly often her defense mechanism. There are also some spicy scenes to enjoy. 🌶️🌶️🌶️

I appreciated the way this book takes the reader to several locations and through several seasons, following Maddie as she says goodbye to her brother and Dom as he says goodbye to his best friend. Josh is a remarkable character, whom we get to know through the letters he leaves to be read after he dies and through the stories and memories shared by Maddie and Dom. It's hard to imagine where either of them would be without his clever and heartfelt plan for them.