kathywadolowski's reviews
538 reviews

It's nearly impossible to imagine what it might be like to walk in Amanda Knox's shoes, but her new book "Free: My Search for Meaning" is certainly a good place to start.

Knox goes into some detail about the crime that unfortunately made her famous—the murder of her roommate Meredith Kercher while they both studied in Italy as college students—but that's not what the book is primarily about. Knox spends most of the time reckoning with the realities of prison, unwanted (and unwarranted) fame, and the continuing attempt to reclaim her truth and her life. It's brutally honest, moving, hard to relate to, but ultimately enlightening and inspiring. I'm totally baffled by people convinced of Amanda's guilt; Rudy Guede 100% murdered Meredith, and there's evidence to prove it! So why are there people who don't even KNOW his name, but DO know of and blame Amanda Knox?! If that question interest you—or you're one of those people!—you should pick this one up and be prepared to do some introspection.

The most inspiring part of this book to me, surprisingly, centered around her experience in prison. In this early section of the book, Amanda ruminates on the idea of freedom, and what it can mean to live a meaningful life regardless of your physical circumstances. She emphasizes that freedom can sometimes be more of an idea than a condition, and acceptance and purpose can exist even in the most traditionally un-free-seeming situations. And in fact, she confesses that she at times felt more of a prisoner once she was released because of all the media attention on her. She comes to the conclusion that she can't really win in the court of public opinion, and there comes a point where she shouldn't really try. All she can do is continue speaking the truth, and speaking out against the injustice that she faced to try to bring attention and hope to those in the same situation.

Amanda also spends a lot of time detailing the evolving relationship between her and her one-time prosecutor, and her drive to understand him and reconcile their adversarial positions. She accepts that though she may not ever get him to admit he was wrong or declare her innocence, she can meet him where he is and lead with empathy for his position. Empathy seems to be a main driver of mosts of her actions and interactions, and this informs her worldview and what she tries to communicate to us throughout this book.

So even though Amanda Knox's life has been extraordinary, her book "Free" tells a supremely human story full of heartbreak and healing. I really felt that I got to know her through this book, and I highly recommended giving it a read if you're at all interested in themes of wrongful conviction, trial by media, human connection, overcoming trauma and redemption. And a lot of other things too. 4.5/5 stars and a lot to unpack.

[Thanks for NetGalley and Grand Central Publishing for an advance reader copy of this book!]

"From Here to the Great Unknown" was an honest and interesting read, but the narrative was quite disjointed at times. I wish the book had gone deeper into some of Lisa Marie's relationships, which I think would've painted a clearer picture of how she related to people in her future. For example, the relationship between Lisa Marie and Priscilla was obviously really fraught, but I felt like we got more of an accounting of both of their actions rather than an exploration of their impact? And of course, Lisa Marie's relationship with Elvis was in a way the center of this book, but it weirdly felt like Lisa Marie didn't do much examination of how this relationship both shaped and damaged her. 

Unfortunately I do think this lack of depth affected my connection to the book, as I didn't really come away feeling like I knew who Lisa Marie Presley was. To be fair, she acknowledged in the book that she herself really didn't know who she was, so maybe that *is* the takeaway? And her daughter Riley Keough did a really fantastic job at filling in some of the gaps, and I really really appreciated the insight and color that she added to the story. This is probably why the second half of the book actually resonated with me more; because Riley Keough was doing most of the storytelling, it felt more introspective and analytical rather than a simple rehashing of what happened. 

Though this wasn't the most coherent telling of a life story, it was clear how much fame and tragedy drove Lisa Marie's life and choices. It was tough to read about her struggles, but I definitely appreciate the vulnerability it takes to even pursue a memoir like this when you've lived your whole life in the spotlight.

Kind of half-baked. 😂 

Ok serious now… this was fine but forgettable, and totally predictable even for ya girl who literally never guesses the twists. But every time Lottie said “how could I not have seen it” I rolled my eyes in agreement. 

Really cute premise with too many weird/unlikable characters and varied storylines to come together well.

"Julie Chan is Dead" was fast-paced and very easy to read, and would be a great choice for anyone looking for a popcorn thriller with a bit of a crazy edge.

The premise of this book sounded unique and intriguing—a woman finds her mega-successful influencer twin sister dead and decides to take over her life—and as a twin sister myself I was itching to dive in. And unraveling Chloe's secrets was enough to keep me hooked! But as Julie got deeper into the mystery of her sister's life, the plot started unraveling for me too.

It was fun to explore the idea of toxic influencer culture, and the book definitely had a lot to say about it, but there was some literal craziness that was too much for me to buy into. This craziness itself I think is part of that exploration, but I think I can appreciate while also not totally loving it. Some of that is surely personal preference, though, and I know others will enjoy the twists here! I prefer clever-but-realistic thrillers, and this one dips a toe into otherworldly, unguessable territory. To each their own!

I was also somewhat unsatisfied with the ending, though I will say the wrap-up could've been MUCH worse so kudos for not entirely letting us down. So it's a middle-of-the-road three stars from me; I enjoyed the ride, but it was a little too all over the place for me to merit more stars.

[Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for an advance reader copy of this book!]

This was a kind of intense and apocalyptic read, so be prepared before you pick this one up to dive into some dark themes. 

It does take a while to get to Harari's examination of how AI might change the world as we know it—and how it differs from any other communication/information dissemination tool that preceded it—but I appreciated how deeply he explores the history of information and how it's been shared over the course of human history. And I was especially interested in the more political chapters, in which he discusses how different systems of government use (and hide) information according to their goals. Ultimately, information on its own is kind of meaningless; we think "more" information is always a societal good, but in reality the way it's framed, shared, and interpreted has everything to do with what it actually means. And traditionally, those manipulations have always been done by humans, and for better or worse we could come to understand (even if we don't agree with) the thought behind them. 

This is why AI—"alien" rather than "artificial" intelligence, in Harari's lexicon—is so potentially transformative; because it is the first tool that actually has the capacity to make decisions about how to share information without the impetus of a human. It might even generate information on its own! The printing press can't print newspapers by itself, and so relies on human inputs to generate any impact. But how can we really know what AI will be capable of in the next 5 years even? Social media algorithms are a great illustration of this danger: given a goal of driving more engagement, these AIs push radical and often hateful content because it captures more attention and thus spurs more hate. It's toxic for our society, and it's scary to think of even just that technology continuing to spiral beyond human control. And that's not even accounting for what's coming. 

Sorry for the doom and gloominess, but this one really freaked me out. Hopefully the powers that be are asking the right questions and setting up the right guardrails, but I'm not feeling too confident in this moment... 

I really loved the first Veronica Speedwell book, "A Curious Beginning," and was hopeful that this next in the series would keep my attention and capture my imagination. Especially given that the reviews for this one are even better! 

Unfortunately though, I kind of hated the storyline, got bored of the characters, and just didn't really see the point of Veronica being pulled into the mystery at all. It also focused wayyy too much on weird sexual themes that felt so out of place in this universe, and I just felt so disconnected every time I picked it up and wanted to be done with it. 

It's possible I will come back to the series at some point in the future, because I was so charmed by Veronica and Stoker in their introduction, but I'm definitely on pause for now. *sigh* 

The brilliant title alone honestly merits giving this one a try. This one was WILD AND CRAZY but in the best way for a memoir! 

I highly recommend listening to the audiobook version of "Dinner for Vampires," which is read by the author and lends such levity to an insane story. She also does great voices for some of the characters (and names them cleverly for what I assume are legal reasons), which made for a really engaging listening experience—I suppose we might expect this from an actress, but it still surprised and delighted me! I could NOT stop listening. 

I've never actually watched "One Tree Hill," the show for which Bethany Joy Lenz is known, so don't hesitate if you're not already familiar with her or her work; she actually doesn't go too much behind-the-scenes of the show, as it's clear that the isolation of her cult life impacted her connections to the show and her coworkers. You won't necessarily be dazzled by her life as a TV star, but you'll absolutely be blown away by her storytelling, her honesty, and her bravery. 

It can be hard to relate at times to the seriousness of Lenz's religious convictions, but it's easy and sad to see how effectively she was manipulated and taken advantage of as a vulnerable girl who just wanted a place to belong. Lenz doesn't shy away from showcasing her own failings and questionable decision-making, but she certainly paints a clear picture of how anyone can be pulled into a warped reality without realizing it. But even though she has to really claw her way out of cult life, and loses almost everything she has, Lenz still ends with a message of hope that escape is always possible and support is out there.

It's scary stuff, but an important read for sure. You can't always support others at the expense of yourself, or you might end up losing sight of what makes you, you [yes, I'm speaking about Lenz's dream of making it on Broadway :'( ].  

Sooo the premise of this book sounded so fun and intriguing, but unfortunately the execution was just... bad? 

There were just too many characters in "The Treasure Hunters Club," and spanning the timelines with *different* sets of characters made things overwhelming and confusing. It's disappointing because I think this book really had the elements of a great mystery, but was bogged down by too much detail about the relationships. We also found out too much about what had happened with the treasure in the past, which made the "reveal" of things in the present really underwhelming. 

Because the structure and character work were so poor, I also think I'm going to totally forget what happened in this book within a couple months. It sounds cute, but I'd skip it if I were you. 

So I fear I have another new favorite author to add to my list!?!? Sorry bank account, we've found one more auto-buy.

I adored Emilia Hart's debut novel, "Weyward," and was so excited to get my hands on her next title. And "The Sirens" absolutely lived up to my expectations and then some!

First, Hart's characters are so layered and real. Even when they're going through hell, I enjoy the experience of being in their heads because they are so relatable and raw. She also sets a really fantastic, atmospheric scene in this book; both the past and present timelines felt appropriately eerie, and that effort really sucked me into the story itself.

There's a good bit of the supernatural/mystical here, so be prepared to buy in if you pick this up. I promise you, it's well worth it! And yessss, you will definitely also find female rage in these pages—it's tough to read at times, but there's a lot of catharsis in it too.

Five wonderful stars.

[Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an advance reader copy of this book!]

As a bigggg big fan of Richard Osman's Thursday Murder Club series, I was excited to pick up a new story by him and see what else he can do! "We Solve Murders" was super fun and fast-paced, with a cast of insanely lovable characters. An Osman speciality, it seems? 

What kept me from rating this five stars was the plot... I honestly had trouble keeping things straight throughout the read, and I felt at the end we didn't really get a solid understanding of *why* the influencer murders had been necessary? But the ride was enjoyable enough that I can forgive this, and hope that the next installment comes with a more fleshed-out mystery. Because the ending of this book certainly feels like a recipe for success!