kaylascoffeeplot's reviews
395 reviews

A part of me almost wanted to like this less for some odd reason. This was so well written and researched - heavily relying on primary sources & exploring them so thoroughly. Every time I put the book down I found myself thinking about all of the people involved. I was initially expecting a bio (birth to earth style) with heavy focus on T.R.'s presidential years. I ended up being SO engaged with the story of his father and sister (Bammie), that I found myself happy that it focused more on the family in general as opposed to T.R. himself. It did a phenomenal job of explaining how these people became who they were - esp T.R. - discussing their faults as well as their strengths. I will definitely thinking about & discussing this book for a while.

This was quite possibly one of the weirdest books I have read in my life and I loved every damn minute of it! Could not put it down. It was Stephen King meets dark Narnia meets Jumanji meets Lovecraft.
The characters were quirky but tangible, and the horror/anxiety built in such intense ways, given a bit of relief only by the dark humor of the main characters.