Welcome to Litsy!

A fun read. A podcaster returns to teach a class, at the fancy boarding school of her childhood where she was an outsider and her once roommate was murdered. Reads like a mystery, layered with interesting takes on the #metoo movement and grooming, collective memory, race and privilege, the exploitative nature of true crime, wrongful imprisonment and so much more. Sharp and nuanced, I found the ending unsatisfying but all the more realistic for it.

Even better than the last installment, we see Nat back at school and dealing with more self-doubt and friendship troubles. Her ex-best friend turned enemy turned friend is being awful again, her true best friend befriends said jerk, there‘s a new student and a new principal. The best part of this one is the “doubt gremlins,” and some fantastic ways to deal with them. Recommend the whole series and this one in particular.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ The Branch Davidians, a Seventh Day Adventist offshoot cult stockpiled an arsenal in preparation for a supposed doomsday. The US government caught wind. Y‘all know the rest. Twelve year old me remembers watching this in total befuddlement. I wish I‘d known then how much I would come to love studying cults. Not my favorite Guinn, but I blame my lack of interest in David Koresh.

Turns out I can remember one #tripleplay 😂

Works for #publishedin2023 / #newin2023 #52bookclub2023 #atyin52books2023 #booked2023

@Cinfhen @BarbaraBB @BarbaraTheBibliophage @alisiakae

This is a prequel to The Priory of the Orange Tree, which may turn out to be my top read of 2022, so to say I'm looking forward to it is a massive understatement!