2024 Reading Challenge

2024 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 1 book toward her goal of 285 books.
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2023 Reading Challenge

2023 Reading Challenge
Jill Elizabeth has read 5 books toward her goal of 265 books.
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Book Review: All of Us by A.F. Carter

I’m (darkly) fascinated by stories about the mind’s ability to protect itself by splintering the personality into pieces… The books are always horrific in their details – the abuse that renders this the best protective mechanism for survival is inevitably soul-crushing and devastating to read about – but the survival story is so moving and powerful and the logistics of how the person manages the personalities fascinates me.

A.F. Carter has done a marvelous job writing in the different voices that comprise Carolyn Grand. The interconnectivity is well managed. The bad guys in this piece are REALLY BAD, and the conflict that derives from the various personalities’ dealings with both the father AND the therapist is cringe-inducing in a way that felt believable even in its parade of horribles. This is a woman who literally cannot catch a break, and her ability to manage the dreadful things that keep befalling her was impressive but never oversold. Each of her personalities jumped off the page and kept me engaged in the story, precisely because each voice was so uniquely presented. I cannot imagine how difficult it is to hold all of those voices in your head (either in reality or as the author presenting this reality); it impressed me to no end and definitely secured Carter a place on my “authors to watch” list…

This is NOT a story for the faint of heart; no multiples tale ever is. But it is a moving, powerful examination of what it means to survive, and how survival may not always look or feel all that impressive to the person doing it, but what IS always impressive is that they manage at all. The ending came together in a way that might, at first blush, seem a little tidy – but honestly, by then, I wanted something to go Carolyn Grand’s way so badly that it felt deserved rather than overly optimistic, as though at some point the universe HAD to give this poor woman something as a reward for all she had endured.

It was a powerful read and I thoroughly enjoyed it, even if at times it left me wanting to wash my brain out with soap…

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.

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