Timothy Haugh

30 de junio de 2026

Completely Surprised by How Much I Liked This

(SPOILERS!) To be upfront about it, I would never have read this book if my local bookstore book club hadn’t chosen this for a recent discussion. Not only do I avoid books that are TV talk show book choices, but I also knew that this book was not really written for me. From what I knew of it, it was definitely written mainly for a female audience. Now, readers of my reviews know that I read all kinds of books, regardless of intended audience. Still, I likely would have avoided this one.As I started this, I felt my fears were being confirmed. I don’t have much interest in the whole “social media influencer” world and I wasn’t drawn into that part of the story at first. What appealed to me a lot and what kept me reading was the very strong voice of the main character here, Natalie. Her schizophrenic world where every relationship is challenging and two-faced—with her followers, with her husband, with her children, with her in-laws, with her mother—is intriguing and feels very real. I enjoyed getting this look inside her mind.Of course, the world she creates for online consumption is fake. She projects the tradwife ideal—making meals from scratch, having child after child, letting her husband run the ranch—while behind the cameras are microwaves, nannies, and immigrant workers running the ranch. Frankly, this was pretty standard fare and what comes out of it was mostly expected, from the money poured in by her in-laws to the not surprising betrayal by the young producer she brings in to help with her account. (Yes, she has an affair with the husband and prepares the behind the scenes tell all.)It's no secret that what makes this novel different from other typical takedowns of this kind of life is that, 30 pages in, Natalie wakes up in a nineteenth century world where she actually has to live the traditional life. It is a time travel with no motivation or explanation other than the needs of the novel which, again, I typically do not like; however, I swallowed my disappointment and kept going, supported by the wise choice of alternating chapters of past and present giving us two threads of stories.Then, as I kept reading, I realized there is a complexity here that I wasn’t expecting. Not in the individual plot threads but in the mind of Natalie, whose unrelenting anger and disconnect with her world is fascinating. Also intriguing is how these two stories comment on each other. I won’t give away the big reveal at the end. I will say, though, that it is a brilliant bringing together of the two story threads in a satisfying way.I rarely get surprises like this. First, a book that I had low expectations for greatly exceeded them. Second, a book with two basically workaday plots that became something more when pulled together. This, combined with a very interesting narrator, made for one of the best novels I’ve read this year.Ver más

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Lisa Shafer

4 de junio de 2026

Ballerina Farm meets Running Out of Time

I found this book very engaging, but not too surprising. Anyone who’s read the 2024 expose of Ballerina Farm from The Sunday Times and Hannah Neelman’s teeth-gnashing response will know exactly Ms. Burke got most of her ideas for Natalie, Shannon, Caleb, and the whole tradwife farm. And anyone who’s read Margaret Peterson Haddix’s 90s YA action/adventure novel Running Out of Time will know exactly where Ms. Burke got her ideas for the latter part of the book.Yet, while it’s not a very original story, it is well-written. I’ve read reviews stating that Natalie is “unlikable” and Caleb is “to be pitied,” but I disagree. I found Natalie to be quite relatable; she’s just the classic unreliable narrator. (Think of the unnamed narrator in Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart” or the one in “Cask of Amontillado.”) She sings the praises of “traditional Christian values,” yet clearly shows the reader a cautionary tale against accepting them at face value and living the life that is demanded by them for women. And Caleb is simply a loathsome jerk from start to finish in this book, not a pitiful character.Still, it’s good. I read it straight through in one sitting, even though the basic plot was obvious.Ver más

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mina jensen

16 de junio de 2026

I think this is my new favorite book

You have to go into this book understanding that it’s not going to be a warm and fuzzy Christian tale, it’s not going be a Hallmark love story, and there’s going to be a lot of people that are that bat- - crazy. IF you think you can handle that, I absolutely recommend this book! It’s fascinating on so many levels! So so timely, very much an example of “be careful what you wish for.” There was nothing in this that offended me, but there were some things that left me feeling somewhat convicted, and analyzing my motives on things like social media use. Lots of profanity and lots of sex, but it is not gratuitous – everything is used to move the plot forward. And despite what the haters say, the plot is incredible. I did not see the end coming at all! And again, despite what the haters say, I love the author’s writing style. She writes the way we write to each other in texts, the way we think. So there are a lot of single word sentences, a lot of half-formed sentences. And that’s done that way on purpose. As an English Literature academic, I could see from the beginning that these were stylistic choices, and they absolutely work here.There is no child abuse here, there’s no rape here, I don’t know where people are getting that. I’m super sensitive to those topics and those elements were just not present in this book.Once I finished this book, I sat my husband down and shared the entire plot with him, and sent it to two of my favorite women right away. You won’t be able to stop thinking about it for a long time.Ver más

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Erratic

4 de junio de 2026

Not a story, just sadistic drivel

Couldn't finish it. It's well-written, fast-paced, and the main character is despicable but believable. Once the supernatural ending was off the table, I just lost interest. Once salvation for the character wasn't possible, I regretted starting the book in the first place. When I thought there was time travel and redemption, I read like I was obsessed.This story is not at all a story in the traditional sense. It's not about a character who grows and changes themself and possibly the world. It's not about overcoming challenges and learning from them.You know what this is about? It's about how much this author hates Christians, hates America, and hates the new alt-right. (Well, I guess they're not so new nowadays, unfortunately.)I mean, I get it. I'm not Christian in the traditional sense. The alt-right is dangerous for women. I'm not a conservative, and the manosphere is disgusting. I'm not hate-reviewing this thing because of my politics. I have the seemingly rare ability to enjoy a story independently from my personal world view and politics.But this just isn't a story. Not a good one, anyway.So, a woman gets tortured by her own failings, has a ton of kids that she neglects (11 by the end I think), learns absolutely nothing, lives a miserable life right until the end, and.... that's it, I guess. No rapture-time-travel-whatever. No, "I'm sorry," to her sister. (Or maybe there is, but I didn't fully read the ending.)There's just this crazy lady all the way through. Her suffering is pointless. The author tortures her so that she can rant and rave about how much she hates Christian American culture, and that's it. This character is brutally tortured so the author can get her rocks off, basically. She's meat for a sadist. It's really sad.There's no point to this story except, "I hate Christian women!!! AAAAAHH!!"That's it. That's the story.Well-written, fast-paced, anti-family, far-leftist propagandist messaging in every page. I don't even care, I just wanted a story here. Storytelling in the modern age is becoming a rare art. What a waste.Ver más

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Marissa

4 de julio de 2026

I’m genuinely blown away by the conversations and themes this story brings up!!

💛"The goal of an influencer is not to be loveable, and it is not to be unbearable. The goal is to be both at once. In other words: addicting."4⭐ …maybe even 5 because I literally cannot stop thinking about this book!!!!Okay listen… this is NOT a happy readI did not finish this book feeling good LOL. It’s very much a “WTF DID I JUST READ???” kind of story and it's also not a surface level read AT ALLIf you go into this expecting something easy or straightforward I honestly think you’re going to hate it. but if you really sit with the themes, symbolism, and messaging underneath everything? THATS where this story becomes incredibly powerfulhonestly, it reminds me a lot of Lord of the Fliesthat story deeply unsettled me too, but I also have so much respect for what it’s trying to say about humanity and society and Yesteryear gave me that exact same feelingI’m genuinely blown away by the conversations and themes this story brings up.Books like this are so interesting to me because they force readers to debate, analyze, and question things long after finishing. It doesn’t just tell a story it challenges you and makes you think about things I otherwise might not be confronted withUGH I honestly wish more people in my life had read this already because I NEED to talk about it with someone 😭 I’ve literally been searching the internet for theories and other people’s interpretations because my brain cannot let this book goAnd the thing is… there’s not really a “likable” character in this story. Everyone is messy, frustrating, outrageous, and deeply flawed but that's what I like about it so much because our own reality/humanity is too. It hits very very close to homeAnd I think that’s where a lot of the brilliance of this book comes from is the synchronizing with real world eventsbottom line is:I think this is an incredible story.It challenges you, angers you, unsettles you, and completely messes with your head (at least it did for me LOL)I read it in one day 😆 but WOW… this book definitely left a mark on me💕You will enjoy this if you are into:+ morally messy characters+ books that make you uncomfortable on purpose+ “WTF did I just read?” energy+ heavy social commentary+ psychological / philosophical themes+ stories that feel symbolic and layered+ books that challenge you emotionally instead of comforting you

Mrs. Brown

29 de junio de 2026

Wel Written Great Read

This is a very interesting read, it really showc ases the shallowness of the typical Christian influencer in our country, The main character Natalie Heller is an example for the women today who show case their lives on Instagram. While everything LOOKs perfect, this is a shallow vain female who is really only interested in her potential for fame. Her husband she is constantly pushing because she doesn't value him for who he is. He is a sweet main not terrible driven to pursue a career or a joke. He is a wealthy son of a politician and this husband is not driven to do much but enjoy his lifestyle. Natalie doesn't like her children, they are merely tools for her use...She wakes up and finds her life has drastically changed. She can recognize her farm and the land scape but her husband has changed into hard man and her children are NOT her children from her previous life. She has woke up to discover a whole new life...I recommend this book, it's well written and very revealing. about the role of christianity in politics and the shallowness of those types of christians. Read this book when you can to find out how it ends!!!Ver más

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