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I got to about 19% of the way in and realized I don't need to read this. The author even says not everything is 100% factual and I don't need to read a book that possibly sensationalizes Trump or anyone around him. These people are evil all on their own. There's no reason to exaggerate except to possibly cause a stir and make more money.

I was unfortunately and very unpleasantly introduced to this shit-stain through far too many videos and clips of his beyond repugnant views concerning women, birth control, sexual assault, and victim blaming. This piece of shit creep asserts that women who take birth control are basically asking for sex because he can't comprehend in his back-assed smooth excuse for a brain any other reason someone might use birth control. He plainly blames women for being raped, calling them “stunningly unsophisticated”, because he thinks we don't know how to say “no” correctly. The only thing this waste of space is concerned with is a man's hurt feelings. Send this turd directly into the sun, no expense spared.

If reading about some womanizing asshat is your thing then have fun with this, but I'm not down. I don't need another book where the male MC is a creep and ends up insta-reformed by someone with The Magic Vag which seems like where this is going.

3% in and we already have:

...always make sure hook-ups drive themselves so they don't need anything else from me when I'm ready to dispose of them.

Once they've spread their legs in my bed it's adios for good.

Hoo boy, do I hate Galloway. I wanted him to just die on that island pretty much all the time. What a sexist man-child.Who the hell names their child Coconut???And omg EAT A TURTLE YOU'RE STARVING ARE YOU STUPID?! I skimmed this just to find out what happened.When I finished I realized I've read [b:Tears of Tess 18134894 Tears of Tess (Monsters in the Dark, #1) Pepper Winters https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1372821993l/18134894.SY75.jpg 25474810] from Pepper Winters. That got 3 stars from me. Clearly I just don't care for this author or her chauvinistic male characters.

I read this when I was far too young to grasp pretty much any of the references. That's alright though, because it leaves for the now humorous memory that I was sad for all the people who winked out of existence. How awful to just be gone and be... where? Seemingly nowhere. Made me anxious to imagine if that could happen to me. Thankfully I don't have to worry about that since I'm a heathen. Anyway, I remember rooting for all who were left to scrape together and rebuild since that's just what we do as a species.
Obviously I was reading this as any other post-apocalyptic novel and didn't have the wherewithal to recognize or be put off by the writing. I think I made it through a few of these books actually.

If you came for the tell-all you'll do a lot of skimming, like I did.

I was consistently disgusted with Andi Dorfman for the first half, but then the tone changed slightly and by the end it had actually seemed like she'd grown as a person. At least a little bit. She's either more clever than I thought and managed to do this on purpose or she has a great editor who whipped this shitshow into some slight semblance of redemption.

Dorfman still comes across like a spoiled, sheltered, mean-girl no matter what though. There are so many unnecessary catty explanations for her behavior. I'm not convinced she drank and mentioned alcohol as much as she did because she was going through a breakup. You can be a functioning alcoholic and mostly drink wine.

“Atny” she abbreviated to complete my nametag.
Though she'd abbreviated my profession incorrectly, I decided to let it slide, since I was, after all, there to make a good impression.

I informed the group that we would all be taking a lie detector test! Yay! The horror on their faces made the feminist inside me squeal with excitement.

I couldn't risk impulsively using him for sex, since clearly my urge had not yet been satisfied, and though the feminist in me kind of wanted to “hit it and quit it,” I wasn't ballsy or bitchy enough to do it.

Or when your friend has a baby exactly eight months after her wedding and everyone plays along with the whole it's-a-honeymoon-baby bullshit.

Good Lord, what if I have to go number two?

The fireplace catches my eye... I'll burn it all!... First up, the striped pima cotton t-shirt... I see the tag still on it.

I grasp the sides of the waistband and go for the power tug. That's when I hear the dreaded sound of a rip... That seam is not stretched, it's split. I quickly roll the leggings down my thighs and, in an effort to hide my mortification, hang them back up and slip them in the middle of the rest of the hanging pants, before sprinting out of the dressing room without trying on another item.

He hates red lipstick, just like every other man in this world does.

...recognizing the simple yet impactful meaning of friendships.

Well, that was much more delightful than I anticipated. I honestly thought I'd end up abandoning this because the blurb sounds out there for me. Wolf-men? This could go so badly... It was rather entertaining instead. The adventure is fun and the romance is sweet. The people aren't overly wolfy. Some fur, pointy ears, and slightly sharp teeth are no big deal. I was also rather fascinated with the world building and legends of the people. More stories Riggs, more stories!

This book can totally be read as a standalone. Anya is a character from the first book, but there's only one small reference that might make someone pause to decipher.

Without You, There Is No Us offers an interesting and unique, albeit depressing, view of North Korea, a country so backwards it borders on the unfathomable. Kim is allowed in to North Korea for an extended period teaching English at a school to the sons of the most elite families by pretending to be a missionary. Her position is tenuous at best. Not only is she not religious and could be found out by the other teachers, all the foreign faculty is constantly watched and monitored. There is no privacy. It is utterly paranoia inducing, which is completely warranted. I appreciated the subtle comparisons and subsequent critiques between her students' faith, gullibility, and brainwashing and that of the devout teachers' attitudes about their own religion.I can barely imagine Kim actually living this, or what citizens on a daily basis must go through. She has managed to write in a straightforward and almost stark way that imparts a good representation of her experiences recounting the monotony, frustration, and fear. Rare but truly tender moments between Kim and her students break my heart.I struggle to wrap my head around North Korea. It angers me, terrifies me, and makes me profoundly grateful. It's easy to forget how lucky I am to live with even the most basic and simple choices. I love my denim and blue jeans which has been deemed too American for Koreans. I can do, say, and go where I want.Reading Without You kept reminding me of reading [b:Little House in the Big Woods 77766 Little House in the Big Woods (Little House, #1) Laura Ingalls Wilder https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1350471760s/77766.jpg 1200805] as a child. I remember having a hard time actually imagining a life with such little technology or luxuries I took for granted. The students entertained themselves with songs and skits, just like I remember reading in the Little House series. North Korea is stuck between two worlds. The electricity is unreliable and looking at nighttime satellite imagery shows a country swathed in black. Citizens are kept relatively ignorant for easy control. They are fear-mongered, brainwashed, and worn down with constant labor or service.I fervently hope I live to see the day the North Korean dictatorship falls, but would Korea become one country again? It would be a huge burden on the south and the Stockholm syndrome of an entire nation seems rather absolute and daunting.I imagine Kim will no longer ever be let into North Korea, not that it would be safe for her to go back. Before starting this book I didn't understand the seriousness of her sacrifice. I'm glad I stumbled on to this book for her personal view of this tragic country and for what I learned reading it.

When you think this is going to be just a lighthearted funny romance and then you end up crying for the characters. But don't worry, there is a happy ending.

I likely wouldn't have even come across this book if it hadn't been nominated for the 2024 Choice Awards but I managed to finish it just in time to vote for it in opening rounds over the handful of others I read.

The premise caught my eye because I've lived through my own version of a dating “curse”. I had quite a streak where the next girl my exes would date would get pregnant. It even rubbed off on a couple guys I friend-zoned and never even dated. Really helped solidify my belief that birth control of all forms should be handed out like candy and we all need universal healthcare.

I made it to the third chapter and decided to not torture myself with this any further. I can only imagine that people get through this series by skimming through to possibly only read the sex scenes. Which are admittedly not completely horrible. But everything in between is irrefutably painful to read. I found myself literally rolling my eyes, sighing, scoffing, groaning, cringing, and downright facepalming.

If Ana were a real person and I could talk to her I'd tell her to run her naive butt away from the abusive and domineering (not in the good way) relationship she was being trapped in. Because, guess what? THIS IS ABUSE. This isn't sexy. This is scary. Not the BDSM stuff, but everything else. Adults are fully capable of having a healthy relationship with some incredibly kinky sex. They're even fully capable of having a 24/7 Dom/sub relationship. This just happens to be none of that.

I could argue that Christian is possibly trying to get Ana into a 24/7 BDSM relationship. Except any decent Dom who's connected to a sub knows when to push, and when not to. Christian pretty much pushes all the time. He does what he wants, and he manages to wrap it in a barely pretty enough package to fool Ana. Hello mind games!

So, Ana, I don't care if the sex is mind blowing. The guy's a creep. He's scary. He treats his subordinates like chattel or with the bare minimum of respect. Oh, and you are so not on this planet to fix him. Run, don't walk, as far and as fast as you can. Pray that law enforcement will help you keep this guy at bay, because he'll for sure pull every string to keep owning you. That broken heart you think you have? It'll mend. And when it does you'll realize it was probably just your lady part hormones making you stupid lustful for the earth-shattering O's. Trust me; been there, done that.