Trust

"This book is like a slow paced whirlwind that picks up speed, wraps you up in it, makes you dizzy-confused-mad-sad, then you cry and your heart aches, yet loves with sweetness and longing only to be gently dropped back to earth like you just got bopped off a swing into the sand to only realize the bittersweet melancholy of ‘oh ****, did it really just end like THAT?’ Because ouch that hurt my heart and made me violently angry all at once, but in a nice way, because yes, I’m just a nice sweet well behaved little lady, right? Oooof"

"I think this is the first book I have fully abandoned halfway in twenty years. Parts were of course brilliant, but I found other sections very slow and hard to read. I am probably not smart enough to understand. Nothing personal, Hernon. I feel bad leaving not great reviews for people marked as Goodreads Authors. Are they reading this crappy, dumb guy's review? If so, I am sorry. I am am not smart enough here, that much is clear."

"The structure of this book keeps it feeling like a puzzle for 3/4th of the book. It was a very new experience to simply take in the structure of how the book was set up. <br/><br/>Beyond that, the title, 'Trust', had several meanings and the story had a lot to read between the lines. I definitely believe this is a book that you absolutely will catch something new every time you re-read. The structure of the novel allows so much story to be told without spelling anything out. It is a true work of art. Important Note: you will miss a lot of the artfulness of this book if you listen to an audiobook on its own. There is a lot of play taken with how words are set up on the page, leaving gaps in the transcript as though it was left incomplete, notes written in places, etc. I would recommend having a physical copy on hand even if you listen to the audio for this reason. <br/><br/>There was so much playfulness in how the characters were set up. Unreliable narrators galore. You literally cannot trust a single one of the narrators in their entirety. Diaz leaned into the idea of the personal anecdotes being unreliable very hard and it hits you multiple times just how important it is to vet any information you are given. This aspect alone makes this book a must read. Reading this book is an experience you should enjoy and learn a lot from -- and that's outside of the actual story itself which is fascinating.<br/><br/>While you learn exactly why getting information from multiple sources is important, you also learn just how uncomfortable that is. You never get a clear picture. There will always be questions about gaps in the stories or who to trust on what part of the story. Not being able to trust what you are told, no knowing what is real and what is not... is unsettling. It's also just reality. <br/><br/>------------<br/><br/>Thoughts on the story itself:<br/><br/>I didn't leave the first section, 'Bonds', with a bad taste in my mouth for any character. In fact, it could have been drawn out further and been a pretty good story on its own. It was meant to be an actual novel inside of a novel and it was very well done. The main characters, in my opinion, were actually much more likable without the whole truth of their story put down on paper. This is ironic because the main character of that entire fictional novel--in "real" life, was VERY offended by it. So much so that he went out of his way to tell his own version of things and you ultimately learn he was much, much worse of a person and would do almost anything to avoid that coming out.<br/><br/>Another aspect that hit me during this was that the women were ultimately silenced and minimized for decades by men to save their egos. Society doesn't question their roles in all of this and takes what they are told about the females without question, because sexism says women can't possibly be financial experts. Again, there is just so much of this story that isn't spelled out that you have to pick up on, but the more you take it in, the better the story gets.<br/><br/>There are some interesting parallels to make between the Great Depression and Covid-19 Pandemic. Those we are hit hard and those who avoid the pain of the times. Those who use societal pain to gain wealth. The more you dig into this novel and the ways in which the stories are woven together, the more you will find to respond to. It is absolutely a work of art.<br/><br/>The only reason I'm giving it 4 stars as opposed to 5 stars is that it takes a while to understand how the big takeaway is being built up. It's easy to stay confused for the entire first half (or more) of the book. Despite seeing how and why that works by the end of the book, I can see lots of folks putting it down before they figure that out and it does takeaway from you absorbing the story early on."

"I can understand why people like this book, but not how they love it. The beginning was excessively boring and ideally I would've dropped it. Later on the story switches perspective and I am able to enjoy it much more, but even then I wasn't super interested in the ending. If this book had been arranged differently, as in physically moving around sections, I think I could've liked this a lot more, but I just really drudged through a good 40% of it and most of that was just the start, so from me it's only getting a rating of 4/10🖋️"

"DNF 30%. What kind of hallucinogenics did readers take to give this book such high marks? This was one of the most inert books I’ve read in a year. One star: Did not finish, will not recommend."

"Fantastic read! I read the whole thing in 2 ways. Incredible intertwining of stories and characters that you want to dive deeper into!! 5/5"

"DNF. I liked the first part but I don’t like how disjointed this book is. I also don’t really get why it’s so captivating as a story? It wasn’t really this major rise and fall? "

"New York "

"Another great story from Rene Folsom! She is taking the traditional fairy tales and turning them into great stories that anyone can enjoy! <br/><br/>This one was about Beauty and the Beast, and just as the title says, there are some twists. <br/><br/>Beau and Karoline take the reader on a tale of heated passion and mystery. <br/><br/>I don't want to give away too much but I'm telling you that if you don't pick up this awesome book, you're missing out"

"This book really made me think. When our story is told, what is “truth” and who gets to decide? Very interesting concept. "