Erika Krouse

I almost put this down after the first paragraph. Something very….squishy about the way the author describes the mysterious power of her face to draw stories from people. Unsettling. And then continues to throw that face on the page throughout the book. When I was able to forget her face there was some interesting stuff here with the potential for a great book. Unfortunately, this isn’t it. The interweaving of a University sexual assault scandal investigation with unraveling a personal childhood of sexual abuse is a rich narrative opportunity that is presented here with mixed results. There were portions where it hummed—the investigation was compelling and the unpacking of the author’s dysfunctional family dynamics came into focus. Too often the paralysis of the main character—because of frustration with the investigation and the unwillingness of her family to acknowledge her paint--traps the narrative in amber. She can’t move—we can’t move. The analysis of her feelings seems to be happening in real time instead of from a thoughtful distance—real time meaning the jumbled, confused state we live in when first going through something. It’s important that these topics be explored so I was really rooting for this book. NPR spoke well of it. But despite the opportunities for growth along the way, it all seems to happen smack dab at the end as if she were told—we’ve reached our page limit—time to wrap it up. And that led to a car crash of thoughts at the end—two different drafts of the same page seemed to follow each other—and an I LANDED ON MY FEET ending that seemed out of nowhere. Wasted opportunity.… (meer)

I like memoirs and I like true crime stories so Tell Me Everything was a perfect fit. Author Erika Krouse finds private investigative work, assisting on a lawsuit, investigating a top university for multiple sex assaults by their football players. Krouse discovers she has a real talent for this kind of work but it also drums up her own disturbing memories of being sexually abused as a child. Issues she is still dealing with in her 30s. This is a tough read, so trigger warnings abound but I was also found it to be a totally engrossing, well-written book. It also an excellent audiobook.… (meer)