waitenathan's review
3.0
Repeat after me: I will stop reading books about Trump. They don't lead anywhere.
pamiverson's review
4.0
The last year of Trump’s Presidency and the first year of Biden’s, as reported by 2 NYT reporters. Interesting to remember what we felt at the time, and how dramatically and unexpectedly things change. Disturbing that not a lot has changed since then – Trump is still promoting his conspiracies and trying to remain at the center of every conversation; Biden is still trying to balance being a visionary with working in a bipartisan way. We still don’t know how things are going to turn out.
avisholkoff's review against another edition
4.0
I liked this book. An astute analysis of 2020-2021 in American politics. It’s a bit of insider baseball, in that there’s a number of aspects that, quite frankly I’m not sure people outside of the “rabid” politicos will care about, but had a number of compelling stories:
- section on picking Biden’s Veep. Fascinating to hear who they were considering and what might’ve been
- Senator Sinema’s baffling political ideology and wants and needs. It’s really worth reading for these alone
- dynamics between Biden & Harris
However, one nitpick is that it was clear Mitch McConnell/his team were major sources for the authors, because they take careful steps to paint McCarthy as a brown nose to Trump, while essentially lauding McConnell for publicly criticizing the former president, while halting Biden’s agenda and even pledging to support him in the future
- section on picking Biden’s Veep. Fascinating to hear who they were considering and what might’ve been
- Senator Sinema’s baffling political ideology and wants and needs. It’s really worth reading for these alone
- dynamics between Biden & Harris
However, one nitpick is that it was clear Mitch McConnell/his team were major sources for the authors, because they take careful steps to paint McCarthy as a brown nose to Trump, while essentially lauding McConnell for publicly criticizing the former president, while halting Biden’s agenda and even pledging to support him in the future
maryjoens's review against another edition
5.0
this shit bummed me out but is inarguably well-researched & well-written
mattjustinus's review against another edition
5.0
This book was tremendous. I was able to meet Jonathan Martin in person in the middle of June where he spoke about his work on this book.
Heavy on detail, facts, and first hand accounts, this has been the most accurate and in depth summary of our current political events from the spring of 2020 until the fall of 2021.
One of my favorite parts had to be the countless accounts of conversations that were initially kept secret, but became public later. From Mitch McConnell and his thoughts on Trump, to Senator Sinema and her “wooing” of Republican business leaders, “This Will Not Pass” kept me turning the pages to learn more.
Heavy on detail, facts, and first hand accounts, this has been the most accurate and in depth summary of our current political events from the spring of 2020 until the fall of 2021.
One of my favorite parts had to be the countless accounts of conversations that were initially kept secret, but became public later. From Mitch McConnell and his thoughts on Trump, to Senator Sinema and her “wooing” of Republican business leaders, “This Will Not Pass” kept me turning the pages to learn more.
ruthlemon08's review against another edition
4.0
Insightful, scary, well-crafted behind the scenes events leading up to January 6th and the first year of Biden’s presidency. Not uplifting but important and packed with candid quotes from key figures.
brandyrae's review
3.5
Interesting perspectives but slow and more surfacey than i usually like for this type of thing. Good and worth reading but not the best of books about this era I've read so far.
elisalasater's review against another edition
informative
tense
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence